Florida
Amelia Island Company v. Amerisure Insurance Company
Year: 2009
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit
Case Number: 10-10960G
Issue:
  • Property Damage
State:
  • Florida

Whether the negligent installation of nondefective materials and components constitutes covered “property damage” under the standard CGL policy.
Amado Trinidad v. Florida Peninsula Insurance Company
Year: 2011
Court: Florida Supreme Court
Case Number: SC11-1643
Issue:
  • Contractor’s Overhead and Profit
  • Homeowners Insurance
  • Replacement Cost Value
State:
  • Florida

A homeowner purchased an insurance policy that provided Replacement Cost Value (RCV) coverage on his dwelling. A policyholder reasonably expects that by paying an additional premium for this type of coverage, (which is superior to “actual cash value” (ACV) coverage), he or she will recover…
Washington National Insurance Corporation, Petitioner/Appellant Vs. Sydelle Ruderman, Et Al. Respondents/Appellees.
Year: 2012
Court: Florida Supreme Court
Case Number: SC12-323
Issue:
  • Ambiguity
  • Extrinsic Evidence
  • Policy Interpretation
State:
  • Florida

UP briefed this case to defend Florida’s long-standing rule that an ambiguous insurance policy must be interpreted in favor of the policyholder. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled for a class of home health care policyholders by finding the policy’s benefit provision ambiguous, but…
Sebo v. American Home Assurance Co.
Year: 2014
Court: Florida Supreme Court
Case Number: SC 14-897
Issue:
  • Concurrent Causation
  • Efficient Proximate Cause
State:
  • Florida

Insurance coverage in cases involving concurrent causation (i.e., multiple causes, some covered, some not) has been the subject of great debate, with courts settling on two principal rules of law – the concurrent cause and efficient proximate cause doctrines. For over a quarter-century, Florida has…
Lemy v. Direct General Finance Company
Year: 2014
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit
Case Number: 12-14794-FF
Issue:
  • Surplus Lines
State:
  • Florida

UP weighed in to prevent insurers from abusing the surplus lines marketplace to circumvent consumer protections and sell policies to Florida consumers that the former FL Insurance Commissioner labeled as a “scam.” In UP’s amicus brief, we point out that the lower court’s holding will…
Raffone et al v. First American Title Ins. Co.
Year: 2015
Court: Court of Appeal, First District
Case Number: 1D14-4791/2004-CA-78
Issue:
State:
  • Florida

Florida law imposes a non-delegable duty on title insurers to charge a lower reissue rate when a property is refinanced with clear title. UP argued in it’s brief that title insurers are sophisticated data collectors who can and should be able to locate prior owner’s…
Catherine Cadle v. GEICO
Year: 2015
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit
Case Number: 15-11283
Issue:
  • Bad Faith/Summary Judgment
  • Failure to Settle
State:
  • Florida

Under Florida law, whether a liability insurer has failed to settle in good faith when it could and should have settled a claim is determined under the totality of the circumstances standard, with each case determined on its own facts. Ordinarily, the question of failure…
De La Fuente v. Florida Insurance Guaranty Association
Year: 2015
Court: Florida Supreme Court
Case Number: SC15-519/2D13-3543
Issue:
  • Covered claims
  • Insolvency obligations
State:
  • Florida

Under Florida law, when insurers become insolvent, the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (“FIGA”) becomes legally obligated to pay covered claims. In cases where the policy is amended, either by the carrier or by legislative or FIGA directive, insurance money must be available when a policyholder…
Maplewood Partners v. Indian Harbor Ins. Co.
Year: 2015
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit
Case Number: 15-11953
Issue:
  • Attorney-Client and Work-Product Privilege
  • Tripartite Relationship
State:
  • Florida

The District Court set a dangerous precedent in regards to the discovery and use of documents protected by the attorney-client privilege and work product immunity in insurance coverage cases. If the decision is allowed to stand, communications between an insured and the attorney it hires…
Auto Owners Ins. Co. v. Elite Homes
Year: 2016
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit
Case Number: 3:14-cv-01182-TJC-MCR
Issue:
  • Duty to Defend
State:
  • Florida

Under Florida law, the duty to defend under a liability policy is triggered when the complaint brought by a third party against the insured alleges any cause of action or damages that create even a possibility of coverage. In other words, the duty to defend…
Altman Contractors, Inc. v. Crum and Forster Specialty Insurance Company
Year: 2016
Court: Florida Supreme Court
Case Number: SC-16-1420
Issue:
  • Duty to Defend
State:
  • Florida

The duty to defend is the most fundamental duty of a liability insurer. The duty to defend is broader than the duty to indemnify. On certified question from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, the Florida Supreme Court was asked to address whether the notice…
Vasquez v. Southern Fidelity Property and Casualty Inc.
Year: 2016
Court: Florida Court of Appeal, Third District
Case Number: 3D16-915/15-12314 CA 01 (25)
Issue:
  • Actual Cash Value
State:
  • Florida

Under Florida law, an insurance company is obligated to pay actual cash value (“ACV”) without requiring the policyholder to first complete the repairs necessary to collect full replacement cost. However, the ACV amount is a question of fact and the insurance company is not permitted…
Lexon Ins. Co. v. City of Cape Coral
Year: 2016
Court: Florida Court of Appeal, Second District
Case Number: 2D16-1533/12-CA003073
Issue:
  • Performance Bonds
State:
  • Florida

A typical surety relationship is created where a contractor undertakes a construction project and obtains a bond to assure its performance. Contractors that undertake public projects generally are required by statute to obtain both payment and performance bonds. If the contractor on a public project…
Richard L. Fowler et al v. Caliber Home Loans et al
Year: 2017
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit
Case Number: 16-16585
Issue:
  • Force-placed Insurance
  • Regulatory Approval of Rates
State:
  • Florida

In general, state insurance regulators must approve an insurer’s rates before their insurance products are sold to the public. The effect of this is that generally plaintiffs are barred from bringing claims against insurers for unfair or discriminatory rates. This is known as the “filed-rate”…
Ryan Escobar v. Tower Hill Signature Ins. Co.
Year: 2017
Court: Florida Court of Appeal, Third District
Case Number: 15-28620 CA 01
Issue:
  • Actual Cash Value
State:
  • Florida

The Florida Legislature has mandated under Fla. Stat. § 627.7011(3)(a) that a property insurer must pay the actual cash value (“ACV”) of a homeowner’s property loss without first requiring repairs to the property. Here, the insurer made a payment based upon its adjuster’s estimate of…
Harvey v. Geico
Year: 2017
Court: Florida Supreme Court
Case Number: SC17-85
Issue:
  • Bad Faith
State:
  • Florida

The Florida Supreme Court held there was substantial evidence to support the jury’s finding that Geico acted in bad faith in failing to settle a fatal car crash claim against its policyholder and reinstated the jury’s $9.2 million verdict against Geico. See: https://www.uphelp.org/blog/guest-blog-supreme-court-fl-rules-favor-policyholder-application-floridas-bad-faith-law
Travelers Indem. Co. v. Mckenzie & Sons, Inc. et al.
Year: 2018
Court: Eleventh Circuit
Case Number: No. 18-13172-D
Issue:
  • Duty to Defend
State:
  • Florida

In its brief, UP argues that the District Court erred in determining Travelers did not owe a duty to defend based on Exclusion (j)(5). Examination of the plain language and intent of the exclusion makes clear that the exclusions have a limited application that does…
Prime Time Sports Grill, Inc. v. DTW1991 Underwriting Limited, A Certain Interested Underwriter at Lloyd’s London
Year: 2020
Court: United States District Court Middle District of Florida
Case Number: 8:20-cv-00771-CEH-JSS
Issue:
  • COVID-19
State:
  • Florida

In its brief, UP opposed a Motion to Dismiss and seeks to address the limited issue that the certain covered causes of loss (such as COVID-19 and civil authority orders) can in good faith be alleged to have caused “direct physical loss or damage.” UP…