Florida Second District Court of Appeal Holds Pre-Suit Requirement Does Not Apply Retroactively to Policies Purchased Before § 627.70152 Enactment
By Douglas M. Cohen
In Buis v. Universal Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co., No. 2023-0655, 2024 Fla. App. LEXIS 6910 (2d DCA Sep. 6, 2024), the Second District Court of Appeal sided with the Sixth District Court of Appeal in Hughes v. Universal Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co., 374 So. 3d 900 (Fla. 6th DCA 2023) which held that the pre-suit notice requirement in Fla. Stat. Section 627.70152 is a substantive statutory change that cannot apply to a claim brought under an insurance policy purchased before the statute’s enactment. Like the Sixth District, the Second District found that there is no clear legislative intent or language for section 627.70152 to apply retroactively to policies entered before it was enacted.
Conversely, both the Third and Fourth District Courts of Appeal held that filing a pre-suit notice of intent to initiate litigation is a condition precedent to filing suit under a property insurance policy and applies to all suits filed after the July 1, 2021, effective date. See Cantens v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s London, 388 So. 3d 242 (Fla. 3d DCA 2024); Cole v. Universal Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co., 363 So. 3d 1089 (Fla. 4th DCA 2023)
In Buis the Second District joined in the certification of conflict between Cantens and Cole.
Douglas M. Cohen