2015

40 Fla. L. Weekly D78a
162 So. 3d 140

Insurance — Commercial property — Sinkhole claim — Appraisal — Trial court erred in determining that appraisal clause in policy was unenforceable because policy provided that insurer retained right to deny claim following appraisal — Dispute over method of repair required to return property to its original state is subject to appraisal

40 Fla. L. Weekly D1810a
174 So. 3d 1028

Insurance — Excess liability — Misrepresentations on application — Error to enter judgment in declaratory judgment action finding that there was coverage under policy for an accident in which insureds’ son was involved where insureds failed to disclose in application that their son was a licensed operator living in the insureds’ home

40 Fla. L. Weekly D262c
155 So. 3d 1224

Insurance — Homeowners — Sinkhole claim — Rescission of policy — Misrepresentation of condition of home on applications for coverage — Error to enter summary judgment in favor of insurer based on insureds’ negative answer to question whether they had knowledge of any prior repairs made to any structures on insured location for cracking damage where insurer failed to establish beyond factual dispute that the answer to the question in the application was incorrect or a misrepresentation and further failed to establish that the representation was material to the acceptance of insurer’s risk or that true facts would have caused it not to issue policies

40 Fla. L. Weekly D442a
157 So. 3d 507

Insurance — Automobile — Rescission — Material misrepresentations on application — Identity of owner of vehicle — Trial court properly found that claimant made material mispresentations in insurance application, warranting rescission of policy, by misrepresenting that she was registered owner of vehicle — Trial court erred in failing to consider claimant’s argument that insurer waived its misrepresentation or confessed judgment when it made PIP payments to claimant’s medical care providers after claimant filed suit — Statute does not provide that contract is void ab initio because of insured’s misrepresentation, but instead gives insurer the right to rescind insurance contract if statutory criteria are met; and case law establishes the principle that an insurer can forfeit its right of rescission — Trial court erred in finding that claimant lacked standing to assert her waiver and confession of judgment arguments because she assigned her rights to PIP benefits to her medical care providers — Remand for trial court to resolve waiver issue on the merits or, alternatively, submit matter to a jury — Confession of judgment — Whether insurer made payments to providers as result of claimant’s lawsuit and, thus, whether this constituted a confession of judgment is question for trial court to resolve — Evidence — PIP payout ledger — Statute providing that evidence of furnishing, or offering or promising to pay, medical or hospital expenses or other damages occasioned by an injury or accident is inadmissible to prove liablity for injury or accident does not make such evidence inadmissible to prove insurer’s obligation to make payments for or on behalf of its insured based on contract of insurance

40 Fla. L. Weekly D1724a
186 So. 3d 6

Insurance — Commercial general liability — Coverage — Declaratory judgment — Appeals — Partial final judgment in declaratory judgment action which determined insurer’s duty to defend insured, but did not determine its duty of indemnification, is not a final appealable order or an appealable nonfinal order

40 Fla. L. Weekly D1849b
173 So. 3d 1075

Insurance — Liability — Bad faith — Appeals — Insurer’s claim that circuit court erred in allowing plaintiffs to bring third-party bad faith claim against insurer in underlying tort action against insureds is not within scope of review in instant appeal, filed after final judgment determining coverage issue — Rulings on bad faith claim were not necessary interlocutory steps leading to judgment on coverage — Court rejects suggestion that instant proceeding should be treated as petition for writ of certiorari to review circuit court’s rulings on bad faith issue, as insurer did not seek timely certiorari review of orders entered on bad faith issue

40 Fla. L. Weekly D2224d
175 So. 3d 921

Limitation of actions — Contracts — Insurance agents — Commissions — Where defendant agreed to pay commissions on various insurance policies each time it received a commission from an insurance company, contract was divisible, so that statute of limitations for each commission due plaintiff began to run when a commission was received by the defendant — Remand with instructions to award damages only for commission claims that accrued within four years of date complaint was filed

40 Fla. L. Weekly D2328b
175 So. 3d 946

Administrative law — Licensing — Insurance agents — Revocation — Appeal of final order revoking agency’s license after an informal proceeding — Reversal of order on appeal and remand to conduct formal hearing are required where it became apparent during course of informal hearing that material facts were in dispute

40 Fla. L. Weekly D250a
159 So. 3d 160

Insurance — Accidental death — Exclusions — Alcohol — Coverage was excluded under alcohol exclusion for death of insured who was killed while operating a jet ski while having a blood alcohol level in excess of the legal limit where the alcohol contributed to the accident — In order for alcohol exclusion to bar recovery under policy, it is necessary to show that there was some causal relationship between insured’s intoxication and his death, but it is not necessary to show that insured’s intoxication was the sole cause of the accident