There is a lot of litigation from Hurricane Wilma still proceeding in Florida state and federal courts. Much of that litigation has concerned whether the policyholders have complied with their post-loss duties to submit information, documentation and appear for examination under oath. During the last year or so, probably the heaviest litigated issue concerns whether the policyholder gave adequate notice of the loss to the insurer as required by policy terms. Insurers that raise such a defense are looking for a judgment on a technicality, and request the court to declare that they have no responsibility for any damages because the policyholder breached their duty to notify them of the loss.
Notice of Claim
Insurance Company Can Only Blame Itself For Ruling on Supplemental Claims
By Jeremy Tyler on
Posted in Condominium Associations
Last week on the Property Insurance Law Blog, I wrote about a condominium association that sued its insurance company for failing to discover all Hurricane Wilma damage. The association discovered additional damage several years after the storm, and rather than file a supplemental claim for damage, the association filed suit. The insurance company claimed that the association needed to notify it of the newly found damage and submit to a secondary investigation before it could recover benefits. Judge Robert N. Scola, Jr., of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, disagreed, finding that the insurance policy did not require a supplemental claim.…
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Important Decision for Hurricane Wilma Claims
By Corey Harris on
Posted in Condominium Associations, Court Opinion
The fact pattern is simple and quite common. An association suffered damages from Hurricane Wilma on October 24, 2005, and immediately notified its insurance carrier that the loss had occurred. The insurance carrier, in turn, retained an adjuster to investigate the loss and determine what was owed under the policy. After a brief inspection, the adjuster determines that the damages do not exceed the large hurricane deductible contained in the policy and denies payment.…
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Florida Appellate Court’s Recent Ruling Involving Insurer’s Late Notice of “Supplemental” Claim Defense
By Shaun Marker on
Recently, the Third District Court of Appeals issued an opinion reversing a summary judgment that had been entered in favor of an insurer in a case involving a condominium association’s hurricane damage claim. I wanted to write about the case because it is an interesting ruling related to the topic of an insurer’s late notice of a “supplemental” claim defense, which is a topic that Jeremy Tyler and I have written about previously.…