Barrios, Luis & Bernal, Diana v. Citizens Property Insurance Corporation

Loretta Guevara (Hollywood, FL) (Property) obtained Summary Judgment in favor of Citizens Property Insurance Corporation in the case of Barrios, Luis & Bernal, Diana v. Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. The case concerned a first party property insurance residential claim related to a plumbing leak. Plaintiffs claimed that their kitchen cabinets had sustained water damage as a result of a garbage disposal leak. Plaintiffs did not report the claim to Citizens until April 28, 2020, approximately thirty-three (33) months after the loss allegedly occurred. Citizens issued a reservation of rights letter due to the substantial delay in reporting the claim and subsequently, made a request for documentation corroborating the reported date of loss and cause of loss. The only document provided by the Plaintiffs to corroborate the loss was a receipt stating that a new garbage disposal had been installed on the reported date of loss. Ultimately, Citizens denied the claim because its field adjuster could not determine the cause of the loss due to the passage of time. At the hearing, the Plaintiffs argued that (1) they had not breached any of their post-loss obligations under the policy, (2) their loss was not untimely since the Plaintiffs reported the claim as soon as they became aware that they could make a claim, and (3) even if the Court found their notice to be untimely, Citizens did not suffer any prejudice as a result of the late notice. Alternatively, they argued that whether the notice was prompt and whether Citizens had been prejudiced were questions of facts for the jury to decide. In support of their Motion, they attached the affidavit of their expert witness who alleged that he could definitively determine that the damages to the Plaintiffs’ cabinets were caused by a garbage disposal leak and that the time gap between the date of the loss and the time of his inspection did not prejudice his ability to perform his inspection and reach his conclusions. Judge Haimes in Broward County found that Plaintiffs’ notice of this claim to Citizens was neither prompt nor timely as a matter of law and that Citizens had been prejudiced as a matter of law. The Plaintiffs failed to retain the damaged property and disposed of it prior to Citizens’ inspection of the subject property and the Plaintiffs did not provide any photographs or documentation whatsoever depicting the condition of the failed garbage disposal or the condition of the subject property during the month of July 2017 when the loss allegedly occurred. The Court further found that the Plaintiffs did not rebut the presumption of prejudice. The Plaintiffs’ own professional engineer admitted in his report that the failed garbage disposal had been disposed of prior to his inspection of the property in 2020 and therefore, the Court found that not even he was able to provide an opinion as to causation.