State Farm Florida Insurance Co. v. Colella, 2012 Fla. App. LEXIS 6612

Colella owns a home in Pasco County and State Farm issued a homeowners policy with sinkhole coverage September 2006.
January 2007 claim filed with public adjuster for damage potentially due to sinkhole; State Farm retained an engineering firm February 2007 to inspect the home.
June 2007 report concluded no evidence of sinkhole activity; State Farm sent a letter to Colella and adjuster noting policy exclusion and referencing neutral evaluation program guidance.
November 5, 2008 Colella filed a civil remedy notice with the Department asserting various defects and a conflicting later report; complaint filed November 10, 2008 alleging breach of contract.
State Farm moved to stay pending neutral evaluation; neutral evaluation occurred February 5, 2009; evaluator recommended additional borings due to discrepancies.
March 20, 2009 State Farm paid policy limits plus prejudgment interest and offered to cover fees; Colella amended complaint; trial court granted summary judgment for breach of contract on count I; court reversed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether there was an undisputed breach of contract	Colella	State Farm	Not undisputed; factual record insufficient to prove breach
Whether payment of policy limits constitutes a confession of judgment	Colella	State Farm	Not conclusively a confession of judgment under these facts
Impact of neutral evaluation on breach analysis	Colella	State Farm	Compliance with statute and neutral evaluation does not prove breach

Clifton v. United Casualty Insurance Co. of America, 31 So.3d 826 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010) (confession-of-judgment rule not absolute; depends on circumstances)
Warfel v. Universal Insurance Co. of North America, 82 So.3d 47 (Fla. 2012) (neutral evaluation procedures; procedural considerations for sinkhole claims)