Citizens Insurance asks court tolet claims-dispute process stayintact

TALLAHASSEE — Arguing that it faces being “irreparably harmed,” the state’s Citizens Property Insurance

Corp. wants an appeals court to allow it to use a controversial claims-dispute process while a legal battle plays

out.

Attorneys for Citizens on Friday filed a 63-page motion at the 2nd District Court of Appeal seeking a stay of a

temporary injunction that Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Melissa M. Polo issued Aug. 1 to block the

process, which involves arbitrating claims disputes at the state Division of Administrative Hearings.

Polo wrote that plaintiff Martin Alvarez, a Tampa homeowner, “demonstrated a substantial likelihood of

success” on his arguments that the arbitration process violates part of the Florida Constitution designed to

ensure access to courts. Citizens appealed the temporary injunction, triggering an automatic stay of Polo’s

decision. Such automatic stays are common in cases involving government agencies.

But Polo on Thursday vacated the automatic stay — effectively blocking the arbitration process as the

underlying appeal of the injunction moves forward. Citizens’ motion Friday argued the appeals court should

put the stay back in place.

Citizens cited what is known as an “endorsement,” a condition in its policies, that gave notice disputes would

go to arbitration. It said it is “irreparably harmed because the injunction bars it from enforcing thousands of

policy endorsements and stays hundreds of ongoing DOAH (Division of Administrative Hearings)

arbitrations — including those where the insured does not object to arbitration.”

It also argued that Alvarez agreed to the arbitration requirement in his policy.

“Plaintiff accepted the terms of the arbitration agreement when, after plaintiff received the renewal package

containing those terms, Citizens received his premium payment,” wrote Citizens’ attorneys from the Shutts &

Bowen law firm, including former Florida Supreme Court Justice Ricky Polston.

But Polo, in vacating the automatic stay Thursday, indicated she thinks the arbitration process is tilted toward

Citizens.

“Plaintiff has made a preliminary showing that the DOAH forum is structurally biased and deprives

policyholders of neutral discovery, motion practice and judicial review,” Polo wrote. “The record shows that

DOAH repeatedly awards fees and/or costs to defendant (Citizens), while denying the same relief to the

insureds (policyholders).”

The appeals court Friday gave Alvarez’s attorneys a week to respond to the Citizens motion to put the stay

back in place.

Florida lawmakers in 2023 approved the arbitration process for Citizens amid a series of moves to try to curb

Recent Posts