25 Fla. L. Weekly D1174a
Insurance — Homeowners — Insurer should be relieved of all liability under insurance policy if insurer has been prejudiced by insured’s failure to comply with notice of lawsuit provision in policy — Summary judgment error where there remains issue of whether insurer was prejudiced by delayed notice of suit
LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCE GROUP, etc., Appellant, vs. ALVARO CIFUENTES, et al., Appellees. 3rd District. Case No. 3D99-1547. L.T. Case No. 97-15655. Opinion filed May 17, 2000. An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Dade County, Alan Postman, Judge. Counsel: Kubicki Draper and Angela C. Flowers, for appellant. Friedman & Friedman and John S. Seligman; Lauri Waldman Ross, for appellees.
(Before JORGENSON, LEVY, and FLETCHER, JJ.)
(PER CURIAM.) Liberty Mutual appeals an order of final summary judgment entered in favor of the homeowners. For the following reason, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.
Under Florida law, an insurer should be relieved of all liability under an insurance policy if the insurer has been prejudiced by the insured’s failure to comply with the notice of lawsuit provision in the policy. See e.g., Tiedtke v. Fidelity & Cas. Co., 222 So.2d 206 (Fla. 1969); Perez v. Public Serv. Mut. Ins. Co., [25 Fla. L. Weekly D630] 2000 WL 276484 (Fla. 3d DCA Mar. 15, 2000); Wolfson v. Insurance Co., 451 So.2d 1005 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984); Alabama Farm Bureau Mut. Cas. Ins. Co. v. Harris, 197 So. 2d 567 (Fla. 3d DCA 1967).
Accordingly, we reverse the order granting summary judgment and remand for further proceedings as there remains the issue of whether Liberty Mutual suffered prejudice for the delayed notice of suit.
REVERSED and REMANDED.