Alexander Appellate Law Wins Reversal in Fort Lauderdale Insurance Appeal

In 2018, Heather Silversmith’s home in Fort Lauderdale was damaged by a storm. Her homeowners insurer, State Farm, disagreed with her on the scope of damage, so her claim went to appraisal.

During the appraisal process, she sued State Farm to disqualify its appraiser and to request that her own appraiser be allowed to audio or video record the appraisal of her home.

The trial court ruled against her, finding that State Farm’s appraiser had a right to privacy under section 934.03, Florida Statues – Florida’s wiretapping statute.

Ms. Silversmith appealed, arguing that an appraiser has no reasonable expectation of privacy when inspecting an insured’s home.

In a unanimous opinion issued last week, the Fourth District Court of Appeal agreed with Alexander Appellate Law’s arguments and reversed. In ruling, the trial court reasoned:

The insured is correct that nothing in the policy precluded audio/video recording of an appraisal inspection and that the insurer's appraiser has no legitimate expectation of privacy while in the insured's home for the inspection.

The insurer has not identified anything that would validly preclude a homeowner from openly recording an inspection of her own home.

As recognized in State Farm Florida Insurance Co. v. Chirino, 300 So. 3d 1240, 1242 (Fla. 3d DCA 2020), where the court denied certiorari review of an order allowing a homeowner to record an inspection, the homeowner and her representatives have a right to be present during the inspection, and the insurer has shown nothing that precludes the homeowner or her representatives from openly making a recording of the inspection.

Silversmith v. State Farm Ins. Co., 4D20-2685, 2021 WL 2910240, at *1 (Fla. 4th DCA July 7, 2021).

You can find more coverage of the issue here: https://www.law.com/dailybusinessreview/2021/07/09/new-florida-appellate-ruling-puts-insurance-companies-on-notice-policyholders-are-allowed-to-record-appraisals/