This is a court’s written decision. The judges had the claim file in front of them, and where they quote the insurer’s denial language, that quotation is part of the official record of the case.
Everything quoted below is read off that document. The reading of what it means for each side is ours, and it is marked as such.
| Case | Lemon v. People's Trust Insurance Company |
|---|---|
| Court | Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal |
| Citation | No. 5D21-2771 |
| Decided | June 3, 2022 |
| Who is involved | Florida homeowners and People's Trust Insurance Company. |
| What happened | People's Trust paid a claim with a check whose stub read FULL AND FINAL PAYMENT, then argued that cashing it barred the supplemental claim. The jury verdict for the insurer was reversed. |
| Where | Florida |
| When | Hurricane Matthew. Check reissued December 28. Supplemental damage found about a month after the check was cashed. |
| Why it came out that way | Accord and satisfaction requires a genuine dispute and a clear offer in full settlement. The court held it was error to let the defense stand. |
| The holding | Reversed and remanded for the homeowners. |
Our reading of the document above, not the court's words.
For the insurance company
Wording on a check stub is close to free, and if it works it closes the file against every future supplemental claim. The policyholder usually cashes the check because they need the money to start repairs.
For the homeowner
Cashing a claim check does not automatically end your claim, and this opinion says so. Florida separately allows supplemental claims for 18 months from the date of loss.
- 1 Photograph the check and the stub before depositing it.
- 2 If a stub says full and final on an open or partly adjusted claim, say in writing that you accept it as a partial payment and reserve the rest.
- 3 Damage found later is a supplemental claim, and it has its own deadline.
Lemon v. People's Trust Ins. Co., No. 5D21-2771 (Fla. 5th DCA June 3, 2022) Read the document ↗
Case summaries are drafted from the document and have not been reviewed by counsel; verify against the current docket before relying on any of it. Not legal advice; consult an attorney about your specific claim.
Not a denial letter, a settlement letter with teeth: cash this check and you have accepted our scope, our amount, and a complete and final resolution. The stub said FULL AND FINAL PAYMENT. The homeowners cashed it, then claimed the additional damage the carrier’s own earlier letter had invited them to supplement.
The Fifth DCA reversed judgment for the carrier: cashing that check was not an accord and satisfaction, in part because the carrier’s own repair-election letter had promised the right to supplement newly discovered covered damage. The two letters contradicted each other, and the contradiction belonged to the drafter.
The entry earns its page because the full-and-final check is a live tactic after every storm, and most policyholders assume endorsement equals surrender. Sometimes it does; the law of accord and satisfaction is genuinely dangerous. But a carrier that writes supplement rights into one letter cannot fully revoke them with a check stub, and this opinion is the citation that says so.
Lemon v. People's Trust Ins. Co., No. 5D21-2771 (Fla. 5th DCA June 3, 2022) · public record ↗
Quotes are verbatim from the cited public record. Case status and statute summaries drafted August 2026; verify against the current docket and statute. Not legal advice; consult an attorney about your specific claim.
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