Roger J. Gonzalez, the defendant in this negligence action, appeals an order awarding attorneys’ fees to Dawn Elizabeth Claywell, appellee, pursuant to section 768.79, Florida Statutes (2008), and Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.442. The proposal for settlement executed by Clay-well, who suffered significant injuries in the vehicular collision, offered to settle her lawsuit for $240,000, if Gonzalez’s insurance company, GEICO, tendered a check in the amount of $240,000 made payable to her.
1
The offer was not accepted and,
We conclude that the proposal for settlement was invalid and unenforceable because it was impossible for Gonzalez to meet the conditions of the proposal.
2
Specifically, the proposal required that GEICO, a nonparty, tender a check well in excess of its policy limits of $25,000, even though there has been no determination that GEICO is liable to pay more than its policy limits.
See Boston Old Colony Ins. Co. v. Gutierrez,
REVERSED.
Notes
.Clay well’s proposal for settlement provides, in pertinent part, as follows:
2. The Plaintiff, Dawn Elizabeth Claywell, makes this Proposal for Settlement to the Defendant, Roger J. Gonzalez.
3. Plaintiff’s Proposal for Settlement is made in an attempt to settle the above styled lawsuit.
4.Plaintiff, Dawn Elizabeth Claywell agrees to settle the above-styled lawsuit for $240,000 on the following conditions:
a. Defendant, Roger J. Gonzalez, accepts Plaintiff’s Proposal for Settlement; and
b. Defendant, Roger J. Gonzalez’s insurance company, GEICO, tenders a check made payable to Plaintiff, Dawn ElizabethClaywell, and her attorneys, Emmanuel, Sheppard and Condon, for $240,000 within fourteen (14) days from the date on which Defendant, Roger J. Gonzalez, accepts Plaintiff’s Proposal for Settlement.
5. If the conditions in paragraph 4 above are met in a timely fashion. Plaintiff, Dawn Elizabeth Claywell, will dismiss the above styled lawsuit with prejudice.
. After a thorough review of the record, we are satisfied that Gonzalez preserved his argument that the proposal for settlement was invalid and unenforceable.
