Florida Insurance Law Blog : Florida Insurance Lawyer & Attorney : Mark Nation Law Firm : Orlando, Longwood, Gainesville

There was a water leak at my client's home caused by pinholes in copper tubing. The leaks occurred in the crawl space under the floor. The home was insured at the time of the leak by Nationwide.

My client realized there was a problem when the floors in her home began to sink down and separate from her walls. She called her homeowners insurer who sent engineers to investigate the claim. Based on the engineers' report, Nationwide denied the claim. In denying the claim, Nationwide relied on the following exclusion:

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Proving a sinkhole case on behalf of a policy holder depends a lot on teaching the jurors about geology, construction, and engineering.  One of the ways I do that is through 3-D drawings which I prepare in each sinkhole case. 

Some examples from a recent case are set forth below.  While these images won't move in the blog, I am able to rotate and spin these images for the jury.  (These may be slightly grainy in the blog, but are crystal clear in my 3-D software). 

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My book Claim Denied is now available.   You can download or order a free copy by clicking here.
 

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I have previously written rather extensively about insurance coverage for wind damage to roofs.  You can see my articles on roof claims by clicking here:

http://www.floridainsuranceblog.com/articles/insurance-coverage-homeowners/roof-claims/

When litigating roof claims it is important to document the wind damage.  Wind damage is somewhat easy to see if you know what to look for. 

Shingles are manufactured with a sealing strip on the bottom of the shingle which seals them to the shingle below.  Shingles in good working order should be solidly sealed to the shingle below.  You should not be able to lift the shingles easily.  

I've attached a video of a recent case which readily shows wind damage to a shingle roof.  You will note that the shingles are easily lifted, and that there is debris blown in between the shingles.  There's only one way for debris to get between shingles and that is from wind.  You can view the video below.

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