William gray and Pam Gray v. Florida Peninsula Insurance Company

Fort Meyers, Florida insurance lawyer lawyer represented Plaintiffs who sued Defendant on a bad faith breach of insurance contract theory.





Section 627.70132, Florida Statutes (2017), provides in relevant part:



A claim, supplemental claim, or reopened claim under an insurance policy that provides property insurance, as defined in s. 624.604, for loss or damage caused by the peril of windstorm or hurricane is barred unless notice of the claim, supplemental claim, or reopened claim was given to the insurer in accordance with the terms of the policy within 3 years after the hurricane first made landfall or the windstorm caused the covered damage.



Not in dispute is the date Hurricane Irma made landfall, which was September 10, 2017, and, also not in dispute is that the only paper timely submitted by the Grays to the Insurer relative to the present claim for roof damage was the first page (unsigned) of a letter of representation between the Grays and their public adjuster. The document was submitted on September 10, 2020. The letter of representation made no reference to a claim for roof damage in any way. Although the parties go to significant lengths to discuss what documents or information must be included to constitute a "notice of claim" under the statute, there is no feasible construction of the statute or policy language that could include what the Grays provided to their insurer.

Gray v. Fla. Peninsula Ins. Co. (Fla. App. 2023)

Summary judgment in favor of Defendant affirmed.