Rockland Funding L.L.C., D/B/A Westbrook Partners v. Ace American Insurance Company

District Court of Appeal of Florida

Rockland Funding L.L.C., D/B/A Westbrook Partners v. Ace American Insurance Company

CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida

DecidedMarch 26, 2025

Docket4D2022-2690

StatusPublished

This text of Rockland Funding L.L.C., D/B/A Westbrook Partners v. Ace American Insurance Company (Rockland Funding L.L.C., D/B/A Westbrook Partners v. Ace American Insurance Company) 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

Rockland Funding L.L.C., D/B/A Westbrook Partners v. Ace American Insurance Company, (Fla. Ct. App. 2025).

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Opinion

DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA FOURTH DISTRICT

ROCKLAND FUNDING L.L.C., d/b/a WESTBROOK PARTNERS, Appellant,

v.

ACE AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellee.

No. 4D2022-2690

[March 26, 2025]

Appeal from the Circuit Court for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, Palm Beach County; Bradley G. Harper, Judge; L.T. Case No. 50-2021-CA- 002735XXXXMBAE.

Jeffrey D. Fisher of Rottenstreich Farley Bronstein Fisher Potter Hodas LLP, West Palm Beach, and Kirsten C. Jackson and Robert J. Gilbert of Latham & Watkins LLP, Los Angeles, CA, for appellant.

Joseph H. Lang, Jr. and Heidi Hudson Raschke of Carlton Fields, Tampa, and Steven J. Brodie, Andrew K. Daechsel, and Samuel B. Spinner of Carlton Fields, P.A., Miami, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

We affirm the final judgment which denied an insurance claim for damages, determining based on New York law that the presence of the COVID-19 virus on appellant’s property did not constitute direct physical loss or damage so as to trigger coverage under the insurance policy with appellee. See Consol. Rest. Operations, Inc. v. Westport Ins. Corp., 235 N.E. 3d 332, 342 (N.Y. 2024) (holding that the term “physical damage” within an insurance policy “must be understood to require a material physical alteration to the property—one that is perceptible, even if not visible to the naked eye,” and the presence of COVID on the properties did not constitute “physical damage;” further holding that “‘[d]irect physical loss’ thus requires more than loss of use; it requires an actual, complete dispossession”). In addition, the policy also contained an exclusion for damage caused by contaminants, which specifically included damage caused by a virus. See Northwell Health, Inc. v. Lexington Ins. Co., 550 F. Supp. 3d 108, 121 (S.D.N.Y. 2021). Affirmed.

KLINGENSMITH, C.J., WARNER and FORST, JJ., concur.

* * *

Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

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DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA FOURTH DISTRICT

ROCKLAND FUNDING L.L.C., d/b/a WESTBROOK PARTNERS, Appellant,

v.

ACE AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellee.

No. 4D2022-2690

[March 26, 2025]

Appeal from the Circuit Court for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, Palm Beach County; Bradley G. Harper, Judge; L.T. Case No. 50-2021-CA- 002735XXXXMBAE.

Jeffrey D. Fisher of Rottenstreich Farley Bronstein Fisher Potter Hodas LLP, West Palm Beach, and Kirsten C. Jackson and Robert J. Gilbert of Latham & Watkins LLP, Los Angeles, CA, for appellant.

Joseph H. Lang, Jr. and Heidi Hudson Raschke of Carlton Fields, Tampa, and Steven J. Brodie, Andrew K. Daechsel, and Samuel B. Spinner of Carlton Fields, P.A., Miami, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

We affirm the final judgment which denied an insurance claim for damages, determining based on New York law that the presence of the COVID-19 virus on appellant’s property did not constitute direct physical loss or damage so as to trigger coverage under the insurance policy with appellee. See Consol. Rest. Operations, Inc. v. Westport Ins. Corp., 235 N.E. 3d 332, 342 (N.Y. 2024) (holding that the term “physical damage” within an insurance policy “must be understood to require a material physical alteration to the property—one that is perceptible, even if not visible to the naked eye,” and the presence of COVID on the properties did not constitute “physical damage;” further holding that “‘[d]irect physical loss’ thus requires more than loss of use; it requires an actual, complete dispossession”). In addition, the policy also contained an exclusion for damage caused by contaminants, which specifically included damage caused by a virus. See Northwell Health, Inc. v. Lexington Ins. Co., 550 F. Supp. 3d 108, 121 (S.D.N.Y. 2021). Affirmed.

KLINGENSMITH, C.J., WARNER and FORST, JJ., concur.

* * *

Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

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Bluebook (online)

Rockland Funding L.L.C., D/B/A Westbrook Partners v. Ace American Insurance Company, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rockland-funding-llc-dba-westbrook-partners-v-ace-american-insurance-fladistctapp-2025.