The Florida Supreme Court overturned the Fifth District Court of Appeal and concluded that consequential damages — such as loss of use and lost rental income — are not available in a breach of insurance contract case when the terms and conditions of the insurance policy do not expressly cover such damages. (Photo: Shutterstock)
The Florida Supreme Court relieved an insurance company from damages allegedly caused by its failure to investigate and pay a legitimate insurance claim timely. The court ruled that the property owner in Citizens Property Insurance v. Manor House (January 21, 2021) was not entitled to recover lost rent from its insurance carrier when the owner needed the insurance money to repair the building and the insurance carrier failed to pay the claim for more than five years.
|A win for insurers
Manor House obtained property insurance through Citizens, a governmental entity, for nine apartment buildings. The apartment buildings incurred significant damage from Hurricane Frances in September 2004. Following an inspection, Citizens issued payments totaling $1,927,747. Manor House requested that Citizens reopen the claim and sought damages exceeding $10,000,000.
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