Opinion ID: 2812344
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: A. QBE Issues a Property Insurance Policy to 200 Leslie Plaintiff-appellant 200 Leslie is a condominium association that owns and operates a property located in Broward County, Florida. The property includes a multi-story, Y-shaped building, whose units have paned glass windows and balconies with sliding doors. Defendant-appellee QBE is a Pennsylvania corporation engaged in the business of selling property insurance, with a principal place of business in New York. QBE issued to 200 Leslie a commercial property insurance policy (the “policy”) effective June 17, 2005 through June 17, 2006. The policy included a hurricane deductible of $610,039. The policy provided that, if a dispute arose regarding the value of a claim, the dispute would be resolved by a three-person appraisal panel, with each party selecting one appraiser and the two appraisers selecting a neutral umpire. The 2 Case: 13-15228 Date Filed: 06/26/2015 Page: 3 of 16 policy imposed a number of duties on 200 Leslie in the event of a loss or damage to the covered property. Three duties are relevant to this case: (1) to provide, within 60 days of a request by QBE, a sworn proof of loss containing information requested by QBE to investigate any claim; (2) to complete, at QBE’s request, “inventories of the damaged and undamaged property,” including “quantities, costs, values, and amount of loss claimed”; and (3) to submit to an examination under oath, as reasonably required, regarding any matter relating to the insurance or the claim. B. 2005 Hurricane Damages 200 Leslie’s Property On October 24, 2005, Hurricane Wilma made landfall in southern Florida.1 Three days later, 200 Leslie notified QBE that it sustained a loss from the storm by submitting a notice that described the loss and damage as “tennis court w/ light poles; light poles throughout the building; pool fence.” A third-party managing agent, which handled insurance matters for QBE, assigned 200 Leslie’s claim to a contractor. The contractor engaged a subcontractor to conduct a physical inspection of 200 Leslie’s property. On November 16, 2005, the sub-contractor inspected the property, received some photographs from 200 Leslie, and took additional photographs himself. The 1 Although Hurricane Wilma made landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast, the storm maintained hurricane strength as it moved across southern Florida, and the storm’s eye passed over nearly all of Broward County, which is on the Atlantic Coast. See National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, “Hurricane Wilma,” http://www.srh.noaa.gov/mfl/?n=wilma (last visited June 25, 2015). 3 Case: 13-15228 Date Filed: 06/26/2015 Page: 4 of 16 photographs identified the property and depicted certain damage, including a suspended ceiling tile in a gym common area; damage to two windows in the gym; and damage to a window in one particular unit. After receiving the sub-contractor’s report, the contractor informed QBE’s third-party managing agent that 200 Leslie’s estimated damages were $250,000. On December 9, 2005, the managing agent advised 200 Leslie that the loss amount was below its policy deductible and that QBE would pay no benefits.