{"id":905785,"date":"2026-06-16T16:35:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T22:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=905785"},"modified":"2026-06-16T16:35:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T22:35:12","slug":"flood-exclusion-enforced-by-sixth-circuit-for-flood-damage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/flood-exclusion-enforced-by-sixth-circuit-for-flood-damage\/","title":{"rendered":"Sixth Circuit Enforces First-Party Property Policy\u2019s Flood Exclusion for Flood Damage Caused by Eight Inches of Rain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Roben West | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carltonfields.com\/insights\/blogs\/propertycasualtyfocus\/migrated\/sixth-circuit-enforces-first-party-property-policys-flood-exclusion-for-flood-damage-caused\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Carlton Fields<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov\/opinions.pdf\/26a0234n-06.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\"><em>Express Jewelry Enterprises Inc. v. National Fire Insurance Company<\/em>\u00a0<em>of Hartford<\/em><\/a>, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals found that a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/flood-coverage-exclusions-and-limitations-may-not-apply\/\">flood exclusion<\/a> precluded coverage for property damage following a night of heavy rains. The basement of a jewelry store in Dearborn, Michigan, was inundated with high water after the city experienced almost eight inches of rain in a short period of time, overwhelming the city\u2019s sewer system, which led to the jewelry store\u2019s draining system backing up and flooding the basement. The insurer denied the jewelry store\u2019s claim for coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The policy excluded coverage for damage to the interior of the building caused by rain unless there was roof or wall damage preceding the rain caused by wind or hail. The policy also included a coverage extension for water damage caused by sewer or drain backups and overflows, but that provision contained a carveout for water damage caused by a flood, which the policy specifically defined as a \u201cgeneral and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas.\u201d Because the insurer determined that the insured had not established that wind or hail damage to the roof or walls occurred prior to the rain and further determined that the flood was the cause of the draining system backup and overflow \u2014 and thus the cause of the water damage \u2014 it denied coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following general principles of contract interpretation which require enforcing an unambiguous contract as written, the court agreed with the insurer\u2019s determinations. The insured had the burden to prove coverage in the first place. In relying on conclusory testimony that wind and hail damage preceded the rain, which was demonstrably false, the court determined that the insured had not met its burden in the first instance. And with respect to the second provision, which provided coverage for water damage from backups and overflows, the court found that the flood exclusion was \u201cstraightforward\u201d and plainly applicable based on the \u201cnatural reading\u201d of the policy language. Namely, the court found that the downpour of rain inundated normally dry land resulting in pools of water, in other words that the rain caused a flood as specifically defined by the policy. And, according to the court, it was the flood that overwhelmed the sewers and kept them from properly draining, which ultimately resulted in water damage to the basement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The court rejected the jewelry store\u2019s narrow reframing of the cause of the water damage as the sewer backup, determining that absent the excessive rain and flooding there would have been no capacity issues with the sewer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When one of your cases is in need of a construction expert, estimates, insurance appraisal or umpire services in defect or insurance disputes &#8211; please call Advise &amp; Consult, Inc. at 801.641.8304, or email <a href=\"mailto:experts@adviseandconsult.net\">experts@adviseandconsult.net<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Roben West | Carlton Fields In\u00a0Express Jewelry Enterprises Inc. v. National Fire Insurance Company\u00a0of Hartford, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals found that a flood exclusion precluded coverage for property damage following a night of heavy rains. The basement of a jewelry store in Dearborn, Michigan, was inundated with high water after the city experienced&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/flood-exclusion-enforced-by-sixth-circuit-for-flood-damage\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Sixth Circuit Enforces First-Party Property Policy\u2019s Flood Exclusion for Flood Damage Caused by Eight Inches of Rain<\/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":[10721,9721],"tags":[9895,11513,22,56],"class_list":["post-905785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-insurance","category-property-damage","tag-advise-consult","tag-flood-exclusions","tag-insurance","tag-property-damage","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>Sixth Circuit Enforces First-Party Property Policy\u2019s Flood Exclusion for Flood Damage Caused by Eight Inches of Rain - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals found that a flood exclusion precluded coverage for property damage following a night of heavy rains\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/flood-exclusion-enforced-by-sixth-circuit-for-flood-damage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sixth Circuit Enforces First-Party Property Policy\u2019s Flood Exclusion for Flood Damage Caused by Eight Inches of Rain - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals found that a flood exclusion precluded coverage for property damage following a night of heavy rains\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/flood-exclusion-enforced-by-sixth-circuit-for-flood-damage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-16T22:35:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-16T22:35:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/flood-exclusion-enforced-by-sixth-circuit-for-flood-damage\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/flood-exclusion-enforced-by-sixth-circuit-for-flood-damage\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\"},\"headline\":\"Sixth Circuit Enforces First-Party Property Policy\u2019s Flood Exclusion for Flood Damage Caused by Eight Inches of Rain\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-16T22:35:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-16T22:35:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/flood-exclusion-enforced-by-sixth-circuit-for-flood-damage\/\"},\"wordCount\":489,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Advise &amp; Consult\",\"Flood Exclusions\",\"insurance\",\"property damage\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Insurance\",\"Property Damage\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/flood-exclusion-enforced-by-sixth-circuit-for-flood-damage\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/flood-exclusion-enforced-by-sixth-circuit-for-flood-damage\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/flood-exclusion-enforced-by-sixth-circuit-for-flood-damage\/\",\"name\":\"Sixth Circuit Enforces First-Party Property Policy\u2019s Flood Exclusion for Flood Damage Caused by Eight Inches of Rain - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-16T22:35:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-16T22:35:12+00:00\",\"description\":\"Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals found that a flood exclusion precluded coverage for property damage following a night of heavy rains\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/flood-exclusion-enforced-by-sixth-circuit-for-flood-damage\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\",\"description\":\"Construction Expert Witnesses\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Advise & Consult\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"width\":162,\"height\":75,\"caption\":\"Advise & Consult\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sixth Circuit Enforces First-Party Property Policy\u2019s Flood Exclusion for Flood Damage Caused by Eight Inches of Rain - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","description":"Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals found that a flood exclusion precluded coverage for property damage following a night of heavy rains","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/flood-exclusion-enforced-by-sixth-circuit-for-flood-damage\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sixth Circuit Enforces First-Party Property Policy\u2019s Flood Exclusion for Flood Damage Caused by Eight Inches of Rain - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","og_description":"Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals found that a flood exclusion precluded coverage for property damage following a night of heavy rains","og_url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/flood-exclusion-enforced-by-sixth-circuit-for-flood-damage\/","og_site_name":"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","article_published_time":"2026-06-16T22:35:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-06-16T22:35:12+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@adviseconsult","twitter_site":"@adviseconsult","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/flood-exclusion-enforced-by-sixth-circuit-for-flood-damage\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/flood-exclusion-enforced-by-sixth-circuit-for-flood-damage\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7"},"headline":"Sixth Circuit Enforces First-Party Property Policy\u2019s Flood Exclusion for Flood Damage Caused by Eight Inches of Rain","datePublished":"2026-06-16T22:35:09+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-16T22:35:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/flood-exclusion-enforced-by-sixth-circuit-for-flood-damage\/"},"wordCount":489,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["Advise &amp; Consult","Flood Exclusions","insurance","property damage"],"articleSection":["Insurance","Property Damage"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/flood-exclusion-enforced-by-sixth-circuit-for-flood-damage\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/flood-exclusion-enforced-by-sixth-circuit-for-flood-damage\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/flood-exclusion-enforced-by-sixth-circuit-for-flood-damage\/","name":"Sixth Circuit Enforces First-Party Property Policy\u2019s Flood Exclusion for Flood Damage Caused by Eight Inches of Rain - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-06-16T22:35:09+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-16T22:35:12+00:00","description":"Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals found that a flood exclusion precluded coverage for property damage following a night of heavy rains","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/flood-exclusion-enforced-by-sixth-circuit-for-flood-damage\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","name":"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","description":"Construction Expert Witnesses","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Advise & Consult","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","width":162,"height":75,"caption":"Advise & Consult"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com"]}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2ztG6-3NDr","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=905785"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":905786,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905785\/revisions\/905786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=905785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=905785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=905785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}