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

Is a condominium association responsible to repair casualty loss damage to the interior of individual condominium units? Generally the answer is no, but why not? After all, some state statutes like the Maryland Condominium Act require that the association repair or replace, “any portion of the condominium damaged or destroyed.” In the case of Anderson v. Council of Unit Owners of Gables on Tuckerman Condo., 948 A. 2d 11 (Md. App. 2008), the court took the opportunity to explain why not.

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While the holiday season usually brings good tidings and cheer, condominium associations and residents insured by Citizens Property Insurance Corporation can expect coal in their stockings this year. Once again, the state’s largest insurer plans to increase rates to Florida condominium residents between 19 and 20.6 percent on average leaving many dismayed, especially since it has been over 5 years since the last major hurricane.

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When asked if something is ripe, one might immediately think of fruit that is ready to eat. Similarly, the legal term “ripeness” means the readiness of a case for litigation. While a simple smell test may be all that is needed for fruit, the ripeness of a legal case, an insurance claim, and a legal case about an insurance claim, require a little more analysis.

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On March 7, 2011, Jeremy Tyler wrote Litigating The Right To Resolve Disputes Without Litigation, providing an excellent synopsis of various appeals Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (Citizens) pursued in the Florida Third District Court of Appeal related to compliance with policy conditions before appraisal. He discussed how Citizens is forcing policyholders to “proceed with evidentiary hearings to prove entitlement to an alternative dispute resolution proceeding that was, ironically, created as an alternative to litigation.” With so much contractual and judicial support for appraisal, policyholders may wonder what this evidentiary hearing that Citizens keeps requesting is supposed to accomplish.

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For the second straight term, a bill has been filed in the Florida Legislature designed to make changes to the well-settled legal principles that have successfully governed our state for many years and have held insurance carriers accountable when they act improperly.

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