November 2010

The day before Thanksgiving last week, the Florida Third District Court of Appeal issued a non-final opinion in the case of Citizens Property Ins. Corp. v. Galeria Villas Condo. Ass’n, No. 3D10-807, 2010 WL 4740049 (Fla. 3d DCA Nov. 24, 2010).Continue Reading Condominiums Need to Cooperate with Insurer Requests Before Demanding Appraisal

Two of Florida’s largest property management companies disagree over whether commission splitting with the association’s insurance agent is a conflict. Some property managers feel that commission splitting is fine and actually induces competitive pricing on insurance quotes for their associations. For example, if the property manager is intricately involved in the association’s efforts to obtain the insurance quotes, then the manager may be able to induce the association’s current insurance agent to match bids from competitors looking to write the policy. Property managers familiar with the association can provide competitive information to the agencies in this regard. Annual commissions on association policies can be tens of thousands of dollars, and, as an incentive for the placement, they are often split with the agents in this type of arrangement.Continue Reading Some Property Managers Split Commissions with Insurance Agents when Placing an Association’s Insurance

A few weeks ago, in my post, David Thompson’s Dirty Dozen Condo Insurance Exclusions, I wrote about property elements that were excluded from the master condominium policy under Fla. Stat. § 718.111(11)(f). I left that post a little open-ended by not nailing down how specific property items that are not expressly excluded in the statute would be treated, and I received a few questions following that post. To recap, Fla. Stat. § 718.111(11)(f)3 excludes from a master condominium insurance policy: (1) “personal property”, (2) a list of specific items such as floor coverings and electrical appliances, and (3) items that are “located within the boundaries of the unit and serve only such unit.”Continue Reading More on Condominium Insurance Exclusions

In Can a Condo Association Get Out of an Insurance Settlement Agreement? Jeremy Tyler discussed a recent California case involving a homeowner association’s challenge of an insurance settlement agreement. He provided an analysis into the factors an association would need to consider when attempting to challenge an insurance settlement agreement. Challenging such a settlement, even if based upon fraudulent inducement, can be a difficult decision for an association to make since, as Jeremy discussed, they may have to return the payment they did receive from the insurer. The facts in the case of Village Northridge Homeowners Ass’n v. State Farm Fire and Cas. Co., 237 P.3d 598 (Cal. 2010), where the policyholder alleged that the insurance company represented that the policy provided only $4.9 million worth of coverage when it in fact it provided $11.9 million, is very problematic and troubling.Continue Reading Florida Ethical Concerns Surrounding Insurance Settlement Agreements

In 2009 and 2010, areas of Colorado took a beating from strong hail storms. Through contacts with adjusters, appraisers, and contractors alike, I have heard numerous stories about improper claims handling and appraisal tactics of many insurers over the past year. It appears that the state of Colorado has heard these same complaints as well.Continue Reading Consumer Complaints Grow As A Result Of Colorado Hail Storm

Last week, the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal issued its ruling in Citizens Property Ins. Corp. v. Michigan Condo. Ass’n, No. 4D10-1794, 2010 WL 4226281 (Fla. 4th DCA Oct. 27, 2010). Michigan Condo. involved a condominium association that suffered damage to its property from Hurricane Wilma. The association timely notified its insurance company, Citizens, which investigated and estimated the amount of hurricane damage to be below the association’s insurance deductible. The association relied upon Citizens’ estimation, but later realized that damages were, in fact, in excess of the deductible, and reopened the claim. After Citizens had spent close to a year investigating the claim with no coverage decision, the association filed a Petition to Compel Appraisal in circuit court, based on the appraisal provision in the insurance policy. Citizens, in turn, denied coverage for the claim. Because there was a dispute in the amount of damage, with Citizens estimating the damage below the deductible and the association estimating the damage above the deductible, the circuit court ordered appraisal, and Citizens appealed.Continue Reading Must All Coverage Disputes Be Resolved Prior to a Court Order for Appraisal?