Florida homeowners win case alleging insurer wrongly denied claim
The insurance company contended that damage to a roof was a result of wear and tear, and not a covered event.
A Boca Raton couple was awarded $107,000 in a dispute with their insurer over damage to their home.
In March 2019, plaintiff Alyssa Lerner and her husband, plaintiff Jeffrey Lerner, discovered that a leak had damaged their home, which was located in Boca Raton. The leak was a result of damage of the home’s roof. The Lerners suspected that the damage had been created on Sept. 10, 2017, when Hurricane Irma struck the Boca Raton area. The Lerners sought reimbursement from their insurer, Citizens Property Insurance Corp., but the claim was denied.
The Lerners sued Citizens Property Insurance. The lawsuit alleged that the Lerners’ claim was improperly denied. The lawsuit further alleged that the claim’s denial constituted a breach of the insurance contract.
Plaintiffs’ counsel contended that Irma damaged some 130 of the Lerners’ roof tiles and resultantly caused a leak that damaged the home’s kitchen, the home’s garage, a bathroom and a bedroom.
The Lerners’ expert meteorologist opined that Irma produced sustained winds of 50 to 51 mph, with gusts reaching 90 to 91 mph. The Lerners’ expert roofer examined the damaged roof tiles, and he opined that the damage’s nature suggested that it had been caused by hurricane-force winds. The Lerners claimed that they had not experienced a damaging roof leak prior to March 2019.
Defense counsel noted that the Lerners’ homeowners’ policy covered only those leaks resulting from an exterior opening created by a covered peril, such as a windstorm. The defense contended that the roof’s damage was a result of wear and tear not related to a storm and therefore was not covered by the Lerners’ homeowners’ policy. The defense’s expert engineer suggested that the tiles could have been damaged by thermal expansion and extraction, a product of sunshine. Defense counsel also suggested that foot traffic, created by roof-washing personnel, could have caused or contributed to the tiles’ damage.
The Lerners claimed that the leak damaged their home’s kitchen, the home’s garage, a bathroom and a bedroom. They sought recovery of $107,000 for loss of property.
The jury found that Citizens Property Insurance breached its insurance contract. It determined that the Lerners’ damages totaled $107,000.
Plaintiffs’ counsel has expressed an intention to move for recovery of attorneys’ fees.
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