In Patios West One Condominium Association, Inc. v. American Coastal Insurance Company, No. 3D22-1895 (Fla. 3d DCA Jan 3, 2024), the Third District Court of Appeal (DCA) reversed and remanded a trial court’s order denying an insured’s motion to compel appraisal on the grounds that the insured’s notice of supplemental or reopened claim was legally insufficient since it failed to incorporate an estimate for damages. In reversing the order, the Third DCA explained that neither section 627.70132, Florida Statute, nor the insurer’s policy language expressly require an insured to submit any such estimate with its notice of a supplemental or reopened claim. It further held the facts in Goldberg v. Universal Property and Casualty Insurance Company, 302 So. 3d 919 (Fla. 4th DCA 2020), were distinguishable, explaining the Goldberg requirement that an estimate be submitted with a notice of supplemental or reopened claim is nothing more than dicta, and to the extent that this was the holding in Goldberg, it ignores the plain language of section 627.70132
For more information, see the opinion here.
