State Farm Florida Insurance Co. v. Hochreiter
After a hail-damage dispute, the trial court compelled appraisal, then confirmed the appraisal award and entered partial final judgment for the insureds on the ground that State Farm had not timely asserted affirmative defenses within twenty days of the appraisal under the appraisal order. The Fifth DCA reversed, holding that the trial court denied State Farm due process by moving directly from the appraisal award to judgment on the merits without adjudicating the insurer's coverage and policy-compliance defenses.
Key facts
- State Farm disputed a hail-damage claim and the trial court compelled appraisal of the loss amount.
- After the appraisal award was issued, the trial court confirmed the award and entered partial final judgment against State Farm, finding the insurer had waived affirmative defenses by failing to assert them within twenty days following the appraisal.
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Why it matters
Reinforces the Licea/Hallet division of labor between appraisers and courts: appraisal fixes amount of loss, but coverage and policy-compliance defenses remain for judicial adjudication. Insurer counsel can cite this… — full analysis with a trial
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