January 24, 2023
ShareKelley Kronenberg Secures Another Summary Judgment Against Air Quality Assessors
In this suit involving the repeat plaintiff, The Kidwell Group d/b/a Air Quality Assessors (“AQA”), Kelley Kronenberg First-Party Property Partner, Kurt Ciell, secured a Summary Judgment in favor of State Farm Insurance Company, averting all financial exposure and a potential claim for bad faith. The honorable Judge Jason L. Jones presided.
The homeowners in this action executed an Assignment of Benefits (“AOB”) with a representative of Air Quality Assessors on November 18, 2020. The same day, AQA presented the homeowner with an invoice totaling $3,500.00 for an “Engineer Report,” noting payment is due within thirty (30) days. On or about October 13, 2021, AQA filed the instant action seeking to recover the sum due under the invoice.
As the AOB was executed after July 1, 2019 and met the elements of Florida Statutes §627.7152(1)(b), the Court found validity of the agreement (and Plaintiff’s standing to bring suit) was premised on compliance with every provision of §627.7152. In this regard, the Court concluded the assignment agreement between the insured and the Plaintiff lacked a “written, itemized, per-unit cost estimate of the work to be performed” by Plaintiff, as required under §627.7152(2)(a)4. The judge ruled that, despite purporting to be created on the same day the assignment agreement was signed, the “invoice” was plainly a demand for payment for services performed, and not an “estimate” of proposed costs of services to be performed, rejecting Plaintiff’s argument that an invoice is better than an estimate.
The Court granted Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgement, thereby shielding our client from financial liability and a potential claim for Bad Faith, had Plaintiff prevailed on the underlying action.
This marks just one of Kurt Ciell’s eleven wins against The Kidwell Group in 2022.