Carl Bober and Evan Zuckerman (Hollywood, FL) (Property) obtained a Defense Verdict following a jury trial in Fort Lauderdale in the case of Julio Camacho & Yoendry Echevarria v. Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. The case concerned a first party property insurance residential claim related to Hurricane Irma. Plaintiffs claimed that two separate roof systems at their home were severely damaged due to wind from the hurricane and that they required full replacement. Plaintiffs also claimed interior damage to their home due to resulting water leaks which began immediately after the date of the storm.
Citizens denied the claim because their field adjuster did not find that the damage to the roofs was due to wind and that the interior damages were not covered unless wind first damaged the roofs and created an opening through which rain entered. At trial, one of the Plaintiffs testified that they had never had any roof leaks before the hurricane. Opposing counsel introduced a four-point inspection report done five years earlier which indicated the roofs were in excellent condition and had no leaks. Plaintiff’s public adjuster testified that he had been in the Plaintiffs’ home just two weeks before the hurricane on an unrelated claim and saw no ceiling stains. Plaintiffs’ expert engineer Al Brizuela inspected the Plaintiff’s property and determined that the cause of the leaks was solely due to the hurricane. Brizuela testified that the roofs were so damaged that they needed to be replaced.
For the defense, Citizens’ expert engineer Brandon Mintz testified that the Plaintiffs’ damages were solely due to wear and tear to the roofs, and not due to Hurricane Irma, using aerial photography over a ten year period prior to the storm showing the progression of deterioration. The jury found in favor of Citizens, but did not reach the question of whether it had proven its affirmative defense of wear and tear; instead, the jury found that Plaintiffs’ did not sustain any physical loss to their home during the policy period from the hurricane. Our motion to seek the recovery of Citizen’s taxable costs is pending.