Homeowners Choice Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co. v. Clark, 50 Fla. L. Weekly D648 (Fla. 1st DCA March 19, 2025) is an instructive, fact-intensive case identifying and analyzing an insured’s duties after loss, including providing prompt notice, repairing property, maintaining records and receipts and submitting an Actual Cash Value (ACV) estimate in a first party property action.
In a property insurance coverage dispute, our client, the insurer of the property, was sued by the property owner for the alleged failure to fully indemnify the owner for damage to the property.
On February 25, 2025, State Representative Randy Maggard (R) of Florida House District 054 introduced HB 1087, which proposes amending Fla. Statute Section §627.7015 that governs the alternative procedure for resolution of disputed property insurance claims
In Cindy Vo v. Scottsdale Ins. Co., No. 1D2023-2228 (Fla.1st DCA Feb. 26, 2025), the First DCA held that the statutory changes in Fla. Stat. § 624.1551, which require “an adverse adjudication by a court of law that the property insurer breached the insurance contract and a final judgment or decree . . . rendered against the insurer,” cannot be applied retroactively to causes of action which accrued prior to the change.
In Great Lakes Ins. Se. v. Torchiati, LLC, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida granted the Insured’s motion to compel appraisal for two different insured buildings, including a building for which coverage was denied.
In Holding Ins. Cos. Acc., LLC v. Am. Integrity Ins. Co. of Fla., 50 Fla. L. Weekly D111 (Fla. 5th DCA January 3, 2025), the 5th DCA held that (1) an assignment of post-loss insurance benefits is governed by Section 627.7152, Florida Statutes, if it involves transferring benefits from a person providing services to repair, restore, or replace property, even if the assignee does not personally perform those services; and (2) that an assignment that falls under Section 627.7152 but does not comply with its provisions is invalid and unenforceable, and the assignee lacks standing to sue the insurer for breach of contract.
Clausen Miller is pleased to announce that shareholder Kelly M. Vogt has been named Managing Partner of the firm’s Florida offices, overseeing the day-to-day operations and the attorneys and staff in 10 separate locations across Florida.
Congratulations to partner Nicholas Travis and associate Mykal Hill on successfully obtaining the dismissal of a negligence and fraud case against a real estate brokerage firm and sales agent in Florida.
In the case of State Farm Fla. Ins. Co. v. Feltes, Case No. 6D2023-0991, 2024 Fla. App. LEXIS 9247 (Fla. 6th DCA Nov. 27, 2024), the Sixth District Court of Appeal addressed a dispute over tear out insurance coverage for plumbing-related damages.
On May 21, 2024, in Bonsignore v. QBE Specialty Ins. Co., Case No. 1:23-CV-23812-PCH, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida granted an insurer summary judgment on a late-notice property insurance claim, ruling that an insured’s untimely notice prejudiced the insurer as a matter of law.
Nicholas W. Travis will share insights on property coverage at the Property & Liability Resource Bureau (PLRB) 2024 Claims Conference and Insurance Services Expo in Boston, Massachusetts on Tuesday, March 19 and Wednesday, March 20.
Clausen Miller is pleased to announce that six attorneys have been elected to Shareholder and five attorneys were elevated to Partner, effective January 1, 2024.
After years of failed efforts by Florida lawmakers to curb rampant abuse of assignment of benefits (“AOB”) applied to property insurance policies, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is expected to soon sign into law sweeping AOB reform approved by the Florida Legislature.
