Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co. v. Chillura

952 So. 2d 547, 2007 Fla. App. LEXIS 488, 2007 WL 120541
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJanuary 19, 2007
Docket2D04-4906
StatusPublished

This text of 952 So. 2d 547 (Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co. v. Chillura) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co. v. Chillura, 952 So. 2d 547, 2007 Fla. App. LEXIS 488, 2007 WL 120541 (Fla. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

952 So.2d 547 (2007)

NATIONWIDE MUTUAL INSURANCE CO., Appellant,
v.
Frank CHILLURA and Steve Chillura, Appellees.

No. 2D04-4906.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.

January 19, 2007.
Rehearing Denied April 4, 2007.

*548 John J. Pappas and Anthony J. Russo of Butler Pappas Weihmuller Katz Craig LLP, Tampa, for Appellant.

Raymond T. Elligett of Schropp, Buell & Elligett, P.A., Tampa; and David J. Pettinato and William F. Merlin, Jr., of Merlin Law Group, P.A., Tampa, for Appellees.

Ileana M. Espinosa, Richard Lydecker, and Carlos De Zayas of Lydecker & Wadsworth, LLC, Miami, for Amicus Curiae Citizens Insurance Co.

Harold B. Klite Truppman and Eli L. Samet of Harold B. Klite Truppman, P.A., Miami, for Amicus Curiae United Policyholders.

DAVIS, Judge.

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. ("Nationwide") appeals the trial court's amended final judgment entered pursuant to a jury verdict awarding Frank and Steve Chillura damages in the Chilluras' sinkhole claim against Nationwide. We affirm the amended final judgment.

The Chilluras own four adjacent apartment buildings in Tampa, each of which contains four apartments. Nationwide insured the premises and issued a policy that included a specific provision for sinkhole damages.[1] When a sinkhole opened up on the property, resulting in damage to the four buildings, the Chilluras filed a claim seeking payment for the damages. Specifically, they sought payment for the *549 cost to repair, among other things, the exterior walls, the interiors of the apartments, and the foundation slabs. They also sought lost rents. Nationwide rejected the majority of their claims.[2]

The Chilluras filed suit against Nationwide, alleging breach of contract for failure to pay damages as required by the insurance policy. Both parties moved for summary judgment. The trial court partially granted the Chilluras' motion regarding certain coverage issues, finding that the "subsurface foundation stabilization and/or foundation modification repairs" were "necessary repairs to an insured structure to put it back into a pre-loss condition" and that such repairs were covered by Coverage A of the policy, which specified that coverage would be provided for "direct physical loss or damage" to the covered structure. The trial court further concluded that Nationwide "should have tendered insurance proceeds in the amount for repairs calculated under the Actual Cash Value, undisputed, of the lowest amount of [Nationwide's] expert's damage estimates for subsurface repairs and/or modifications necessary to stabilize [the Chilluras'] insured structures." The trial court then determined that Nationwide had breached the insurance policy by refusing to "tender all insurance proceeds due and owing MESSRS. CHILLURA for damages caused to the insured structures, including the `foundation,' `slab,' and `footers supporting the perimeter of the building,' by sinkhole activity." Although the trial court did not specify an amount, it is clear from the record that the summary judgment order was referring to the $272,720 figure that the trial court determined, based on the contractor's estimates, would be required to perform the foundation and subsurface soil repairs as described by Nationwide's expert. The trial court also partially granted Nationwide's motion for summary judgment by determining that the measure of damages under the Building Replacement Cost Extension Endorsement to the policy would be actual cash value since the Chilluras had not performed any of the repairs contemplated in their claims. The remaining issues of coverage and amounts of damages were presented to the jury.[3]

The jury returned a verdict in favor of the Chilluras, awarding them $542,693.70.[4] This amount included some, but not all, of the damages claimed by the Chilluras for interior repairs,[5] additional foundation repairs the Chilluras' expert deemed necessary, some additional exterior repairs, and lost rents. Nationwide appeals the amended final judgment that was entered pursuant to the jury's verdict.

On appeal, Nationwide raises five issues. Although we determine that the trial court was in error in a portion of its summary judgment ruling, as explained below, we conclude that the error does not require reversal of the amended final judgment.

The issue that was the center of most of the arguments before the trial court and *550 was the thrust of this appeal was whether the trial court erred in granting the Chilluras' motion for summary judgment based on a finding that Coverage A of the policy covered the cost of the foundation and subsurface repairs. Coverage A provides that Nationwide will pay for actual damage to a covered structure but specifically excludes damage to the soil.

Prior to trial, each party obtained the services of experts to determine how to repair the foundations that were displaced. Nationwide's expert devised a plan of injecting grout under the foundations to fill in voids resulting from the sinkhole and driving pins or pilings down through the foundation slabs until the pins reached solid rock. This plan called for a total of 140 pins to be placed in the slabs primarily at the points of displacement. The Chilluras' expert devised a similar plan of grout and pins, but his plan called for 280 pins to be placed throughout the slabs, even in areas where the slabs were not displaced.

In considering the motion for summary judgment, the trial court had the deposition of each of the experts to review. Additionally, the trial court had for consideration estimates prepared by Certified Foundations, Inc. (CFI), a contractor retained by the Chilluras to estimate the cost of the repair plan prepared by their experts. However, neither party argued that the trial court should consider the merits of the grout injection separately from the insertion of the pins. Similarly, neither side argued that the cost of one repair should be separated from the cost of the other repair. Rather, the focus of the argument at the summary judgment hearing was whether the "subsurface foundation stabilization and/or foundation modification repairs" as a whole were covered under Coverage A.

Nationwide argued that the cost of injecting grout under the foundations and inserting pins through the foundation slabs did not fall under Coverage A of the policy, but rather was covered under other policy provisions that provided for reimbursement of such costs once the repairs were actually performed. Accordingly, Nationwide argued that it was not liable for the costs because the Chilluras had not made the repairs and that, therefore, there could be no finding of a breach of the insurance contract. Nationwide premised its argument on several theories.

First, Nationwide argued that the grout and pinning were repairs to the soil and not to the structure. Since Coverage A of the policy specifically excluded damage to the soil, Nationwide maintained that these repair costs were excluded. Second, counsel argued that the pins and grout were not related to repairing the damage caused by the sinkhole, but rather were needed to prevent future damage. Counsel maintained that while the cost of repairs to prevent future damage was recoverable under other policy provisions, but not under Coverage A, those other policy provisions required that the repairs actually be performed, which the Chilluras had not done. Additionally, Nationwide argued that, in any event, the measure of damages was actual cash value and that there could be no determination of such.

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Bluebook (online)
952 So. 2d 547, 2007 Fla. App. LEXIS 488, 2007 WL 120541, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nationwide-mut-ins-co-v-chillura-fladistctapp-2007.