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Appraisal Required to Resolve Extent of Loss\\nPost 4786\\n\\nIn an insurance dispute stemming from Hurricane Ian. The parties agree \\nthat their case should go to appraisal to determine the extent of the \\nloss.\\n\\nWhen an insurance policy contains an appraisal provision, \\u201cthe right to \\nappraisal is not permissiv\\ne but is instead mandatory, so once a demand for appraisal is made, \\n\\u2018neither party has the right to deny that demand.\'\\u201d [McGowan v. First \\nAcceptance Ins. Co., Inc., 411 F.Supp.3d 1293, 1296 (M.D. Fla. 2019) \\n(quoting United Cmty. Ins. Co. v. Lewis, 642 So.2d 59, 60 (Fla. 3d DCA \\n1994)].\\n\\nLike other stipulations about dispute resolution, the Court enforces \\ncontractual appraisal provisions by non-dispositive order. Therefore, in\\n Buena Vista Of Deep Creek Condominium Association, Inc. v. Clear Blue \\nSpecialty Insurance Company, No. 2:23-cv-957-SPC-KCD, United States \\nDistrict Court, M.D. Florida (November 27, 2023) the court concluded \\nthat because appraisal will not dispose of any claims or defenses, the \\nCourt did not treat the motion to compel appraisal as one for summary \\njudgment.\\n\\nSince the parties agreed that appraisal is appropriate, their request \\nwas granted. Further, the parties requested a stay during appraisal \\nwhich was also granted because the Hurricane Ian Scheduling Order \\ncontemplates such relief if the parties agree that appraisal is \\nappropriate. Thus, the case will be stayed.\\n\\nAll deadlines and events in the Hurricane Ian Scheduling Order are \\nsuspended. The parties have agreed that the appraisal panel must itemize\\n the awarded damages by coverage, to be accompanied by a supporting \\nestimate. Though the parties cite no contractual provision that requires\\n such an award, because the parties agree, their request will be \\ngranted.\\n\\nAccording, it is hereby ORDERED:\\n\\nThe Joint Stipulation for Appraisal and Stay of the Case was GRANTED, \\nand the appraisal panel must itemize the awarded damages by coverage, to\\n be accompanied by a supporting estimate.\\nThis case is STAYED pending appraisal, and the Clerk must add a stay \\nflag to the file and administratively close the case.\\nThe parties are DIRECTED to file a joint report on the status of \\nappraisal on or before February 26, 2024, and every ninety days \\nthereafter until appraisal has ended.\\nWithin 15 days of a signed appraisal award, the parties are directed to \\njointly notify the Court of (a) what issues, if any, remain for the \\nCourt to resolve; (b) whether the stay needs to be lifted; and (c) how \\nthis action should proceed, if at all.\\nZALMA OPINION\\n\\nThe Appraisal condition of a first party property policy is an \\nextra-judicial means of resolving disputes between an insurer and an \\ninsured about the amount of loss. Since the parties agreed that \\nappraisal was an appropriate manner of resolving that limited dispute \\nthey moved to stay the action in hopes that the appraisal result will \\nallow the parties to resolve all their differences. The court understood\\n and issued orders to fulfill the agreement of the parties.\\n\\n(c) 2023 Barry Zalma & ClaimSchool, Inc.\\n\\nPlease tell your friends and colleagues about this blog and the videos \\nand let them subscribe to the blog and the videos.\\n\\nSubscribe to my substack at \\nhttps://barryzalma.substack.com/publish/post/107007808\\n\\n\\nGo to Newsbreak.com\\xa0 https://www.newsbreak.com/@c/1653419?s=01\\n\\n\\nFollow me on LinkedIn: \\nwww.linkedin.com/comm/mynetwork/discovery-see-all?usecase=PEOPLE_FOLLOWS&followMember=barry-zalma-esq-cfe-a6b5257\\n\\n\\nDaily articles are published at https://zalma.substack.com. Go to the \\npodcast Zalma On Insurance at \\nhttps://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/barry-zalma/support; Go to Barry\\n Zalma videos at Rumble.com at https://rumble.com/c/c-262921; Go to \\nBarry Zalma on YouTube- \\nhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCysiZklEtxZsSF9DfC0Expg;\\xa0 Go to the \\nInsurance Claims Library \\u2013 \\nhttp://zalma.com/blog/insurance-claims-library.