Florida 4th DCA Reverses Trial Court Order in Kidwell Grp., LLC v. Safepoint Ins. Co.

By Kelly M. Vogt

In Kidwell Grp., LLC v. Safepoint Ins. Co., the trial court dismissed a complaint filed by Kidwell as assignee of benefits under a homeowner’s insurance policy for failure to satisfy Fla. Stat. § 627.7152(2)(a) because the invoice was unexecuted. Section 627.7152(2)(a) requires that an assignment agreement must be executed and contain an itemized, per-unit cost estimate of the services to be performed.

The Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District, found that, taking the allegations in the complaint as true, the invoice was provided with, and fully incorporated into, the executed assignment agreement and therefore should have been treated as part of the assignment agreement. It was therefore error for the trial court to find that the invoice should have been separately executed.

The amended complaint filed by Kidwell alleged that the appellant and the insureds entered into an assignment agreement for “forensic engineering services with incorporated written, itemized, per unit cost invoice in the amount of $3,000.” The invoice and assignment agreement were attached to the amended complaint.

Arguing that the separate invoice did not satisfy Section 627.7152(2)(a), the insurer moved to dismiss and cited Kidwell Group, LLC v. United Property & Casualty Insurance Co., 343 So. 3d 97 (Fla. 4^th DCA 2022) in support.

The trial court then dismissed the amended complaint with prejudice.

The Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal found that, pursuant to Section 627.7152(2)(a), an assignment agreement must comply with certain requirements and must be “in writing and executed by and between the assignor and the assignee” and “[c]ontain a written, itemized, per-unit cost estimate of the services to be performed by the assignee.”

Thus, the trial court erred in failing to construe the invoice as part of the assignment agreement, as the assignment agreement and invoice were both attached to the amended complaint, and the invoice was provided with and fully incorporated with the assignment agreement, satisfying the requirements of Section 627.7152(2)(a).