ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY, APPELLANT,
v.
ROBERTO AND MARIA BLANCO, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 2001-07-18
No. 3D00-255
Before LEVY, FLETCHER, and RAMIREZ, JJ.
791 So. 2d 515 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (2001) Positive Treatment
Cited by 16 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Allstate Insurance Company appealed an award of prejudgment interest to homeowners Roberto and Maria Blanco for hurricane damage losses. The Third District Court of Appeal reversed, holding that prejudgment interest should be computed from the date of the appraisal award, not the date of loss, and since Allstate paid within the contractually-allowed timeframe, no prejudgment interest was due.


Holding

Prejudgment interest is properly computed from the date of the appraisal award, not the date of loss, because the appraisal award is when actual damages are liquidated. Since Allstate paid within the contractually-allowed sixty-day period, the Blancos are entitled to no prejudgment interest. However, attorney's fees for litigating entitlement to fees may be awarded, and prejudgment interest accrues on previously awarded attorney's fees.


Headnotes

[1] Prejudgment interest in an insurance claim is computed from the date of the appraisal award, not the date of loss, when the claim involves a supplemental claim for damage…

[2] An insured is not entitled to prejudgment interest on an appraisal award if the insurer pays the award within the time period allowed by the insurance policy.

Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Key Quotes

“[A] plaintiff is entitled to prejudgment interest when it is determined that the plaintiff has suffered an actual, out-of-pocket loss at some date prior to the entry of judgment.”

Establishes the foundational rule for prejudgment interest eligibility requiring a vested property right loss.

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

The Blancos' home was damaged by Hurricane Andrew in August 1992, and Allstate promptly paid their initial claim. Five years later, the Blancos submit…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Plaintiffs Roberto and Maria Blanco’s Motion for Rehearing is granted. We withdraw our opinion filed on June 6, 2001 and substitute the following in its place.

Allstate Insurance Company, defendant below, appeals an award of prejudgment interest to plaintiffs Roberto and Maria Blanco. We reverse because prejudgment interest should have been computed from the date of the appraisal award, not the date of loss.

The Blancos were insured by Allstate when their home was damaged by Hurricane Andrew. They submitted a claim which Allstate promptly paid. Five years later, the Blancos submitted a supplemental claim for Hurricane Andrew losses and received an appraisal award on February 26, 1999, which Allstate paid on March 30, 1999. The Blancos were awarded prejudgment interest from August 24, 1992, the date of loss.

“[A] plaintiff is entitled to prejudgment interest when it is determined that the plaintiff has suffered an actual, out-of-pocket loss at some date prior to the entry of judgment.” Alvarado v. Rice, 614 So. 2d 498, 499 (Fla.1993). The cases that recognize a right to prejudgment interest have all involved the loss of a vested property right. Id. Here, the Blancos’ supplemental claim was similar to the medical expenses at issue in the Alvarado case in that the Blancos had not suffered the loss of a vested property right. Thus, the Blancos were not entitled to prejudgment interest prior to receiving an appraisal award which determined their actual loss. See also Liberty Mutual Ins. Co. v. Alvarez, 785 So. 2d 700 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001); Aries Ins. Co. v. Hercas Carp., 781 So. 2d 429 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001)(stating that the insured was entitled to prejudgment interest from the date of the appraisal award as that was the date on which the damages were liquidated).

Thus, prejudgment interest is awarded from the date of the appraisal award and would normally have been awarded from February 26, 1999, rather than from the date of loss. However, the insurance policy provisions allowed Allstate sixty days within which to pay the appraisal award and Allstate made payment within the allotted time. Thus, the Blancos are not entitled to receive any prejudgment interest.

The Blancos cross-appeal the denial of their request for costs and attorney’s fees incurred while litigating entitlement to costs and attorney’s fees. We agree that attorney’s fees may properly be awarded for litigating the issue of entitlement to attorney’s fees. See State Farm Fire & Casualty Ins. v. Palma, 629 So. 2d 830, 833 (Fla.1993). Although the parties ultimately stipulated as to the Blancos’ entitlement to attorney’s fees, this issue was initially contested. Therefore, the requested fees were incurred while litigating entitlement to fees, not merely for litigating the appropriate amount of fees to be awarded, and the Blancos’ request for costs and fees should be granted.

The Blancos should also be awarded pre-judgment interest on the previously awarded attorney’s fees, with interest accruing from the date entitlement to attorney’s fees was fixed through agreement, arbitration award, or court determination. See Quality Engineered Inst. v. Higley South, 670 So. 2d 929, 931 (Fla.1996).

Accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s denial of the Blancos’ motion for attorney’s fees and costs incurred while litigating entitlement to said fees and costs, and reverse the denial of prejudgment interest on previously awarded attorney’s fees. The cause is remanded with directions to strike the pre-judgment interest award and for a determination of the amount of any additional fees required by this opinion.

Reversed and remanded.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By (11 total)

  • Lexington Ins. Co. v. Ramdas and Chitra Bhandari, 807 So. 2d 727 (Fla. 3d DCA 2002)
    …, therefore, affirm that portion of the judgment. However, we reverse the prejudgment interest award. Insureds are not entitled to pre-judgment interest from the date of the loss under the circumstances of this case. See Allstate Ins. Co. v. Blanco, 791 So. 2d 515 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001); Allstate Ins. Co. v. Martinez, 790 So. 2d 1151 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001), review granted, No. SC01-1622, 805 So. 2d 804 (Fla. Jan. 15, 2002); Liberty Mut. Ins. Co. v. Alvarez, 785 So. 2d 700 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001)(holding that Aries Ins. Co…
  • Allstate Ins. Co. v. Martinez, 790 So. 2d 1151 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001)
  • Sunshine State Ins. Co. v. Davide, 15 So. 3d 749 (Fla. 3d DCA 2009)
    …stating that “prejudgment interest may be awarded from the date of the appraisal award unless policy provisions allow the insurer to pay the award within a certain period, and payment was made within the allotted time”); Allstate Ins. Co. v. Blanco, 791 So. 2d 515, 516 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001) (reversing prejudgment interest award from the date of damage to insureds’ home “because prejudgment interest should have been computed from the date of the appraisal award, not the [*751] date of loss”); Allstate Ins. Co. v.…

Previewing 3 of 11 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw