Court Opinion

ID: 9906236
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-12-01 15:03:44.256275+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:24:11.242113
License: Public Domain

FIFTH DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
                STATE OF FLORIDA
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                      Case No. 5D22-1006
                  LT Case No. 2017-CA-027349
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PEOPLE’S TRUST INSURANCE
COMPANY,

    Appellant,

    v.

KIMBERLY DIAZ and EVARISTO
DIAZ,

    Appellees.
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On appeal from the Circuit Court for Brevard County.
David Dugan, Judge.

Scott A. Cole and Mark Tinker, of Cole, Scott & Kissane, P.A.,
Miami, and Brett Frankel and Jonathan Sabghir, Deerfield
Beach, for Appellant.

Matthew Struble, of Struble, P.A., Indialantic, for Appellees.

                        December 1, 2023

LAMBERT, J.

     People’s Trust Insurance Company (“People’s Trust”) appeals
the final judgment entered in favor of Kimberly Diaz (“Ms. Diaz”)
and Evaristo Diaz (collectively, “the Diazes”) following jury trial.
Ms. Diaz owned a home covered by an all-risks insurance policy
issued by People’s Trust, subject to certain endorsements that
limited coverage. Her home sustained water damage when one of
the cast iron pipes in the home leaked due to “age-related wear and
tear” and “deterioration.” Ms. Diaz made a claim under her policy
and thereafter filed suit for breach of contract when People’s Trust
did not pay the full amount of what she asserted was covered under
the policy.

     The jury awarded the Diazes $9,500 in damages and repairs
related to the water damage, plus $25,300 for what will be referred
to as “tear out” costs, which are the costs that were incurred to
access and repair and replace the damaged pipe. The primary
issue in this appeal is whether these tear out costs are covered
under the Diazes’ Limited Water Damage (“LWD”) coverage
endorsement that modified their Water Damage Exclusion
(“WDX”) endorsement to their insurance policy. 1 We reverse.

     A detailed description of the insurance policy, the LWD and
WDX endorsements, and the facts of the case is unnecessary to our
resolution of this appeal. The issue of whether, under identical
policy language and similar facts, these tear out costs are covered
under the People’s Trust homeowners insurance policy and LWD
and WDX endorsements that the Diazes purchased has been
recently and comprehensively addressed by three of our sister
courts. See People’s Tr. Ins. v. Gunsser, 48 Fla. L. Weekly D2172d
(Fla. 6th DCA Nov. 9, 2023); People’s Tr. Ins. v. Banks, 48 Fla. L.
Weekly D1819 (Fla. 3d DCA Sept. 13, 2023); Panettieri v. People’s
Tr. Ins., 344 So. 3d 35, 41 (Fla. 4th DCA 2022). Each court
concluded that the LWD endorsement in the People’s Trust policy
did not provide coverage for tear out costs.

    We agree with the respective analyses of our sister courts of
the policy language and endorsements and adopt the detailed
reasoning from their opinions on this issue as our own. We also
agree that, for the reasons explained by our sister courts, our
opinion in Security First Insurance v. Vazquez, 336 So. 3d 350 (Fla.
5th DCA 2022), is distinguishable from the instant case and does

    1 People’s Trust does not dispute that the $9,500 in damages

awarded by the jury for water damage is covered under its policy.

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not compel a different result.

    Accordingly, we reverse the final judgment; and we remand
with directions for the trial court to enter an amended final
judgment that does not include the tear out costs. 2

      REVERSED and REMANDED, with directions.

BOATWRIGHT and KILBANE, JJ., concur.

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    Not final until disposition of any timely and
    authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or
    9.331.
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    2 We also find no merit to the Diazes’ separate argument that

the final judgment should be affirmed based on the doctrine of
collateral estoppel.

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