Trial Court Has Jurisdiction Over Guaranty Association, Fla. Appeals Court Rules

MIAMI — A first-party claimant is not required to file a new lawsuit against the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association or separately serve the association in order to substitute it as a defendant in the place of an insolvent insurer, a Florida appellate court has held.

On April 13, the Florida Court of Appeal, 3rd District, concluded that the trial court has jurisdiction over FIGA in a Hurricane Wilma damage action, rejecting the association’s assertion that the insured’s attempt to name it as a defendant in the lawsuit was untimely.

In 2005, Hurricane Wilma damaged Erena Mendoza’s home in Opa Locka, …