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

My client's home was damaged by fire in 2010.  At the time of the fire she was insured with Citizens Property for her homeowners insurance.  Citizens sent out an estimator who initially estimated the damages for approximately $40,000.  My client's contractor estimated that the damage was approximately $130,000.  Citizens later sent an additional check for another $40,000. 

My client hired me today to help her with the claim.  Today, I filed a lawsuit against Citizens for breach of the insurance policy for failing to properly pay for the fire damages. 

My client has been out of her house for nearly a year now, and there is no way she could afford to hire me by the hour.  So, my deal with her is simple.  As with most of my insurance cases, if I am successful Citizens will be required to pay my fees and costs, and if I lose, I'll work for free. 

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We recently filed suit on behalf of our client who owns a barbecue restaurant.  After a fire in the kitchen, our client submitted the claim for fire damage to her business insurer.  The insurance company denied the claim, asserting that she had the wrong kind of fire extinguishing system in place at the restaurant.  The insurance company states that under the policy she was required to have one particular type of extinguishing system.  However, the plain reading of the policy endorsement at issue allows for multiple types of fire extinguishing systems, and she had one of those systems in place at the time.  The first thing I will be asking for in discovery is the underwriting file to see if the insurer ever inspected the property while underwriting the policy.  If so, this will certainly buttress our argument that the extinguishment system in place was contemplated under the policy. 

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