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Insurance coverage protection lawyer Illon Kantro and I had been making ready for our upcoming presentation on the Windstorm Insurance coverage Convention and mentioned a latest case concerning Florida’s necessities for discover of a supplemental or reopened declare.1 In case you are a policyholder, public adjuster, or contractor not concerned with a Florida loss, you possibly can cease studying. Solely Florida’s loopy politicians in mattress with the insurance coverage trade and its lobbyists would ever make such weird necessities into insurance coverage regulation.
For these concerned with Florida claims, the holding is critical:
Patios West One Condominium Affiliation, Inc. (Patios West) appeals the trial court docket’s order denying its movement to compel appraisal. The trial court docket denied the movement on the bottom that the discover of supplemental or reopened declare despatched by Patios West to its insurer was legally inadequate beneath part 627.70132, Florida Statutes (2017), as a result of it didn’t embody “some kind of estimate” of damages. In so ruling, the trial court docket relied upon our sister court docket’s determination in Goldberg v. Common Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co., 302 So. 3d 919 (Fla. 4th DCA 2020).
Upon our de novo evaluation, we maintain that the plain and unambiguous language of part 627.70132 doesn’t require that an insured present an estimate of damages as a way to adjust to the statutory requirement for offering an insurer with discover of a supplemental or reopened declare. We disagree with the Fourth District’s determination in Goldberg to the extent it holds in any other case, and reverse the trial court docket’s order within the immediate case.
What’s the lesson from this holding, and does this imply that the discover doesn’t have to incorporate an estimate of harm? “Higher protected than sorry” is the lesson. Estimates and full descriptions of loss needs to be offered. The court docket famous that its holding is opposite to a different appellate court docket, which raises the likelihood that the difficulty may very well be resolved by the Florida Supreme Courtroom. Different appellate courts may discover by hook or by crook till this authorized tie is damaged.
The Windstorm Insurance coverage Convention is a serious annual convention for the property insurance coverage claims trade. Panelists’ views from the insurance coverage trade and policyholder views are mentioned and respectfully debated. There isn’t a different convention prefer it in the US. In case you are a participant concerned with windstorms, together with hail-related claims, it’s a should attend convention.
The title of the put up, Invoice Berk and John Pappas Present a Distinctive Perspective About Insurance coverage Dangerous Religion Claims Dealing with and Claims Ethics Discovered Solely on the Windstorm Insurance coverage Convention, sums up that view. I made the next remark in that put up, which nonetheless holds true:
Going to seminars and discussions…assist these desirous to be the very best get there quicker. It isn’t a simple highway, however one everyone has to climb. Schooling is the quickest approach and much superior to the varsity of exhausting knocks discovered in your consumer’s dime.
Here’s a hyperlink for registration.
Thought For The Day   Â
Schooling is the important thing to unlocking the world, a passport to freedom.
—Oprah Winfrey
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