News & Events

Noelia C. Vaccaro recently prevailed on a motion to dismiss in an AOB case in Miami-Dade County, in which the Plaintiff filed a declaratory judgment action based on an alleged assignment of post-loss benefits (AOB) executed by the insured in late 2021. Defendant argued that the AOB failed to include a written, itemized, per-unit cost estimate of the services to be performed, only providing a price list, which violates section 627.7152(2)(a)4. The Court agreed with the Defendant, which held that a price list does not meet statutory requirements. The attached invoices were not incorporated into the AOB, rendering them insufficient to meet the statutory requirement.

Tom McCausland and Miles McGrane, IV, both partners in our Hollywood office, recently obtained a defense verdict in a Highlands County, Florida case involving an accident between our client’s tractor-trailer and the Plaintiff’s Honda.

Michael Bonfanti, partner, and Nicholas Monk, associate from the Tallahassee office recently obtained a defense verdict on behalf of Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. This case was a total denial of claimed roof damage and interior damage resulting from the entry of water through a peril created opening. The lawsuit was the culmination of nearly two years of litigation. On behalf of Citizens, evidence was presented through expert testimony to support the affirmative defenses of wear and tear, no peril created opening and faulty design and construction of the roof. Through diligent research, a composite of aerial photographs of the insured property were obtained which demonstrated the years long issue with the roof. This composite included clear images of a tarp being used directly over the area of water intrusion prior to the Plaintiffs purchasing the home, and subsequent use of the tarp shortly after purchase. The jury deliberated for under two hours and found that Citizens had demonstrated sufficient evidence to support the affirmative defenses and awarded no damages as a result. Citizens will now seek to collect attorney’s fees and costs from a rejected Proposal for Settlement that was served a year prior to the trial. 

Partner William Mitchell, Sr. and associate Jesse Dyer obtained final summary judgment in a first party property claim on behalf of a major Florida homeowners insurance carrier. The claim arose from damages originating from a defective shower pan for which the Insurer denied coverage based on exclusions for long term seepage and leakage and pre-existing damages.  The Insureds’  argued that the cause of loss was a collapse of the subfloor below the 2nd story shower and therefore covered under the policy. However, after multiple hearings on the Insurer’s Motion the Court ruled that the Insureds failed to establish that a genuine issue of material fact existed as to whether or not the loss fell under the clear and unambiguous policy provision involving coverage for losses caused by collapse and that the Insurer had established that the damages were not covered under the policy of insurance. 

Noelia Vaccaro, an attorney in the firm’s first party practice group prevailed on a motion for summary judgment in a case involving the services of an engineer the insured retained after reporting the loss. She argued that the services the plaintiff performed were not covered under the policy because defendant did not constitute a cost to repair or replace the damaged property, as the plaintiff merely prepared a report that contained no narrative — i.e., no observations, analysis, conclusions, or recommendations — and, instead, consisted primarily of photographs.