Carl Bober and Paulette Fouts (Hollywood, FL) (Property) obtained their second Defense Verdict in the past month on behalf of their client, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, in a first-party property declaratory action related to Hurricane Irma brought by Plaintiffs against their homeowners’ insurance carrier in a jury trial that took place in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, between December 12th through December 15th, 2023.
Plaintiffs brought a declaratory relief action regarding a residential property insurance claim to their home related to a Hurricane Irma claim. Plaintiffs initially reported the claim for damage to their roof, exterior wall and to the interior of their home over two years and eight months after the hurricane, claiming that they reported the loss as soon as they became aware of leaks into their living room which occurred through their exterior stucco wall, and that they did not know the damage was caused by the hurricane until just before reporting it when they were informed of its cause by their public adjuster. After investigating, Citizens denied the claim due to its late reporting having severely prejudiced their ability to fairly investigate the loss. Plaintiffs subsequently filed suit and provided Citizens with the report of an engineer, Al Brizuela, who testified at trial that the damages he observed following his inspection were clearly caused by winds experienced during Hurricane Irma. For the defense, expert engineer, Neil Greenspoon, testified on behalf of Citizens that there was no wind damage to the Plaintiffs’ property caused by Hurricane Irma, and that both the leaks and issues the homeowners experienced were due to defective installation of the exterior stucco wall and the interior flooring in the residence. He also found evidence of damage that pre-existed the policy period in this case.
The jury found in favor of Citizens finding that Plaintiffs failed to meet their initial burden to prove that their property sustained a direct physical loss during the policy period. Defendant’s motion seeking the recovery of Citizens’ costs, and potentially its attorney’s fees, is pending.
Plaintiff’s Demand prior to trial: $150K inclusive of attorney’s fees and costs.