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Florida appeals court reinstates insurer appraisal right after claim fight
The dispute started with a $947.5 repair estimate and later ballooned to a $149,867 claim, yet the court ruled a $100 settlement offer did not waive the appraisal clause.
A Florida appeals court has reversed a lower ruling and clarified when a property insurer can still invoke the policy appraisal process instead of taking a coverage dispute to a jury, after a homeowners claim escalated sharply in value. The case involved People’s Trust Insurance Company, which argued for appraisal rights in a fight over whether a loss met the deductible threshold.
According to Insurance Business, the insurer’s estimator valued repairs at $947.51, below the couple’s $1,000 deductible, and the coverage letter said the roof would be covered but not a bathroom ceiling. More than two years later, the homeowners returned with their own estimate of $149,866.98, and the insurer acknowledged it but did not change course.
Insurance Business said People’s Trust did not negotiate further after the homeowners filed suit, and it offered $100 to settle while stating it would not waive its policy rights to seek legal remedies. The trial court had found the insurer waived the appraisal clause through its conduct, but the appeals court applied a test focused on whether the insurer actively litigated or acted inconsistently with appraisal.
The appeals court held that a settlement offer alone is not a waiver and that an insurer can raise appraisal for the first time after a suit is filed, Insurance Business reported. It found People’s Trust’s conduct consistent with seeking appraisal, reversed the trial court, and sent the case back with instructions to compel appraisal.