50 Fla. L. Weekly D702a FREEDOM OFFICES CORP., and MARIA BEHAR, Appellants, v. ROCKHILL INSURANCE COMPANY, et al., Appellees. 3rd District. Case No. 3D24-1339. L.T. Case No. 19-8418-CA-01. March 26, 2025. An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Vivianne del Rio, Judge. Counsel: Law Offices of Victor K. Rones, P.A., and Victor K. […]
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Insurance — Homeowners — Attorney’s fees — Proposal for settlement — Joint proposal — Validity — Property jointly owned by insureds as husband and wife — Trial court erred by awarding insurer attorney’s fees based on a rejected joint proposal for settlement it served on the insureds where proposal did not allow for each individual insured to independently accept or reject the proposal — Discussion of supreme court’s decision in Attorneys’ Title Insurance Fund, Inc. v. Gorka — Pursuant to Gorka, a proposal from a defendant to multiple plaintiffs which does not allow for each plaintiff to independently accept or reject the proposal is invalid — There is no exception for cases in which the multiple plaintiffs have a close personal or financial relationship
50 Fla. L. Weekly D739a Insurance — Homeowners — Attorney’s fees — Proposal for settlement — Joint proposal — Validity — Property jointly owned by insureds as husband and wife — Trial court erred by awarding insurer attorney’s fees based on a rejected joint proposal for settlement it served on the insureds where proposal did […]
Insurance — Bad faith — Conditions precedent to suit against insurer — Civil remedy notice — Trial court erred in denying insurer’s motion for summary judgment and allowing bad faith action to proceed where insurer was not given 60-day notice and opportunity to cure as required by section 624.155, Florida Statutes (2018) — Court rejects argument that filing notice with Department of Financial Services constituted giving notice to the insurer under 2018 version of statute
50 Fla. L. Weekly D641b PROGRESSIVE AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant, v. PEDRO GONZALEZ, et al., Appellees. 3rd District. Case No. 3D23-2247. L.T. Case No. 18-22406. March 19, 2025. An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Lisa S. Walsh, Judge. Counsel: Banker Lopez Gassler, P.A., and Chris W. Altenbernd and Ezequiel Lugo (Tampa), for […]
Torts — Action against towing service seeking damages sustained during purportedly illegal towing and further seeking declaration that towing lien perfected by towing service was void and unenforceable — Dismissal — Trial court erred in granting motion to dismiss in which defendant contended that documents attached to its motion established that tow was performed at direction of law enforcement and complied with mandates of section 713.78 — Grounds asserted in motion asserted factual findings that could not be properly resolved on motion to dismiss
50 Fla. L. Weekly D663a HENRY TIEN, Appellant, v. EXCALIBUR TOWING SERVICE CORP., Appellee. 3rd District. Case No. 3D24-0702. L.T. Case No. 21-22013-CC-25. March 19, 2025. An Appeal from the County Court for Miami-Dade County, Gloria Gonzalez-Meyer, Judge. Counsel: Henry Tien, in proper person. Herrera Law Firm, P.A. and Jose-Trelles Herrera, for appellee. (Before FERNANDEZ, […]
Insurance — Property — Coverage — Post-loss obligations — Prompt notice — Trial court erred by denying insurer’s motion for directed verdict asserting that insureds failed to meet certain conditions precedent required by the policy and failed to show that insurer did not provide requisite actual cash value or replacement cost under the policy — While insureds provided prompt notice of damage to covered real property as a result of hurricane, record shows that insureds did not promptly provide insurer with information regarding lost personal property — Because insurer notified insureds that they had to provide information regarding lost personal property two days after hurricane, notice of loss provided ten months later cannot be considered “prompt” — Furthermore, no record evidence shows that insureds provided insurer with receipts or proof of loss of fair rental value during time property had to be repaired — Even if summary of rental value for the year prior to the hurricane could be considered proper notice of rental value, notice was not promptly given — Because insureds failed to rebut presumption that insurer was prejudiced by insureds’ failure to provide prompt notice, insurer was under no obligation to make payments for claims of damaged personal property and fair rental value — Loss mitigation — Evidence shows that insureds did not make reasonable and necessary repairs to protect property from further damage after hurricane as required by policy where it took insureds six months to have roof and siding replaced and no other work has been done on the property since the hurricane — Maintenance of records and receipts — Insureds did not substantially comply with their post-loss obligation to keep accurate records of receipts, payments, or other documents showing their expenditures caused by hurricane — Because insureds never provided insurer with proof that they incurred costs requiring repayment, insurer was not required to pay for those claims — Amount of loss — Insurer was entitled to a directed verdict as to the claimed personal property damages where policy stated that insurer would only pay ACV of the items and, in addition to failing to provide prompt notice of claim, insureds failed to provide insurer with the RCV of the items and the appropriate allocated depreciation for the items — Without evidence of the proper expenses that should be deducted from the revenues for renting, a reasonable jury could not reach a verdict that insureds were entitled to the requested fair rental value loss in their sworn proof of loss and public adjuster’s estimate — Evidence was insufficient for a jury to conclude that insurer breached policy regarding payments for loss to the property itself where insureds paid ACV and insured could not show that insurer was liable for RCV under the policy — When an insured’s estimate and evidence provides only for RCV costs and no evidence is presented to challenge the insurer’s ACV payout, no breach of contract occurs when the insurer fails to pay monies under the insured’s estimate
50 Fla. L. Weekly D648b HOMEOWNERS CHOICE PROPERTY & CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, INC., Appellant, v. THOMAS CLARK and REBECCA CLARK, Appellees. 1st District. Case No. 1D2023-1622. March 19, 2025. On appeal from the Circuit Court for Escambia County. Amy P. Brodersen, Judge. Counsel: Curt Allen, Bryan D. Hull, and Laura B. Labbee of Bush Ross, […]