When a homeowner sues while the insurer’s appraisal process is still underway, and the insurer then pays the appraisal award on time, and the claims process had not broken down, the insurer has not confessed judgment, so the homeowner gets no prejudgment interest or attorney’s fees on that basis. The Sixth District Court of Appeal decided that on October 16, 2026, in Reed v. Citizens Property Insurance Corp., No. 6D2025-0917, and affirmed summary judgment for Citizens.
The facts
Susan Reed and Kent Lonngren reported Hurricane Ian damage to Citizens on October 4, 2022. Citizens accepted coverage and paid $11,101.19. The homeowners later submitted their own repair estimate of $157,727.00. Citizens reinspected, reissued the first payment at their request, and made additional payments, the last on June 1, 2023. Eight days later the homeowners filed a notice of intent to litigate, and Citizens promptly invoked appraisal. The parties then reached an impasse over selecting a neutral umpire.
On September 26, 2023, before appraisal was finished, the homeowners sued for breach of contract, alleging Citizens had not completed appraisal within the 90-day period in section 627.70152(4)(b), Florida Statutes (2023). The trial court granted Citizens’ motion to stay and compel appraisal, the parties agreed on an umpire, and the umpire issued an award in the homeowners’ favor. Citizens paid it within the 60 days the policy required.
The claim
The homeowners argued that payment of the award was a confession of judgment, which would entitle them to summary judgment, prejudgment interest and attorney’s fees. The trial court ruled for Citizens, finding that Citizens complied with the policy’s appraisal provisions and timely paid, and that it did not confess judgment.
The holding
Judge Stargel, writing for the panel, called this a “race to the courthouse.” The court applied its decision of two weeks earlier, Letteri v. Safepoint Insurance Co., No. 6D2025-0045 (Fla. 6th DCA Oct. 2, 2026), which held that the confession-of-judgment doctrine does not apply where the claims process has not broken down, the insured did not have to sue to get paid, and the insured sued anyway. As Letteri put it, “[n]obody forced Letteri to sue to receive his benefits, and his lawsuit did not act as a necessary catalyst to resolve the dispute.”
On the record here, the court found no breakdown in the claims process: Citizens “quickly accepted coverage and issued payment, conducted an additional investigation, issued additional payments, promptly demanded appraisal upon receiving the notice of intent, and timely paid the resulting award.” It also cited the Third District’s Valdivieso v. Citizens Property Insurance Corp., 388 So. 3d 1004 (Fla. 3d DCA 2024), which declined to apply the doctrine on similar facts.
The 90-day argument
The homeowners also argued that section 627.70152(4)(b) set a deadline for completing appraisal. The court said, following Letteri, that while the statute allows an insured to sue if appraisal has not concluded within 90 days after the 10-day notice period ends, that period does not “constitute a deadline for an appraisal’s completion.”
Who decided it
Judge Stargel wrote the opinion, and Judges Mize and Gannam concurred. The court rejected the homeowners’ remaining arguments without discussion.
A caution on the authority
Reed rests on Letteri. The Sixth District’s docket shows the appellant in Letteri filed a motion for rehearing or rehearing en banc on October 15, 2026. When the docket was last checked, on October 28, it showed no ruling on that motion. Check the docket for its current status before relying on Letteri.
What it does not decide
The opinion does not say an insurer can never confess judgment by paying an appraisal award. It applies to a case where the claims process had not broken down.
The opinion is not final until the time to file a rehearing motion expires and any motion is decided.
Source: Reed v. Citizens Property Insurance Corp., No. 6D2025-0917 (Fla. 6th DCA Oct. 16, 2026). This article is general information, not legal advice.
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