A Florida property owners association claims four insurers shortchanged its Hurricane Sally claim by over $13 million despite an appraisal confirming the full damage amount.
Eden Owners Association filed suit November 17 in federal court alleging that General Security Indemnity Company of Arizona, HDI Global Specialty SE, StarStone Specialty Insurance Company, and QBE Specialty Insurance Company engaged in bad faith practices over a claim that dragged on for more than five years.
The property at 16281 Perdido Key Drive in Pensacola sustained damage when Hurricane Sally made landfall in September 2020. What followed, according to the association, was a masterclass in claim delay tactics.
The insurers' lead adjuster, Anthony DeCesare, never showed up to any of the three property inspections conducted over the years, the association alleges. Meanwhile, the insurers brought in engineering firm Thornton Tomasetti and building consultant Young & Associates, who the association claims have a pattern of creating "biased, outcome driven reports" designed to minimize payouts.
Initially, things seemed straightforward. Thornton Tomasetti's first report in November 2020 acknowledged widespread Hurricane Sally damage without mentioning pre-existing conditions, alternative causes, or policy exclusions. The insurers paid out $2.8 million with no strings attached.
Then the story changed. By February 2021, Thornton Tomasetti's second report introduced theories about pre-existing damage. A third report in September 2021 suggested the wind damage wasn't solely from wind but from "other purported exclusionary causes." By October 2021, the insurers denied portions of the claim despite earlier acknowledgments of coverage.
The association says it faced obstacle after obstacle. The insurers wouldn't provide blank proof of loss forms. When the association submitted sworn statements detailing over $23 million in damages in April 2022, the insurers rejected them as "unsolicited" even though policy language required insurers to supply the necessary forms.
In June 2022, Eden invoked the policy's appraisal clause, which allows either party to demand an independent assessment when they disagree on loss value. But the insurers allegedly took four months just to name their appraiser, then refused to agree on an umpire, forcing Eden to ask the court to step in.
The appraisal process finally concluded in January 2025 with an award of $21,017,380.97. The insurers paid the award amount after having paid only approximately $7.6 million over the preceding years.
The association is pursuing claims under Florida law for failure to settle in good faith and unfair claim practices, including inadequate investigation standards and refusal to communicate promptly.
Adding insult to injury, the association alleges the insurers requested mediation over the bad faith issues in June 2025, then filed their own lawsuit two days before the scheduled mediation without telling Eden, apparently trying to get to the courthouse first.
No court ruling has been issued on the allegations.
