{"id":896593,"date":"2019-10-22T13:47:06","date_gmt":"2019-10-22T19:47:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=896593"},"modified":"2019-10-15T14:54:30","modified_gmt":"2019-10-15T20:54:30","slug":"failing-to-comply-post-loss-duty-automatic-bar-to-recovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/failing-to-comply-post-loss-duty-automatic-bar-to-recovery\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Failing to Comply With a Post-Loss Duty an Automatic Bar to Recovery?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Christina Potter | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propertyinsurancecoveragelaw.com\/2019\/10\/articles\/insurance\/is-failing-to-comply-with-a-post-loss-duty-an-automatic-bar-to-recovery\/\">Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog<\/a> | October 15, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Florida, if an insured fails to meet a post-loss obligation, is it a complete bar to recovery? In a recent decision, the Third District Court of Appeal certified conflict with the Fourth District Court of Appeal and held that an insurer must be prejudiced by the insured\u2019s non-compliance with a post-loss obligation in order for the insured to forfeit coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In\u00a0<em>American Integrity Insurance Company v. Estrada<\/em>,<sup>1<\/sup>\u00a0the carrier issued an HO3 all-risks homeowner\u2019s insurance policy to Ms. Estrada, who made a claim for losses sustained at her home after the property was burglarized and vandalized. The insured filed a claim with the carrier, who denied the claim. During litigation, the carrier alleged that Ms. Estrada failed to comply with certain post-loss obligations, including failing to complete an examination under oath, provide requested documents, or submit a sign and notarized sworn proof of loss.<sup>2<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At trial, both parties disagreed as to whether or not Ms. Estrada substantially complied with her post-loss obligations. Ms. Estrada\u2019s counsel moved for a directed verdict and argued it was the carrier, not the insured, who had to\u00a0\u201cplead and prove,\u201d that it was prejudiced by Ms. Estrada\u2019s alleged noncompliance.<sup>3<\/sup>\u00a0The trial court, relying on the interpretation of an uninsured motorist policy in\u00a0<em>State Farm v. Curran<\/em>,<sup>4<\/sup>\u00a0granted Ms. Estrada\u2019s motion; the jury subsequently awarded damages and\u00a0the carrier appealed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In reviewing the trial court\u2019s decision, the Third District Court of Appeal agreed with the Fourth District Court of Appeal\u2019s finding that&nbsp;<em>Curran<\/em>&nbsp;was no longer instructive in cases dealing with post-loss obligations. However, the Third District went further and disagreed with what happens after an insured is found to not have substantially complied with the policy. In the Fourth District, a carrier need only establish that the insured failed to comply with post-loss obligations to have a valid coverage defense. However, the Third District disagreed. In&nbsp;<em>Estrada<\/em>, once the carrier demonstrates that the insured failed to substantially comply, a material breach is presumed, and the insured must meet the burden of showing how the carrier was not prejudiced. The appellate court found that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>[W]hen an insurer has alleged, as an affirmative defense to coverage, and thereafter has subsequently established, that an insured has failed to substantially comply with a contractually mandated post-loss obligation, prejudice to the insurer from the insured\u2019s material breach is presumed, and the burden then shifts to the insured to show that any breach of post-loss obligations did not prejudice the insurer.<sup>5<\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Thus, while failing to meet a post-loss obligation under\u00a0<em>Estrada<\/em>\u00a0may not always be fatal to a claim, a policyholder is always in a better position when he or she abides by a policy\u2019s conditions precedent to avoid such disputes in the first place.<br>____________________________<br><sup>1<\/sup>\u00a0<em>Am. Integrity Ins. Co. v. Estrada<\/em>, 276 So. 3d 905, 916 (Fla. 3d DCA 2019).<br><sup>2<\/sup>\u00a0<em>Id.<\/em><br><sup>3<\/sup>\u00a0<em>Estrada<\/em>, 276 So. 3d at 909.<br><sup>4<\/sup>\u00a0<em>State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Curran<\/em>, 135 So. 3d 1071 (Fla. 2014).<br><sup>5<\/sup>\u00a0<em>Estrada<\/em>, 276 So.3d 905, 916 (Fla. 3d DCA 2019).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Christina Potter | Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog | October 15, 2019 In Florida, if an insured fails to meet a post-loss obligation, is it a complete bar to recovery? In a recent decision, the Third District Court of Appeal certified conflict with the Fourth District Court of Appeal and held that an insurer must&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/failing-to-comply-post-loss-duty-automatic-bar-to-recovery\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Is Failing to Comply With a Post-Loss Duty an Automatic Bar to Recovery?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9914],"tags":[9895,23,10305],"class_list":["post-896593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-insurance-coverage","tag-advise-consult","tag-insurance-coverage","tag-post-loss-assignment-of-claims","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Is Failing to Comply With a Post-Loss Duty an Automatic Bar to Recovery? 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