{"id":104305,"date":"2014-10-24T06:54:19","date_gmt":"2014-10-24T12:54:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=104305"},"modified":"2014-10-22T11:56:23","modified_gmt":"2014-10-22T17:56:23","slug":"florida-appellate-court-defines-meaning-term-disinterested-relates-appraisal-provision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/florida-appellate-court-defines-meaning-term-disinterested-relates-appraisal-provision\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Appellate Court Defines The Meaning Of The Term “Disinterested” As It Relates To Appraisal Provision"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shaun Marker |\u00a0Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog | October 5, 2014<\/p>\n

Recently, Florida\u2019s Fifth District Court of Appeal (\u201c5th DCA\u201d) interpreted an appraisal provision of an insurance policy which stated that a party must select a \u201ccompetent and disinterested appraiser.\u201d1 Some other things were discussed in the opinion which I will discuss in further posts, but this part is instructive on what it means for a party\u2019s appraiser to be \u201cdisinterested\u201d if the policy appraisal provision requires.<\/p>\n

The Brancos’ home sustained suspected sinkhole damage in April 2010. They reported the loss to their homeowner’s insurer, HomeWise Preferred Insurance Company a few days later. In response, HomeWise retained an engineering firm to perform a limited structural assessment. Following receipt of the engineer’s report, HomeWise denied the Brancos’ claim, asserting that a \u201csinkhole loss,\u201d as defined in the policy, had not occurred. Several months later, the Brancos sued HomeWise for breach of contract. HomeWise filed its answer in May 2011, denying that it had breached the insurance contract because the Brancos’ property had not sustained a covered loss.<\/p>\n

In November 2011, HomeWise was declared insolvent and FIGA stepped in to deal with the \u201ccovered claims\u201d within the scope of the enabling statutes. As a result, the Brancos’ case was automatically stayed. In August 2012, after the stay expired, the Brancos filed an amended complaint, substituting FIGA as the named defendant due to HomeWise’s insolvency. FIGA then asked the court for an additional stay to allow further investigation of the claim. The court extended the stay, and FIGA completed its additional testing in early March 2013. On April 8, 2013, FIGA answered the Brancos’ amended complaint, admitting, for the first time, \u201cthat sinkhole activity was identified as a contributing cause of damage to the [Brancos’] property,\u201d and that the Brancos \u201care entitled to the amount payable for the actual repair of the loss\/actual repairs to the property, not to exceed policy limits. . . .\u201d<\/p>\n

The Brancos demanded appraisal in a letter to FIGA on April 30, 2013. On May 23, 2013, the Brancos moved the court to compel appraisal. The appraisal provision of the policy stated:<\/p>\n

6. If you and we fail to agree on the amount of loss either may<\/p>\n

….<\/p>\n

b. Demand an appraisal of the loss. In this event each party will choose a competent and disinterested appraiser within twenty (20) days after the receipt of a written request from the other<\/p>\n

(1) The two appraisers will choose a competent and independent umpire<\/p>\n

(2) The appraisers will separately set the amount of the loss and assign the amount of loss attributable to each specific policy coverage<\/p>\n

(3) If the appraisers submit a written report of an agreement to us, the amount agreed upon will be the amount of the loss<\/p>\n

(4) If they fail to agree, they will submit their difference to the umpire<\/p>\n

(5) A decision by any two must assign the amount of loss attributable to each specific policy coverage<\/p>\n

FIGA argued that the trial court was wrong in ordering appraisal after the Brancos nominated one of their own attorneys as an appraiser, violating the policy’s requirement of \u201cdisinterested\u201d appraisers. The Brancos concede that their policy requires disinterested appraisers, and admit that their attorney is \u201ca partner in the law firm representing them.\u201d Further, the attorney represented them below, as his name appeared on several documents filed on their behalf. The 5th DCA reviewed whether the attorney was \u201cdisinterested\u201d and noted that parties to a contract are free to contract for the qualifications of the decision makers in their preferred form of alternative dispute resolution. The court noted that no Florida case has squarely addressed whether a party’s attorney may serve as a \u201cdisinterested appraiser.\u201d<\/p>\n

The court stated that:<\/p>\n

The policy provision, which requires a \u201cdisinterested appraiser,\u201d expresses the parties’ clear intention to restrict appraisers to people who are, in fact, disinterested. Given the duty of loyalty owed by an attorney to a client, we conclude that attorneys may not serve as their clients’ arbitrators or appraisers when \u201cdisinterested\u201d arbitrators or appraisers are bargained for.<\/p>\n

The 5th DCA held:<\/p>\n

\u201cDisinterested\u201d is defined as \u201c[f]ree from bias, prejudice, or partiality; not having a pecuniary interest; a disinterested witness>,\u201d Black’s Law Dictionary 536 (9th ed.2009), and \u201cnot having the mind or feelings engaged: not interested … free from selfish motive or interest: unbiased,\u201d Merriam\u2013Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary 333 (10th ed.2000). The latter also defines \u201cdisinterestedness\u201d as \u201cthe quality of being objective or impartial.\u201d (defining \u201cdisinterested\u201d as \u201clacking or revealing lack of interest,\u201d \u201cnot influenced by regard to personal advantage,\u201d \u201cfree from selfish motive,\u201d or \u201cnot biased or prejudiced\u201d).<\/p>\n

The court reversed the part of the order that allowed the policyholders\u2019 attorney to serve as their appraiser.<\/p>\n

This case contains defining words for the term \u201cdisinterested\u201d as used in the appraisal provision. The opinion also contains many other interesting parts for discussion we will address in the next post. So stay tuned, as those involved in appraisals may be interested in what the other part of the Court\u2019s opinion says.<\/p>\n

1 FIGA v. Branco, 5D13-2929, 2014 WL 4648208 (Fla. 5th DCA Sept. 19, 2014).<\/p>\n

via Florida Appellate Court Defines The Meaning Of The Term “Disinterested” As It Relates To Appraisal Provision : Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shaun Marker |\u00a0Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog | October 5, 2014 Recently, Florida\u2019s Fifth District Court of Appeal (\u201c5th DCA\u201d) interpreted an appraisal provision of an insurance policy which stated that a party must select a \u201ccompetent and disinterested appraiser.\u201d1 Some other things were discussed in the opinion which I will discuss in further posts,… Continue reading Florida Appellate Court Defines The Meaning Of The Term “Disinterested” As It Relates To Appraisal Provision<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[131,3],"class_list":["post-104305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-insurance-claims","tag-insurance-appraisal","tag-insurance-claims","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nFlorida Appellate Court Defines The Meaning Of The Term "Disinterested" As It Relates To Appraisal Provision - 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