Axis Surplus Insurance Co. v. Caribbean Beach Club Ass'n

164 So. 3d 684, 2014 WL 2900930, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 9721
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJune 27, 2014
DocketNo. 2D13-1057
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 164 So. 3d 684 (Axis Surplus Insurance Co. v. Caribbean Beach Club Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Axis Surplus Insurance Co. v. Caribbean Beach Club Ass'n, 164 So. 3d 684, 2014 WL 2900930, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 9721 (Fla. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

LaROSE, Judge.

Axis Surplus Insurance Company f/k/a Sheffield Insurance Corporation appeals the order granting final summary judgment to Caribbean Beach Club Association, Inc., on its claim for insurance proceeds. Caribbean claimed entitlement to those proceeds for the increased cost of construction of its time-share property. We affirm and write to explain how Axis waived a two-year limitation period on Caribbean’s claim.

Caribbean is a time-share condominium in Fort Myers Beach. A fire swept through the property in April 2003. Caribbean had insurance through Axis; fire was a covered peril. The policy limited damages resulting from the enforcement of an ordinance or law. Consequently, Caribbean paid an additional premium for coverage through an Ordinance or Law Coverage endorsement. Thus, if Caribbean incurred a loss from a covered peril, the [686]*686endorsement provided coverage for up to $2,500,000 for the increased cost of construction incurred as a result of the enforcement of an ordinance or law. The endorsement provides, in relevant part, as follows:

b. With respect to the Increased Cost of Construction:
(1) We will not pay for the increased cost of construction:
(a) Until the property is actually repaired or replaced, at the same or another premises; and
(b) Unless the repairs or replacement are made as soon as reasonably possible after the loss or damage, not to exceed two years. We may extend this period in writing during the two years.

Axis first inspected the damaged property on May 1, 2003. Axis and Caribbean knew that Lee County might enforce the “50% rule” contained in its ordinances. The 50% rule mandates that if a building is more than 50% damaged, any reconstruction or repair must comply with current building codes. If Lee County enforced the 50% rule, Caribbean would have to raise the entire building to meet existing flood elevation requirements. '

Caribbean and Axis cooperated in a common goal of repairing, not replacing, the damaged building; they tried to convince Lee County not to enforce the 50% rule. Unfortunately, in November 2004, some nineteen months after the fire, Lee County informed Caribbean and Axis that it would enforce the 50% rulé. Consequently, Caribbean would be required to replace its building to satisfy current flood elevation codes.

Axis and Caribbean continued to cooperate. Axis estimated that replacement would take about another twelve months, through the end of 2005. Axis engaged a contractor who prepared a $2.8 million estimate for replacement. Axis certainly knew, that Caribbean intended to replace the building and expected Axis to pay the full cost, including any cost to comply with current building codes.

There seems to be no dispute that Caribbean acted reasonably and diligently in attempting to repair or rebuild the property. As late as early June 2005, Axis remained prepared to pay the full replacement cost and continued to adjust the claim. The tide turned in late June 2005, when, for the first time, Axis told Caribbean that it would rely on the two-year clause in the Ordinance or Law Coverage endorsement to deny payment for increased construction cost because the replacement was not completed. Except for a general, nonspecific, reservation of rights letter, Axis never raised the two-year clause previously with Caribbean.

Ultimately, .Axis tendered the actual cash value amount of insurance proceeds but refused to tender any payments for the increased cost of construction due to code compliance. Our record discloses no evidence that the cost of reconstructing the building increased in any way due to the delay in obtaining a construction' permit or completing construction.1

Caribbean sued Axis for reimbursement of the increased cost of construction under the Ordinance or Law Coverage endorsement. In its summary judgment motion, Caribbean argued that the two-year clause was inapplicable through the doctrines of waiver, estoppel, impossibility, and lack of prejudice/immateriality. In opposition, Axis argued that the two-year clause was not a forfeiture provision that triggered [687]*687application of Caribbean’s theories, but, rather, some inchoate coverage provision that would spring into existence only upon actual repair or replacement of the property. The trial court agreed with Caribbean, concluding, in part, as a matter of law, that the two-year clause was a forfeiture provision, a provision that Axis waived. Caribbean and Axis stipulated that the increased cost of construction was $1,800,000.

Waiver cannot create coverage. Unijax, Inc. v. Factory Ins. Ass’n, 328 So.2d 448, 455 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976). Provisions that forfeit insurance coverage, however, can be waived by the insurer’s conduct. Lloyds Underwriters at London v. Keystone Equip. Fin. Corp., 25 So.3d 89, 92 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009). Characterization, therefore, is critical. A forfeiture occurs when the loss was covered in the first instance and has been lost by the insured’s actions or inactions. Id.

Generally, “clauses that are inclusionary or exclusionary, that outline the scope of coverage, or that delineate the dollar amount of liability” are described as pertaining to coverage, while “forfeiture clauses often include provisions such as filing a timely notice of claim and submitting proofs of loss, and are invoked to avoid liability for existing coverage.” Creveling v. Gov’t Employees Ins. Co., 376 Md. 72, 828 A.2d 229, 244-45 (2003).

Id. at 92-93.

The two-year clause falls in the latter category. It outlines neither the covered scope of loss nor dollar limits of coverage; rather, it imposes post-loss procedural requirements with which the insured must comply to receive payment for existing coverage. The increased cost of construction resulting from the enforcement of an ordinance or law “was plainly covered by the policy and a risk for which a premium was paid.” Id. at 93. The Ordinance or Law Coverage endorsement “provide[d] for the loss, or forfeiture, of that coverage should the insured fail to behave in a particular manner and comply with its provisions.” See id. Caribbean paid an additional premium for expanded coverage. The coverage evaporated when, through no fault of its own, Caribbean could not complete the replacement building within two years from the date of loss. Axis tardily invoked the two-year clause to avoid liability for an existing coverage. This was a forfeiture. See id. at 92-93.

Florida law abhors forfeitures. Johnson v. Life Ins. Co. of Ga., 52 So.2d 813, 815 (Fla.1951); Am. Fire & Cas. Co. v. Collura, 163 So.2d 784, 791 (Fla. 2d DCA 1964); Boca Raton Cmty. Hosp., Inc. v. Brucker, 695 So.2d 911, 912 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997). As a result, “[i]f an insurer intends to stand on any forfeiture reservation, it, should inform the insured as soon as practicable after it has ascertained facts upon which it bases its forfeiture.” Tiedtke v. Fid. & Cas. Co. of N.Y., 222 So.2d 206, 209 (Fla.1969). It is equally well established that “when an insurer has knowledge of the existence of facts justifying a forfeiture of the policy, any unequivocal act which recognizes the continued existence of the policy or which is wholly inconsistent with a forfeiture, will constitute a waiver.”

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164 So. 3d 684, 2014 WL 2900930, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 9721, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/axis-surplus-insurance-co-v-caribbean-beach-club-assn-fladistctapp-2014.