2020

45 Fla. L. Weekly D2274a

Insurance — Property — Hurricane damage — Appraisal — Insurer did not waive right to appraisal by choosing to cover only part of loss claimed by insured or by abating original appraisal after being served with insured’s lawsuit — Insurer did not actively participate in lawsuit by moving to compel appraisal after suit was filed — Insurer did not engage in conduct inconsistent with right to appraisal by ordering appraiser to stop working on the appraisal when it was already a month into the process — Trial court erred in denying motion to compel appraisal

45 Fla. L. Weekly D756b
300 So. 3d 1240

Insurance — Appraisal — Video and audio recording — Appeals — Certiorari — Trial court did not depart from essential requirements of the law in allowing insured to make a video and audio recording of insurer’s appraiser’s inspection of the insured property — Allowing insured to record appraisal does not violate appraiser’s constitutional right to privacy, as constitutional right to privacy protects persons from governmental, not private, intrusion — Possibility that making of the recording might be unfairly used to harass or intimidate the appraiser does not rise to the level of irreparable harm

45 Fla. L. Weekly D1149a

Insurance — Homeowners — Appraisal pursuant to appraisal provision in Preferred Contractor Endorsement — Waiver — Insurer did not waive right to compel appraisal by not invoking its appraisal right as an affirmative defense to insured’s breach of contract action where insurer, in the same pleading containing affirmative defenses, asserted counterclaims seeking insureds’ compliance with appraisal provision — Insurer did not waive right to compel appraisal because its counterclaim sought to void policy because of insureds’ refusal to participate in appraisal — Party will not be deemed to have waived appraisal unless party’s litigation position is inconsistent with party’s assertion of right to appraisal — Demand for appraisal was not untimely where insurer sent insureds letter demanding appraisal before it had notice of insureds’ lawsuit — Remand for trial court to reconsider insurer’s motion to compel appraisal and to determine order in which coverage issues and appraisal are determined

45 Fla. L. Weekly D2463a

Insurance — Appraisal — Dispute over coverage and amount of loss — Action involving insurer that initially ceded coverage before subsequently arguing that policy was void due to insured’s allegedly fraudulent estimate — Trial court acted within its discretion by compelling appraisal where it is clear that coverage dispute is intertwined with the amount of loss and appraisal would likely assist the trial court when it later determines whether insured fraudulently inflated its claim — Court adopts dual-track approach to determining the order in which the trial courts should resolve damages and coverage issues — Trial court has discretion to determine the order in which the issues of damages and coverage are to be determined, and may compel appraisal on dual-track basis while preserving all of the insurer’s rights to contest coverage as a matter of law — Conflict certified

45 Fla. L. Weekly D1521b

Insurance — Homeowners — Appraisal — Trial court erred in determining that Preferred Contractor Endorsement subjecting scope of work disputes to appraisal is invalid because of insurer’s alleged failure to provide a statutory notice of change in policy terms — Notice of Change in Policy Terms included in policy renewal package was sufficient to provide statutory notice of change — Trial court erred in determining that insurer waived its right to appraisal because of its failure to provide statutory notice of insureds’ right to participate in mediation at the time insureds first filed a claim of loss — When attorneys for insureds signified that the means and costs of repair estimated by parties had ripened into a dispute, insurer gave timely and compliant notice to insureds of their right to participate in mediation under Department of Financial Services program

45 Fla. L. Weekly D259a
299 So. 3d 1148

Insurance — Homeowners — Appraisal — Trial court properly ordered parties to submit to appraisal where insurer elected to repair covered loss and parties failed to agree on amount of loss, including scope of repairs — Appeals — Non-final orders — Court lacks jurisdiction to review portions of non-final order other than that ordering parties to submit to appraisal

45 Fla. L. Weekly D787a
292 So. 3d 1260

Insurance — Homeowners — Storm damage — Appraisal — Insurer was entitled to enforce insurance policy’s appraisal provision where it did not wholly deny coverage for insureds’ claim — Insurer did not wholly deny coverage when it took stance that policy permitted it to replace damaged or missing shingles with shingles that did not match other shingles on roof

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

45 Fla. L. Weekly D870d

Insurance — Homeowners — Appraisal — Insureds’ agent/public adjuster acting as disinterested appraiser — Insurer’s petition for writ of certiorari seeking to quash trial court order allowing insureds’ agent/public adjuster to act as insureds’ disinterested appraiser — Trial court did not depart from essential requirements of law because its order followed district court’s existing precedent — Petition for writ of certiorari denied — Conflict certified — 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?

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