Circuit Court Lacks Appellate Jurisdiction Over Order Compelling Appraisal

    The Eleventh Circuit determined it lacked appellate jurisdiction over an order issued by the district court compelling an appraisal. Breakwater Commons Ass’n, Inc. v. Empire Indem. Ins. Co., 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 14459 (11th Cir. June 9, 2023).

    Following Hurricane Irma, Breakwater Commons Association filed a claim with Empire Indemnity Insurance Company for property damage. Empire agreed to cover some of the damage to buildings, but a dispute arose over the amount of loss. Breakwater sought to invoke the appraisal provision in the policy. Empire refused to engage in an appraisal. Breakwater sued, and filed a motion to compel appraisal and to stay the proceedings pending the completion of the appraisal process.

    The district court granted Breakwater’s motion to compel an appraisal, but denied the motion as to its request to stay the proceedings pending appraisal. Breakwater’s motion did not present any argument in support of a stay beyond the title of its motion.

    Empire appealed, and the Eleventh Circuit issued a jurisdictional question to the parties asking them to address whether the court had appellate jurisiction over an order that compelled appraisal but did not dismiss or stay the case. The court concluded that it lacked jurisdiction over the district court’s order compelling appraisal and staying the proceedings pending appraisal for reasons stated in its recent decision, Positano Place at Naples I Condominium Association v. Empire Indem. Ins. Co., 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 13416 (11th Cir. May 31, 2023). The order compelling appraisal was an interlocutory order that was not immediately appealable. Therefore, the appeal was dismissed.