What happened: Florida’s Sixth DCA affirmed summary judgment for Citizens Property Insurance after a Hurricane Ian claim dispute.
Who’s involved: Citizens Property Insurance Corporation and two Lee County policyholders.
What’s at stake: Prejudgment interest and attorney’s fees on an appraisal award.
Why it matters: Insurers who follow appraisal timelines can defeat confession-of-judgment claims even when policyholders sue early.
Where it stands: Affirmed on appeal; not yet final pending rehearing window.
An $11,101 Hurricane Ian payout, against an estimate fourteen times higher, still was not enough to land two policyholders their attorney’s fees.
Florida’s Sixth District Court of Appeal on October 16 affirmed summary judgment for Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, ruling that paying an appraisal award does not amount to a confession of judgment.
The two Lee County policyholders reported hurricane damage in October 2022. Citizens accepted the claim and paid $11,101.19. The policyholders put their own figure at $157,727.
Citizens reinspected, reissued the initial payment at the policyholders’ request, and sent additional payments through June 2023. Eight days after the last payment, the policyholders filed a notice of intent to litigate. Citizens promptly invoked the policy’s appraisal clause.
The process hit a wall over umpire selection. Before appraisal could finish, the policyholders sued for breach of contract in September 2023, arguing Citizens had blown past a 90-day statutory window under section 627.70152(4)(b). Citizens moved to stay the case and compel appraisal. The trial court agreed.
An umpire was eventually chosen. The appraisal came back in the policyholders’ favor. Citizens paid within 60 days.
The policyholders argued that paying the award was a confession of judgment, meaning they were owed prejudgment interest and attorney’s fees on top. Citizens countered that the policy’s process worked exactly as designed and the lawsuit was never necessary.
The trial court sided with Citizens. So did the Sixth DCA.
The judge pointed to the court’s decision two weeks earlier, which held that the confession of judgment doctrine does not apply where the claims process has not broken down and the policyholder did not need to sue to get paid. The court quoted that ruling: “Nobody forced Letteri to sue to receive his benefits, and his lawsuit did not act as a necessary catalyst to resolve the dispute.”
The court also rejected the 90-day deadline argument, noting section 627.70152(4)(b) merely permits suit after that period. It does not require appraisal to be finished by then.
For property claims teams handling post-hurricane appraisals, the message is direct: invoke the clause promptly, pay the award on time, and an early lawsuit alone will not convert an appraisal payout into a confession of judgment.
