Clara Gomez v. Citizens Property Insurance Corporation

• Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
• Decided: September 4, 2024
• Docket: 3D2023-0328
• Status: Published

Opinion

Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida

Opinion filed September 4, 2024. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

________________

No. 3D23-0328 Lower Tribunal No. 20-9152 ________________

Clara Gomez, Appellant,

vs.

Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, Appellee.

An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Beatrice Butchko, Judge.

Giasi Law, P.A., and Melissa A. Giasi (Tampa) and Erin M. Berger (Tampa), for appellant.

Dean, Ringers, Morgan & Lawton, P.A., and Jessica C. Conner (Orlando), for appellee.

Before FERNANDEZ, MILLER and BOKOR, JJ.

BOKOR, J. Although the insured met her initial burden to show that the insured

property suffered a loss, she failed to provide any evidence to rebut the

insurance company’s record evidence regarding the applicability of an

exclusion from coverage for preexisting damage. See Kokhan v. Auto Club

Ins. Co. of Fla., 297 So. 3d 570, 572 (Fla. 4th DCA 2020) (“[A]n insured

claiming under an all-risks policy has the burden of proving that the insured

property suffered a loss while the policy was in effect. The burden then shifts

to the insurer to prove that the cause of the loss was excluded from coverage

under the policy's terms.” (quotation omitted)); Deshazior v. Safepoint Ins.

Co., 305 So. 3d 752, 755 (Fla. 3d DCA 2020) (“Once the movant produces

competent evidence in support of summary judgment, the opposing party

must come forward with counterevidence sufficient to reveal a genuine issue

of material fact.” (quotations omitted)); Gonzalez v. Citizens Prop. Ins. Corp.,

273 So. 3d 1031, 1037–38 (Fla. 3d DCA 2019) (affirming summary judgment

for insurer where insured proffered only speculative and conclusory evidence

insufficient to create genuine issue of material fact against insurer’s affidavits

attesting that inspection failed to reveal damages covered by policy).

Affirmed.