David Adelstein | Florida Construction Legal Updates
Insurance policies, particularly property insurance policies, have a concealment or fraud provision that, in essence, gives the insurer an out if the insured submits a fraudulent claim, a false claim, or conceals material facts. Unlike a traditional fraud claim where a party needs to prove intent, the provision is broad enough that it does not require any intent behind making a false statement. See Mezadieu v. Safepoint Ins. Co., 46 Fla.L.Weekly D691c (Fla. 4th DCA 2021). For this reason, and as exemplified below, do NOT blindly rely on a public adjuster or loss consultant’s estimate that contains false statements because those false statements, particularly if you know they are false, can play out badly for you! Review the estimate and ask questions about it to make sure you understand what is being included in the loss or damages estimate.
In Mezadieu, a homeowner submitted a claim to her property insurance carrier due to a second-floor water leak emanating from her bathroom. She submitted an estimate from her public adjuster that included damages for her kitchen cabinets directly below the second-floor bathroom, as well as other items on her first-floor. Her carrier denied coverage based on the exclusion that the policy excludes damage caused by “[c]onstant or repeated seepage of water or steam…which occurs over a period of time.”
The homeowner filed a lawsuit against her property insurance carrier. In interrogatory answers, she verified she was seeking the damages per the estimate prepared by her public adjuster. During her deposition, she reiterated this point. However, and this is a big however, she acknowledged that her public adjuster’s estimate contained false statements: “when asked if the reported leak caused damage to the kitchen cabinets, [she] disclosed that the cabinets had actually been damaged by a prior leak in the kitchen – a leak which [she] made a claim for with a different insurer – and the leak did not cause any damage to the kitchen cabinets.” Mezadieu, supra. Indeed, she conceded that her second-floor bathroom leak caused no damage to her kitchen and she did see any water damage on her first floor, although such damage was included in her public adjuster’s estimate.
The insurance carrier, after amending its affirmative defenses, moved for summary judgment based on the concealment or fraud provision which excluded coverage if an insured: “(1) Intentionally concealed or misrepresented any material fact or circumstance; (2) Engaged in fraudulent conduct; or (3) Made a false statement; relating to this insurance.” Mezadieu, supra.
The trial court granted summary judgment attributing the false statements to the homeowner “because she adopted the estimate as her own in both her sworn interrogatory answers and deposition testimony, and because [her adjuster] was acting as her agent.” Mezadieu, supra. The appellate court concurred because: (a) she adopted the estimate as her own statement; and (b) even if she did not intend to rely on false statements in her public adjuster’s estimate, the policy does not require that a false statement needs to be made with intent. As the appellate court explained, and reinforcing why reviewing and asking questions about any estimate is a must:
[An] insured cannot blindly rely on and adopt an estimate prepared by his or her loss consultant without consequence. This is not to say that an insured will always be bound by the representations made in an estimate prepared by his or her loss consultant. However, when an insured relied on or adopt an estimate containing material false statements to support his or her claim, the insured is bound by the estimate and cannot avoid application of the concealment or fraud simply because he or she did not prepare the estimate.