Case Law Update: People's Trust v. Fernandez — Fifth DCA Says Insurer Did Not Waive Appraisal

On August 7, 2026, Florida's Fifth District Court of Appeal decided People's Trust Insurance Company v. Cesar Fernandez and Luz Fernandez, No. 5D2025-3174 — a nonfinal appeal from the Circuit Court for Flagler County (Judge Andrea Karyn Totten), lower tribunal case No. 2025-CA-000208. The homeowners sued People's Trust for breach of contract; the insurer moved to compel appraisal, and the trial court denied that motion on the ground that the insurer had waived appraisal. The Fifth District reversed and remanded with instructions to compel appraisal. The decision is “[n]ot final until disposition of any timely and authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or 9.331.”

What the Fifth District Decided

Because the facts were undisputed, the panel reviewed the order de novo and held that the trial court “incorrectly determined that Appellant acted inconsistently with its right to appraisal, thereby waiving that right.” Judge Harris wrote the opinion; Chief Judge Jay and Judge MacIver concurred.

One undisputed fact framed the appeal: the appraisal clause was not invoked until after the homeowners filed suit. Under the Fifth District's reading of existing law, that timing is not itself a problem. The opinion quotes NCI, LLC v. Progressive Select Insurance Co., 350 So. 3d 801, 810 (Fla. 5th DCA 2022) — “A party may invoke appraisal rights after litigation has commenced.”

How the Dispute Started

According to the opinion, the Fernandezes filed a claim on September 8, 2022 for damage their property sustained the previous March. A week later the insurer's estimator inspected and adjusted the reported damage, arriving at a replacement cost of $947.51. The policy deductible was $1,000.

On October 7, 2022, People's Trust issued a coverage determination letter extending coverage for roof damage but not for the bathroom ceiling, and repeating that the estimate fell below the deductible. The letter stated that no repairs or payment would follow until the parties agreed on an amount of loss above the deductible, or an appraisal panel determined that the loss exceeded it.

More than two years later, the homeowners obtained their own repair estimate putting replacement cost value at $149,866.98 and sent it to the insurer, which acknowledged receipt but stood by its determination. In response to the homeowners' notice of intent to initiate litigation, People's Trust offered $100 to settle, “without waiving its right under the insurance policy to seek legal remedies to enforce [the] insurance policy.” It closed the claim by letter on March 6, 2025. The homeowners sued on April 15. The insurer answered on May 21, raising the policy's appraisal provision as its third affirmative defense, and moved to compel appraisal on May 27.

The Waiver Standard the Ruling Applies

Florida courts borrow the arbitration-waiver framework when testing waiver of a contractual appraisal right. As the opinion puts it, the operative question is “whether the insurer actively participated in the lawsuit or engaged in conduct inconsistent with the right to appraisal,” citing Florida Insurance Guaranty Ass'n v. Branco, 148 So. 3d 488, 493 (Fla. 5th DCA 2014).

Applied to these facts, the court concluded that the $100 settlement offer “alone, is not a waiver of the right to appraisal,” citing U.S. Fire Insurance Co. v. Franko, 443 So. 2d 170, 172 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983), where a settlement offer was described as “merely a first step in attempting to resolve the dispute amicably.” And because the insurer raised appraisal in its affirmative defenses and moved to compel shortly afterward, that sequence was “not inconsistent with its right to appraisal” — consistent with State Farm Florida Insurance Co. v. Nordin, 312 So. 3d 200, 204 (Fla. 1st DCA 2021).

What This Means If You Have a Florida Property Insurance Claim

This decision is about procedure, not about whether the damage is covered or what it is worth. How any of the following applies depends on the policy language and the dates in a particular claim:

• Filing suit does not close the door on appraisal. On this court's reading, an insurer can demand appraisal for the first time after a lawsuit begins, so a policyholder should not assume litigation has taken appraisal off the table.
• Waiver turns on conduct in the lawsuit. The question the court asks is whether the insurer actively participated in the litigation or acted inconsistently with appraisal — not simply how long the claim sat before suit.
• A low settlement offer, standing alone, was not treated as waiver. Here a $100 offer made in response to a notice of intent did not forfeit the right, under Franko.
• A below-deductible determination can still lead to appraisal. The insurer's 2022 letter itself pointed to an appraisal panel as a way to establish whether the loss exceeded the deductible, and the gap between a $947.51 estimate and a $149,866.98 estimate is the kind of scope dispute appraisal is used to resolve.
• Read the answer when it arrives. Appraisal appeared here as an affirmative defense before any motion, which is where the court found it preserved.

For background on how residential claims, deadlines, and appraisal fit together in Florida, see our Florida property insurance claim guide. If you are preparing to send a notice of intent on a residential property claim, our firm's notice of intent request page explains what information is needed.

What the Ruling Does Not Decide

The Fifth District did not decide whether the bathroom ceiling damage is covered, what the loss is worth, or whether the homeowners' $149,866.98 estimate is accurate. The order under review was the denial of a motion to compel appraisal, and the panel reversed on the waiver question alone. Because the decision is not final until any timely rehearing motion is resolved, it can still change.

Article published August 17, 2026, and based on the opinion in People's Trust Insurance Company v. Cesar Fernandez and Luz Fernandez, No. 5D2025-3174 (Fla. 5th DCA Aug. 7, 2026). Court decisions can be revised or reviewed, and how one applies depends on the facts of a claim. This is general information about a court ruling, not legal advice.