Kelley Kronenberg Partner Carlos Carmona, Jr. and Practice Partner Nicole Lazaroff defeated a motion for summary judgment brought by third-party claimants in a declaratory judgment action filed in Florida’s 11th Circuit Court, preserving the insurer’s right to void coverage on the grounds of the insured’s failure to cooperate with the investigation. The case involves $1 million in liability limits.  

The insurer filed the declaratory judgment action to establish that it had no obligation to defend or indemnify its insured, a Lyft driver, against third party injury claims. The insured had repeatedly failed to cooperate with the coverage investigation, declining to respond to multiple written phone and e-mail communications, failing to appear for three scheduled examinations under oath, and failing to produce requested records. Vehicle inspection and event data recorder analysis further revealed damage inconsistent with the facts of the reported loss, making the insured’s sworn testimony and records critical to the coverage determination. 

The third-party claimants moved for summary judgment, arguing that the insurer had waived its coverage defenses and could not proceed with the declaratory judgment action based on alleged violations of Florida Statutes section 627.426 and 627.4137, which govern claim reporting and administration requirements. Nicole drafted a response brief that became the road map for Carlos’s argument at the hearing. 

The Court sided with the defense on all counts. On the standing issue, the Court found that the statutory protections the claimants relied on apply specifically to insureds, not to third-party claimants, and that the claimants therefore lacked standing to seek summary judgment on those grounds. On the cooperation issue, the Court found a remaining factual dispute as to the level of the insured’s cooperation and the notice provided for two of the three scheduled examinations under oath, which must be resolved at trial.  

The ruling preserves the insurer’s ability to proceed to trial on the factual question of whether the insured’s failure to cooperate with the coverage investigation was sufficient to void coverage, keeping the defense of the declaratory judgment fully intact.  

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