Condominium Insurance Law : Condo Insurance Lawyers & Attorneys : Merlin Law Group Law Firm : Tampa, Houston, Coral Gables & West Palm Beach

The story goes like this: A condominium association in South Florida incurred damage during Hurricane Wilma. The association called its insurer, which sent an insurance adjuster to inspect the damage.  The adjuster determined that the damages were below the deductible. The association's board of directors considered re-opening the claim while there is still time. Based on unit owner complaint, the Board recently discussed hiring insurance professionals to determine whether the condominium sustained more extensive damage than that found by the insurance company’s investigation. Unit owners within the association have expressed their feelings that it is imperative to conduct this investigation before it is too late. The unit owners have even threatened to sue the board for its inaction if the appropriate steps are not taken.

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Tampa, FL – September 15, 2010 – U.S. News Media Group and Best Lawyers have released the 2010 Best Law Firms rankings, marking the inaugural publication of this highly-anticipated annual analysis. Merlin Law Group is pleased to receive a number 1 metropolitan ranking for Tampa, FL, Insurance Law.

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Last week, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion in Buckley Towers Condo., Inc. v. QBE Insurance Corp., No. 09-13247, 2010 WL 3551609 (11th Cir. Sept. 14, 2010). The appeal and opinion dealt mostly with actual cash value (ACV) versus replacement cost value (RCV) damages, as well as law and ordinance damages and prejudgment interest. In a nutshell, actual cash value damages cover the cost of replacing the damaged property, minus depreciation, and replacement cost value damages cover the actual cost expended to replace the property, up to the policy limits. Michelle Claverol explained ACV and RCV calculations in much greater detail in her posts on the Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog titled, Understanding Replacement Cost Coverage: Valuation Issues in Florida, Part 5, and Replacement Cost Value Coverage After a Claim Denial: Florida Valuation Issues, Part 6.

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From the wildfires burning out of control in Colorado to the gas explosion that incinerated whole streets in California, fire damage seems to get more attention lately than the three tropical systems in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. Many associations have dealt with fires in one way or another. Whether it’s a grease fire in a kitchen or a blazing roof fire caused by a lightening strike, fires can cause millions of dollars of damage in a relatively short period of time.

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The question of whether a condominium unit owner must provide his or her association access to the interior of their unit to perform repairs or maintenance to common elements was recently addressed in a Florida appellate court opinion, Hollywood Towers Condo. Assoc., Inc. v. Hampton, 35 Fla. L. Weekly D1424a, 2010 WL 2509178 (Fla. 4th DCA June 23, 2010). Hollywood Towers, a Florida condominium association, became concerned with the structural integrity of the concrete balconies on each unit, so it hired experts to inspect each balcony. The balconies are common elements under the association’s declaration documents and are the responsibility of the association to maintain. The expert discovered that Ms. Hampton’s balcony, among many others, had suffered corrosion requiring repair. The expert concluded that demolition and repair work should be done from the inside of Ms. Hampton’s unit to remove the appropriate amount of concrete and rebar four inches past where the corrosion stopped. The association determined that it would install a temporary dust wall to Ms. Hampton’s unit, to separate the work area from the rest of the unit.

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A few weeks ago, Corey Harris and I briefly wrote about liability that can fall back on the insured in our respective posts, Errors in Insurance Application May Leave You with No Coverage and More on Errors in Insurance Applications. This week, presents a situation in which liability may fall back on the insurance agent. Similar to the situations mentioned the posts above, an insurance agent may be liable for errors in an insurance application, for giving improper insurance advice, or negligently failing to procure insurance for a customer. The laws vary from state to state, but generally insurance agents owe a duty to their customers, that, if breached, could make an insurance agent liable for resulting harm.

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In a recent post on Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog, Jeremy Tyler discussed general issues with the statute of limitations for filing lawsuits. As Jeremy correctly pointed out, the statute of limitations is a legal deadline for filing a lawsuit. If a lawsuit is not filed before the statute of limitations has expired, the lawsuit may be barred, despite the merits of the action. Complying with the statute of limitations is extremely important, and any association that suffered damages from Hurricane Wilma should pay close attention to the status of its claim and immediately make decisions on how to best proceed.

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