2012

37 Fla. L. Weekly D712b
84 So. 3d 390

Insurance — Homeowners — Mediation — Appraisal — Appeals — Mediation requested by insured — Second-tier certiorari review of order denying insurer’s motion to compel appraisal finding that insurer had waived the appraisal process by participating in unsuccessful mediation — Error for lower courts to rely upon administrative rule implementing section 627.7017, Florida Statutes, because rule improperly expanded scope of the statute by stating that insured could choose to proceed by litigation when parties are unsuccessful at mediation — Statute only contemplates waiver of appraisal by insurer if insurer failed to notify claimant of its right to participate in mediation program, or if insurer requests meditation which is unsuccessful, neither of which was present in this case

37 Fla. L. Weekly D511a
83 So. 3d 908

Insurance — Homeowners — Appraisal — Trial court erred in granting insured’s motion to compel appraisal without conducting an evidentiary hearing where there was an issue of fact as to whether insured had complied with post-loss obligations

37 Fla. L. Weekly D1115a
86 So. 3d 1259

Insurance — Automobile liability — Declaratory action by insurer seeking declaration that policy issued to insured corporation was void ab initio due to a fraudulent, material misrepresentation by insured when it failed to include on driver’s list submitted with application the name of the driver who was involved in accident — Trial court erred in entering summary judgment for defendant on ground that the term “driver” was ambiguous because the term was not defined in application — Issue of ambiguity involves material questions of fact as to whether driver of vehicle was an employee of insured corporation, how often driver drove for insured when application was completed, what effects prior dealings between parties had on insured’s understanding of terms in application, and whether insurer’s failure to use its Non-Specified Operators form impacted insured’s ability to properly complete application

37 Fla. L. Weekly D884b
84 So. 3d 1238

Insurance — Homeowners — Appraisal — Summary judgment in favor of insurer, holding that insured breached insurance policy by terminating an appraisal umpire and filing suit before completing the appraisal process, thereby rendering the insurance policy ineffective and relieving insurer of its contractual obligations, was improper because genuine issues of material fact remained — Where there was a breakdown in the appraisal process relating to umpire’s slow pace, insured’s appraiser’s unilateral action to remove the umpire without having authority to do so was improper but may not necessarily constitute a refusal by the insured to comply with the presuit condition to complete the appraisal process — The issue of whether this constituted a material breach of the policy is a question remaining for resolution by the fact finder

37 Fla. L. Weekly S395a
94 So. 3d 541

NOT FINAL VERSION OF OPINION
Subsequent Changes at 37 Fla. L. Weekly S407a

Insurance — Property — Hurricane damage — Florida law does not recognize a claim for breach of the implied warranty of good faith and fair dealing by an insured against its insurer based on the insurer’s failure to investigate and assess the insured’s claim within a reasonable period of time — Such first-party claims are actually statutory bad-faith claims that must be brought under section 624.155, Florida Statutes — An insured cannot bring a claim against an insurer for failure to comply with the language and type-size requirements of the hurricane deductible notice requirements established by section 627.701(4)(a), Florida Statutes — Insurer’s failure to comply with the language and type-size requirements of section 627.701(4)(a) does not render a noncompliant hurricane deductible provision in an insurance policy void and unenforceable — Language in a policy mandating payment of benefits upon “entry of final judgment” does not waive the insurer’s procedural right to post a bond and stay execution of a money judgment pending resolution of appeal

37 Fla. L. Weekly D1051a
86 So. 3d 1198

Insurance — Property — Declaration of benefits — Breach of contract — Appeals — Certiorari — Petition as to order directing petitioner to create privilege log and provide documents under seal for in camera inspection is denied because it is premature — Order compelling petitioner to produce its entire claim file is quashed where order departs from the essential requirements of law and will cause irreparable harm

37 Fla. L. Weekly S691a
104 So. 3d 344

Insurance — Citizens Property Insurance Corporation — Bad faith — Sovereign immunity — Appeals — Appellate review of a claim of immunity by Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, a state-created entity, from a bad faith cause of action arising out of the handling of a property damage claim, is not subject to appellate review before entry of final judgment — Writ of prohibition is not available to review claim of immunity where state has partially waived sovereign immunity — Writ of certiorari is not available to review merits of claim of immunity where there is no showing of a departure from the essential requirements of law and no showing of irreparable harm — Continuation of defending lawsuit does not constitute irreparable harm — Court declines to amend rules of appellate procedure to create new exception to allow for review of a non-final order denying a motion to dismiss based on a claim of immunity asserted by a state-created entity — Circuit court’s denial of Citizens Property Insurance Corporation’s motion to dismiss bad faith claim on basis of sovereign immunity is not reviewable

37 Fla. L. Weekly D475a
80 So. 3d 429
Insurance — Aircraft — Passenger liability insurance — Personal accident reinsurance policy providing coverage for death or injury to passengers in specified amount “not exceeding 10x annual salary” — Ambiguities — Action against reinsurer which denied reimbursement for claims arising out of death of passengers in aircraft crash on ground that reinsurance policy covered only employed passengers — Trial court correctly concluded that contract was ambiguous as to whether policy provided coverage only to employed passengers — Because of unique and highly specialized nature of insurance provided, and because of factual dispute as to which party chose the language of the policy, case is one in which extrinsic evidence should be used to help resolve ambiguity in policy — Remand to allow parties to submit extrinsic evidence on what, if any, coverage is provided to unemployed passengers — Court notes that factual dispute exists regarding role of broker and whether his knowledge and understanding of policy can be imputed to plaintiff as its agent

37 Fla. L. Weekly D2488a
99 So. 3d 625

Insurance — Uninsured motorist — Attorney’s fees — Contingent award — Appeals — Certiorari — Order awarding contingent attorney’s fees in action against insurer for uninsured motorist benefits, although a departure from essential requirements of current law, will not cause any irreparable damage to insurer — Order is essentially preemptive determination of issues that may or may not arise in subsequent action for bad faith, and the relevance of the order in a subsequent lawsuit is a matter for resolution by judge in that proceeding