Supreme Court to review Citizens’ mandatory arbitration requirement

The Florida Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether Citizens Property — the state-run insurer of last resort — may require customers to resolve claims disputes through binding arbitration.

Justices agreed Wednesday to hear Citizens’ challenge of trial court decision after the Third District Court of Appeal certified bypassing intermediate review.

“We certify the order on appeal as one that requires immediate resolution by the Florida Supreme Court and is of great public importance,” the Third DCA wrote.

The dispute, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation v. Victoria Quintana, et al., centers on whether the Legislature’s imposition of mandatory binding arbitration to resolve Citizens claims disputes in 2023 violates due process rights.

Citizens pays the Division of Administrative Hearings, a sister executive branch agency, to resolve claims disputes, and that raises “appearance” concerns, 11th Circuit Judge Milton Hirsch wrote in an April order denying a Citizens’ motion to dismiss a policy holder’s challenge to binding arbitration.

It’s not enough that administrative law judges act impartially, the forum must appear to be fair to protect due process rights, Hirsch wrote.

“The circumstances of the present case do not provide for independent arbitrators, unaligned with the executive branch of Florida government, which if provided for, might ameliorate due-process concerns,” Hirsch wrote. “The circumstances of the present case do not throw a cordon between Citizen’s wallet and DOAH’s extended palm, which also might ameliorate due-process concerns.”

Earlier this year, the Florida House voted to repeal mandatory binding arbitration to resolve Citizens claims disputes, but the proposal stalled in the Senate.

The Supreme Court set an October 22 deadline for petitioners to file initial brief on the merits. Oral arguments will be set by a separate order, justices said.

 

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.