United States: Florida Appellate Court Holds Trial Court Erred Entering Summary Judgment For Assignee Due To Factual Issue As To Validity Of Assignment

A Florida appellate court held that the trial court erred in entering judgment in an assignee's favor on the basis that the insurer failed to remit proceeds to the assignee under an assignment of benefits agreement executed by the insured due to a question regarding the validity of the assignment. QBE Specialty Ins. Co. v. United Reconstruction Group, Inc., a/a/o Fallon Jallali, No. 4021-472, 46 Fla. L. Weekly D1692a, 2021 WL 3073666 (Fla. 4th DCA, Jul. 21, 2021).

The insured's home sustained water damage, and the insured hired a water mitigation service. The contract for services "authorize[d] and instructe[d] any payments issued by the insurance company for the Services to be sent to the service, directly." The contract had a "Customer Print Name" line, which was left blank, and a "Customer Signature" line, which did contain a signature. The contract and an invoice were sent to the insurer after completion of the mitigation work. The insurer negotiated the invoice with the service, but sent the check in the negotiated amount to the insured.

The water mitigation service, as assignee, sued the insurer, alleging that the insurer's failure to remit the insurance proceeds to it was a breach of the "Loss Payment" provision of the policy. As an affirmative defense, the insurer contended that the assignment was invalid because the contract was not properly signed by the insured. The assignee presented the affidavit of the owner of the assignee, which generally stated that the insured executed, or caused to be executed, the contract. The insurer presented an affidavit of a forensic document examiner, who testified that the signature on the contract was inconsistent with the insured's known signature. The trial court nevertheless granted the assignee's Motion for Summary Judgment. On appeal, the appellate court found that the genuineness of the signature on the contract was an issue of material fact that made the trial court's granting of summary judgment in favor of the assignee error.

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