45 Fla. L. Weekly D1923a
Insurance — Appraisal — Disinterested appraiser — Question certified: Can a fiduciary, such as a public adjuster or appraiser who is in a contractual agent-principal relationship with the insureds and who receives a contingency fee from the appraisal award, be a disinterested appraiser as a matter of law? — Conflict certified
STATE FARM FLORIDA INSURANCE COMPANY, Petitioner, v. PHYLLIS C. LONG, Respondent. 3rd District. Case No. 3D19-1593. L.T. Case No. 19-12609. Opinion filed August 12, 2020. On Petition for Writ of Certiorari from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, John W. Thornton, Jr., Judge. Counsel: Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin, P.C., and Michael A. Packer and Veronica N. Daniel (Fort Lauderdale); Link & Rockenbach, P.A., and Kara Rockenbach Link and David A. Noel (West Palm Beach), for petitioner. Alvarez, Feltman, Da Silva & Costa, P.L., and Paul B. Feltman, for respondent.
(Before EMAS, C.J., and HENDON and LOBREE, JJ.)
(HENDON, J.) For the reasons stated in State Farm Florida Insurance Co. v. Sanders, 45 Fla. L. Weekly D870 (Fla. 3d DCA Apr. 15, 2020), we deny the petition for writ of certiorari. As in Sanders, we certify express conflict with the Fifth District Court of Appeal’s decisions in State Farm Florida Insurance Co. v. Cadet, 290 So. 3d 1090 (Fla. 5th DCA 2020) [45 Fla. L. Weekly D411b], and State Farm Florida Insurance Co. v. Crispin, 290 So. 3d 150 (Fla. 5th DCA 2020) [45 Fla. L. Weekly D288a], as well as the decision of the Fourth District Court of Appeal in State Farm Florida Insurance Co. v. Valenti, 285 So. 3d 958 (Fla. 4th DCA 2019) [44 Fla. L. Weekly D2953a]. Further, we also certify the same question certified in Sanders as one of great public importance:
CAN A FIDUCIARY, SUCH AS A PUBLIC ADJUSTER OR APPRAISER WHO IS IN A CONTRACTUAL AGENT-PRINCIPAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE INSUREDS AND WHO RECEIVES A CONTINGENCY FEE FROM THE APPRAISAL AWARD, BE A DISINTERESTED APPRAISER AS A MATTER OF LAW?
Petition denied; conflict certified; question certified.
