Florida Third DCA rules that insured retained standing to sue insurance company for breach of homeowner’s insurance policy notwithstanding her prior transfer of property to LLC in which she had a 25% ownership interest

On June 23, 2021, in Cole v. Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, etc., No. 3D19-1830, the Florida Third DCA reversed the trial court’s dismissal of the plaintiff’s complaint in a first-party insurance dispute involving a homeowner’s insurance policy. The trial court found that the plaintiff lacked standing to enforce the terms of the policy because she had previously transferred ownership of the property to an LLC (in which she had a 25% ownership stake) without the insurance company’s consent. The Third DCA approvingly quoted from Aetna v. King, 265 So. 2d 716, 718 (Fla. 1st DCA 1972): “[i]n Florida an ‘insurable interest’ is not determined by the concept of title, but rather whether the insured has a substantial economic interest in the property.”