A recent Florida case, Jones v. Federated National Ins. Co., 43 Fla. L. Weekly D164a (Fla. 4^th DCA 2018) discusses the burden of proof of an insured in establishing coverage under an all-risk property insurance policy.  Getting right to this critical point, the court explained the burden of proof as follows:

 

 

1. The insured has the initial burden of proof to establish that the damage at issue occurred during a period in which the damaged property had insurance coverage. If the insured fails to meet this burden, judgment shall be entered in favor of the insurer.

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2. If the insured’s initial burden is met, the burden of proof shifts to the insurer to establish that (a) there was a sole cause of the loss, or (b) in cases where there was more than one cause, there was an “efficient proximate cause” of the loss.

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3. If the insurer meets the burden of proof under either 2.(a) or 2.(b), it must then establish that this sole or efficient proximate cause was excluded from coverage by the terms of the insurance policy. If the insurer does so, then judgment shall be entered in its favor. If the insurer establishes that there was a sole or efficient proximate cause, but fails to prove that this cause was excluded by the all-risk insurance policy, then judgment shall be entered in favor of the insured.

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4. If the insurer fails to establish either a sole or efficient proximate cause, and there are no applicable anti-concurrent cause provisions, then the concurrent cause doctrine must be utilized. Applying the concurrent cause doctrine, the insurer has the initial burden of production to present evidence that an excluded risk was a contributing cause of the damage.  If it fails to satisfy this burden of production, judgment shall be entered in favor of the insured.

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5. If the insurer does produce evidence that an excluded risk was a concurrent cause of the loss, then the burden of production shifts to the insured to present evidence that an allegedly covered risk was a concurrent cause of the loss at issue. If the insured fails to satisfy this burden of production, judgment shall be entered in favor of the insurer.

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6. If the insured produces evidence of a covered concurrent cause, the insurer bears the burden of proof to establish that the insured’s purported concurrent cause was either (a) not a concurrent cause (i.e., it had no (or a de minimis) causal role in the loss), or (b) excluded from coverage by the insurance policy. If the insurer fails to satisfy this burden of proof, judgment shall be entered in favor of the insured.

Jones, supra. 

 

In this case, the insured suffered roof damage and claimed it was the result of a hailstorm, a peril covered under the policy.  The property insurer denied coverage contending the roof damage was not covered under the policy due to certain exclusions including, without limitation: (i) wear and tear, (ii) faulty or defective design, and (iii) existing damage.  The homeowner argued that the concurrent cause doctrine should apply to determine if there was coverage under this all-risk property insurance policy.  (Check out this article for more on the concurrent cause doctrine.)  This doctrine holds that insurance coverage may exist if an excluded peril and covered peril concurrently cause a loss.   The trial court did not apply this doctrine; rather, it applied the doctrine known as the efficient proximate cause doctrine which holds that if there are concurrent causes for a loss, the peril that set the other peril in motion is the peril that the loss is attributable to, i.e., you are looking at the most responsible cause of the loss.  Thus, if an excluded peril set a covered peril in motion, i.e., it is the most responsible cause of the loss, the loss would be attributable to the excluded peril and not covered by the policy.

 

The court, relying on a Florida Supreme Court decision, maintained that it was error to instruct the jury on the efficient proximate cause doctrine without the jury first determining whether an efficient proximate cause of the loss could be determined.  If it could not be determined, the concurrent cause doctrine would apply and the jury would determine if one of the concurrent causes (perils) was covered under the policy.  For instance, if the jury could not determine whether one peril set another peril in motion, the jury would determine whether the hailstorm concurrently caused the roof damage with another peril (e.g., defective design); and, if so, whether the hailstorm is a covered peril such that the roof damage would be covered under the policy.

 

Notably, the court noted that certain exclusions the insurer relied on contain anti-concurrent cause language, which negates the application of the concurrent cause doctrine.  However, since some of the exclusions the insurer relied on did not specifically incorporate anti-concurrent cause language, the jury could have found that the hailstorm concurrently caused the roof damage with an exclusion that did not contain the anti-concurrent cause language meaning the concurrent cause doctrine would apply.

 

I know this is confusing.  I agree, it very well can be confusing.  Nonetheless, what this emphasizes is the importance of strategy when it comes to presenting a property insurance claim to trigger the application of the concurrent cause doctrine and preparing jury instructions, which is the law you want the jury to follow. This also emphasizes the importance of the verdict form which is the form the jury fills out to decide the outcome of the case.

 

Please contact David Adelstein at dadelstein@gmail.com or (954) 361-4720 if you have questions or would like more information regarding this article. You can follow David Adelstein on Twitter @DavidAdelstein1.