STATE FARM FLORIDA INSURANCE COMPANY v. THOMPSON (2020)

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.

STATE FARM FLORIDA INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant, v. Billie THOMPSON, Appellee.

Case No. 5D19-1782

Decided: March 06, 2020

Kara Rockenbach Link and Daniel M. Schwarz, of Link & Rockenbach, PA, West Palm Beach, and Frank H. Killgore, Jr. and M. Megan Fuller, of Killgore Pearlman Semanie Denius & Squires, P.A., Orlando, for Appellant. Matthew G. Struble and Christine D. Skubala, of Struble, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, for Appellee.

State Farm Florida Insurance Company appeals the trial court's final summary judgment rendered in favor of its insured, Billie Thompson, in the declaratory relief action filed by her. The sole issue presented in this appeal is identical to the issue that this court recently addressed in State Farm Florida Insurance Co. v. Crispin, 45 Fla. L. Weekly D288, 290 So.3d 150, 2020 WL 593345 (Fla. 5th DCA Feb. 7, 2020), namely—“whether an insured's public adjuster who is entitled to a contingency fee of insurance proceeds recovered may serve as a ‘disinterested appraiser’ as required by an insurance contract's alternative dispute resolution process.” Our answer to the question in that case was no.

Accordingly, based on our decision in Crispin,¹ we reverse the final summary judgment entered in this case.

REVERSED.

FOOTNOTES

1. In light of Crispin, Thompson's counsel has professionally conceded error.

PER CURIAM.

COHEN, WALLIS, and LAMBERT, JJ., concur.

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