a. Under Florida law, what does "insurable interest" mean?
b. What is Banta Properties insurable interest in this case?
c. The facts state that "Arch filed a motion asking that the jury's verdict be overturned." What type of motion is this?
The Banta family controlled a complex network of companies. One family company (Banta Family) owned three apartment complexes in Florida: Parkcrest Apartments, Colonial Park Apartments, and Westwood Apartments. A different family business, Banta Properties, Inc. (Banta Properties), managed these three complexes in return for 4 percent of the gross income. Banta Properties purchased property insurance on the three complexes from Arch Specialty Insurance. Two months later, Hurricane Wilma badly damaged all three.
As a result of the hurricane damage, the apartments lost approximately $39,000 in rents. Banta Properties' share of those rents was about $1,600. Banta Properties filed an insurance claim for $6.1 million, which was the cost to repair the damage that Wilma had caused to the apartments. Arch refused to pay, claiming that Properties had no insurable interest in the complexes because it did not own them. At trial, the jury disagreed, valuing Banta Properties' insurable interest at $5 million.
Arch filed a motion asking that the jury's verdict be overturned. The trial court denied the motion. Arch appealed.