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Legal Updates for Florida Coverage and Property Litigation

Court Grants Summary Judgment to Insurer, Finding No Breach Where Plaintiffs Failed to Submit Competing Actual Cash Value Estimate or Make Repairs

Amy Smith and Matthew Smith v. American Integrity Insurance Company of Florida, Circuit Court in and for 18th Judicial Circuit in and for Alachua County, Case No. 2023-CA-3587

June 1, 2025

by Danielle N. Robinson

The court ruled that an insurance carrier did not breach its policy by paying actual cash value damages alone because the plaintiffs neither submitted a competing actual cash value estimate nor made repairs required to trigger replacement cost value coverage.

American Integrity Insurance Company of Florida covered a claim filed by the plaintiffs and paid the actual cash value damages it estimated. In response, the plaintiffs submitted an estimate for damages they claimed to have incurred for replacement cost value damages. The estimate did not contain any amount for actual cash value damages. The plaintiffs sued American Integrity Carrier for breach of contract for failing to pay the full amount of damages they claim resulted from the loss. 

The defendant filed a motion for summary judgment, claiming it issued payment for the actual cash value of the damages it calculated and was entitled to judgement as a matter of law because the plaintiffs did not submit a “competing” estimate for actual cash value damages prior to filing suit. Instead, the plaintiffs submitted an estimate that calculated damages at a replacement cost value. 

The court found the policy issued by the defendant provided that it was liable for actual cash value damages initially and that the defendant is only liable to pay replacement cost value damages upon the plaintiffs’ incurring the costs to repair the damaged property. The court found the defendant was entitled to summary judgment because the plaintiffs did not present a competing actual cash value estimate in this breach of contract action. 

According to the court, when a policy provides for actual cash value damages until repairs are actually made, a carrier cannot have breached the policy by paying actual cash value damages when no repairs are made or a competing actual cash value estimate submitted prior to the filing of a lawsuit. Because the plaintiffs failed to provide a competing actual cash value estimate or make repairs prior to filing suit in this case, summary judgment was issued in favor of the defendant.  

 

Legal Update for Florida Coverage & Property Litigation – June 2025 is prepared by Marshall Dennehey to provide information on recent legal developments of interest to our readers. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. We would be pleased to provide such legal assistance as you require on these and other subjects when called upon. ATTORNEY ADVERTISING pursuant to New York RPC 7.1 Copyright © 2025 Marshall Dennehey, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted without the express written permission of our firm. For reprints or inquiries, or if you wish to be removed from this mailing list, contact tamontemuro@mdwcg.com.

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Ch. 2506 appeal, therefore res judicata could not be triggered to apply to the § 1983 action. Additionally, Sheetz moved to certify the issue to the Ohio Supreme Court, citing differing results between the second and sixth districts on this same issue. Centerville approached the question, not from a claim preclusion standpoint, but from the holding in Grava v. Parkman, Twp which states that a final judgment rendered on the merits bars all subsequent action based on the same transaction or occurrence.  In yet another approach, an objector argued that claim preclusion was satisfied because Sheetz could have raised its damages claims in the administrative appeal – Sheetz disagrees. In their analysis, the Supreme Court of Ohio broke down the elements of a claim preclusion analysis: 1) a prior final, valid decision on the merits by a court of competent jurisdiction; (2) a second action involving the same parties, or their privies, as the first; (3) a second action raising claims that were or could have been litigated in the first action; and (4) a second action arising out of the transaction or occurrence that was the subject matter of the previous action. The Court held that R.C. Ch. 2506 does not permit a party to argue damages as R.C. Ch. 2506 limits the common pleas jurisdiction as if it were sitting on appeal, and therefore can only affirm, reverse, vacate, or modify the appealed order, or can remand the case to the administrative body. Further, the Court held that Grava’s conclusion that a final judgment precludes additional litigation for different relief is inapplicable under this fact pattern because it was meant only to apply to those matters in which the plaintiff brings the exact same case twice, but for new relief. The Court found Grava was inapplicable because Sheetz could have requested damages or declaratory relief in the R.C. 2506 appeal. Therefore, Grava would be nothing more than dicta if it even did apply. Going further, the Ohio Supreme Court disavowed Sixth Circuit precedent which, in reliance on Grava and other district court decisions, permitted an owner to seeking relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alongside an administrative appeal. See Moore v Hiram Twp., 988 F.3d 353 (6th Cir.2021). The Ohio Supreme Court found that the Sixth Circuit had disregarded a critical decision in Community Concerned Citizens, Inc. v. Union Twp. Bd. of Zoning Appeals, 1993-Ohio-115, which clearly held that a R.C. Ch. 2506 appeal cannot be combined with a complaint seeking other claims for relief. Id. at ¶ 11. To that end, the Ohio Supreme Court has determined that the decisions Moore relied on (outside of Grava) are no longer good law, and that Moore was wrongly decided. The decision draws a clear procedural boundary: Chapter 2506 provides judicial review of an administrative decision, not a forum for independent claims seeking affirmative relief. Although Grava may place claims arising from a single transaction within the potential scope of claim preclusion, those claims are not barred unless the complete claim-preclusion test is satisfied. Because Sheetz could not have pursued damages or declaratory relief in its Chapter 2506 appeal, the separate action was not precluded. The remaining question for practitioners looking to apply or defend against this exception is when does the statute of limitations begin to run on damages and declaratory relief claims related to an administrative decision on appeal? A takings action in federal court has a 2-year statute of limitations, or as a state claim, 4 years (like the other tortious claims raised therein). Correlating this case with others, an administrative appeal will not likely toll the statute of limitations on claims based on a final decision by a municipal authority. Therefore, practitioners should look for these cases to be brought simultaneously.

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