Greenaker v. Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Co.
The Second District reversed a final judgment for a property insurer that had been entered after the trial court granted a motion in limine excluding all of the insureds' damages evidence on the ground that their contractor's estimate reflected replacement cost rather than actual cash value. The court held that a motion in limine cannot be used as a substitute for summary judgment or any other recognized pretrial dispositive procedure, and separately held that actual cash value includes labor, overhead, and other nontangible repair costs (subject to depreciation), not merely the value of damaged physical materials.
Key facts
- Homeowners insured under a replacement cost policy sought damages for property loss; the trial court granted the insurer's motion in limine excluding all of the insureds' damages evidence on the ground that their contractor's estimate reflected replacement cost rather than actual cash value.
- The trial court entered a final judgment for the insurer based on the in limine ruling without following summary judgment procedures or other recognized pretrial dispositive mechanisms.
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Why it matters
This is a significant win for policyholders in first-party property litigation: it squarely rejects the insurer argument that actual cash value is limited to depreciated damaged materials and excludes labor and other… — full analysis with a trial
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