The same Florida Appellate Court which decided a Valued Policy Law Case filed on account of Hurricane Ivan Damage in which Florida's Valued Property Law was applied to limit recovery under the circumstances of that case, held that its earlier decision does not apply "where, as here, the jury triggers the VPL by a finding that a covered peril alone caused a total loss." Citizens Property Insurance Corp. v. Hamilton, Download Citizens Property Insurance Corp. v. Hamilton (Fla. 1st DCA Opinion Filed July 7, 2010) PUBLIC ACCESS also published as 2010 WL 2671808 *7 (Fla. 1st DCA July 7, 2010)(Westlaw subscription required to access Westlaw).
The Florida Appellate Court also held in this case, which presented an array of Damages allegedly caused during Hurricane Ivan, that the Jury does not need to be instructed that the Insureds have the burden of proving how much if any of the Damage was caused in conjunction with any other cause or event acting concurrently or in any sequence with the Covered risk of Wind, in addition to the burden of proof of how much Damage was caused by Wind. The Appellate Court accordingly held that the Trial Court ruled correctly in rejecting Citizens Property Insurance Corporation's proffered Jury Instruction which would have erroneously instructed the Jury to the contrary. Citizens Property Insurance Corp. v. Hamilton, 2010 WL 2671808 at *7.
Dennis Wall is Co-Author of the leading book on Insurance Coverage for Catastrophe Claims, "CATClaims: Insurance Coverage for Natural and Man-Made Disasters" (West Publishing Company 2008; 2010 Supplement in process). Mr. Wall will be a featured speaker on several panels which will address the BP Oil Spill Catastrophe. On September 15, 2010, he will be a featured speaker on a panel addressing "BP Oil Spill Damages Claims: The Coverage Predicates" at the September 15, 2010 Seminar of the Insurance Law Committee sponsored by the Orange County Bar Association in Orlando, Florida. Mr. Wall will speak on a panel at the American Conference Institute's Bad Faith Litigation Conference in Orlando, Florida on November 30, 2010 on "Dealing With Catastrophic Disasters: How to Properly Investigate and Handle Overwhelming Claims". The American Conference Institute is offering a discount to readers of this Blog: Download ACI Advises Readers of the Insurance Claims and Issues and Insurance Claims and Bad Faith Law Blog are entitled to a discount.
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