McBeth and Jenny Collins v. Avatar Property & Casualty Insurance Company
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledNovember 12, 2021
Docket2D20-2798
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA
SECOND DISTRICT
McBETH COLLINS and JENNY COLLINS,
Appellants,
v.
AVATAR PROPERTY & CASUALTY
INSURANCE COMPANY D/B/A ELEMENTS
PROPERTY INSURANCE COMPANY,
Appellee.
No. 2D20-2798
November 12, 2021
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Collier County; Elizabeth Krier,
Judge.
George A. Vaka and Nancy A. Lauten of Vaka Law Group, Tampa;
and Kelly L. Kubiak of Merlin Law Group, Tampa, for Appellants.
Brian A. Hohman and Curtis Allen of Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig
LLP, Tampa; and Elizabeth K. Russo and Paulo R. Lima of Russo
Appellate Firm, P.A., Miami, for Appellee.
KELLY, Judge.
McBeth and Jenny Collins sued their insurer, Avatar Property
and Casualty Insurance Company, for breach of contract after
Avatar acknowledged the Collins' home had sustained a covered
loss and issued payment in an amount that was inadequate to
cover the cost to repair the home. Avatar moved for summary
judgment arguing the Collins' lawsuit was premature because no
further payment was due under the loss payment provision of the
policy and, therefore, it had not breached the contract of insurance.
We have previously rejected the argument Avatar relies on in
support of its claim that the lawsuit was premature. See Skene v.
Avatar Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co., 310 So. 3d 453, 453 (Fla. 2d DCA
2020); Curtis v. Tower Hill Prime Ins. Co., 154 So. 3d 1193, 1196
(Fla. 2d DCA 2015). We have also explained that even if the lawsuit
were premature, final summary judgment is not the appropriate
remedy. See Skene, 310 So. 3d at 453; Curtis, 154 So. 3d at 1196.
Accordingly, the trial court erred in granting final summary
judgment in favor of Avatar. We reverse the final judgment and
remand for further proceedings.
Reversed and remanded.
MORRIS, C.J., and LABRIT, J., Concur.
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Opinion subject to revision prior to official publication.
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