45 Fla. L. Weekly D515b
291 So. 3d 203
Insurance — Appraisal — Disinterested appraiser — Insured’s public adjuster who is entitled to contingency fee from recovered insurance proceeds may not serve as a disinterested appraiser
STATE FARM FLORIDA INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant, v. BILLIE THOMPSON, Appellee. 5th District. Case No. 5D19-1782. Opinion filed March 6, 2020. Appeal from the Circuit Court for Brevard County, Charles J. Roberts, Judge. Counsel: Kara Rockenbach Link and Daniel M. Schwarz, of Link & Rockenbach, PA, West Palm Beach, and Frank H. Killgore, Jr. and M. Megan Fuller, of Killgore Pearlman Semanie Denius & Squires, P.A., Orlando, for Appellant. Matthew G. Struble and Christine D. Skubala, of Struble, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, for Appellee.
(PER CURIAM.) State Farm Florida Insurance Company appeals the trial court’s final summary judgment rendered in favor of its insured, Billie Thompson, in the declaratory relief action filed by her. The sole issue presented in this appeal is identical to the issue that this court recently addressed in State Farm Florida Insurance Co. v. Crispin, 45 Fla. L. Weekly D288 (Fla. 5th DCA Feb. 7, 2020), namely — “whether an insured’s public adjuster who is entitled to a contingency fee of insurance proceeds recovered may serve as a ‘disinterested appraiser’ as required by an insurance contract’s alternative dispute resolution process.” Our answer to the question in that case was no.
Accordingly, based on our decision in Crispin,1 we reverse the final summary judgment entered in this case.
REVERSED. (COHEN, WALLIS, and LAMBERT, JJ., concur.)
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1In light of Crispin, Thompson’s counsel has professionally conceded error.
