Insurer plans to make up-front payment for damages in Surfside condo collapse
Just hours after the collapse of a Surfside condo tower last Thursday, a Miami attorney filed a class-action lawsuit seeking millions of dollars in damages from the building’s condo association after accusing the board of failing to protect the lives and property of residents.
On Monday, the insurance carrier for the Champlain Towers South condo association told the judge handling the case that it is going to make an up-front payment to resolve damage claims in the case. According to the condo board’s policy with James River Insurance Company, the up-front payment could be at least $1 million and as much as $2 million.
“As we process the immeasurable suffering from this tragedy, we believe this is a time to work together,” the Miami law firm, Clyde & Co., representing the condo board’s insurer, wrote to Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman on Monday.
“We want to make it known that James River Insurance Company has made the decision to voluntarily tender its entire limit from the enclosed policy towards attempting to resolve all the claims in this matter.”
The Miami attorney for a class of Champlain Towers South condo members said he was grateful that the insurance company stepped up to settle the class action alleging negligence by the condo association.
“We have received some favorable news regarding the first such carrier that by no means solves this [case] but is a necessary first step,” plaintiffs’ attorney Brad Sohn said. “We intend to work with the court to get these initial [payments] disbursed as quickly as possible with 100% of this early amount going to victims.”
The class-action case, the first suit filed over the condo building’s collapse, is represented by lead plaintiff Manuel Drezner. He owns a condo at the 12-story, 136-unit Champlain Towers South condominium but was in South America when it collapsed Thursday.
It is not clear at this early stage how many condo owners and residents — both survivors and deceased victims of the collapse — have joined the class, which Sohn described as a fluid number. He said the logistics on how the money would be distributed must be still be worked out, but he said this initial insurance payment would go entirely to the class members with no legal fees taken out.
About half of the building at 8777 Collins Ave. was destroyed, while the other half remains standing next to a mountain of rubble facing the ocean. According to officials, at least 11 people died in the collapse but about 150 are unaccounted for.
Separately, a second lawsuit was filed Monday by Steve Rosenthal against the Champlain Towers South condo association, records show. He survived the condo tower’s collapse.
On Tuesday, a third negligence suit was filed by another Champlain condo owner, Raysa Rodriguez, records show.
This story was originally published June 28, 2021 at 8:00 PM.
