The Florida Supreme Court ruled that PIP (Personal Injury Protection) insurers may pay 80% of a charge submitted by a provider, even when that reimbursement amount is less than the amount that would be reimbursable under the...more
Am. Coastal Ins. Co. v. San Marco Villas Condo. Ass’n, Inc., SC2021-0883, 2024 WL 369079 (Fla. 2024) - The defendant, San Marco, filed a property claim with its insurer, American Coastal, for damage sustained to its property...more
Faircloth arose from a November 2014 motor vehicle accident involving a 20-year-old driver who was served alcohol at Potbelly’s bar and an 18-year-old pedestrian who was served alcohol at Cantina 101. The guardianship for the...more
As a dispute-resolution mechanism, appraisal can be an effective means of resolving a valuation dispute between an insurer and its policyholder. Appraisal provisions may include language that allows an insurer to deny a claim...more
We bring you our March Insurance Update. As college basketball programs embark on the road to the final four, we select our top four insurance cases from the past month. In a dispute over the priority of coverage, the...more
“If you and we fail to agree on the amount of loss, either party can demand that the amount of the loss be set by appraisal. . . . [e]ach party will select a qualified, disinterested appraiser[,]” is a phrase known all too...more
Most of the Florida homes in the path of Hurricane Ian lack flood insurance, posing a major challenge to rebuilding efforts, new data show. In the counties whose residents were told to evacuate, just 18.5 percent of homes...more
On April 28, 2022, the Florida Supreme Court issued its decision in Dial v. Calusa Palms Master Association, Inc., which addressed the question: DOES THE HOLDING IN JOERG V. STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE CO., 176...more
Ohio- RESPA Actual Damages- Miller v. Bank of New York Mellon, 6th Cir. No. 21-1126, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 35755 (Dec. 1, 2021) In this appeal, the Sixth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of the borrower’s...more
In most circumstances involving an insurer’s extension of coverage for a property loss, an appraisal provision in an insurance policy provides an insured and an insurer a mechanism by which to resolve disagreements regarding...more
Resources - Florida Supreme Court Amends Summary Judgment Procedural Rule to Mirror Federal Doctrine - Florida courts have required the moving party to "conclusively disprove" the nonmovant's theory of the case in...more
Lawyers and insurance industry professionals are undoubtedly familiar with motions for summary judgment. For years, Florida state courts have followed their own summary judgment standard. While similar to the rule followed by...more
In first-party breach of insurance contract actions, the parties oftentimes dispute whether the policyholder may seek damages that are not explicitly provided for in the policy, with the policyholder arguing such indirect...more
On January 21, 2021, the Supreme Court of Florida issued an important decision in Citizens Property Insurance Corp. v. Manor House, LLC, et. al., SC19-1394 (Fla. 2021), disallowing an insured to recover extra-contractual,...more
Florida law allows an insured to recover attorney’s fees if the insured prevails in a lawsuit against the insurer for insurance benefits. See § 627.428, Florida Statutes....more
The Supreme Court of Florida recently issued an opinion in Altman Contractors, Inc. v. Crum & Forster Specialty Ins. Co., No. SC16-1420, 2017 WL 6379535 (Fla. Dec. 14, 2017), which impacts an insurer’s duty to defend and...more
First party insurance claims involving multiple perils present unique challenges when assessing whether an insurance policy provides coverage. For example, suppose an insurance policy covers damage resulting from fire, but...more
Contingency fee multipliers increase attorney fee awards substantially. The general custom in American law is that each party is responsible for his or her own attorney’s fees, regardless of the outcome of the action. See...more
Florida has been plagued with insurance fraud for decades. All insurance coverages are susceptible to fraud, but scams are especially prevalent in the context of automobile accidents. Staged crashes, patient brokering,...more