Jeremy Koss, et al. v. Florida Insurance Guaranty Association, etc.

Summary

The Florida Third District Court of Appeal affirmed summary judgment for Saint Johns Insurance Company in a dispute over water damage caused by a plumbing-system backup. The court held that the policy’s water-damage exclusions applied regardless of the water’s source and that the Limited Water Damage Coverage Endorsement capped covered losses at $10,000. The court also concluded that tear-out and other additional coverages did not apply because the underlying loss was excluded.

Holdings

1. The policy unambiguously excluded the Kosses' water damage because it excluded water, sewage, or other substances backing up through sewers or drains and water below the ground that seeped or leaked into a building regardless of source. The exclusion therefore applied even though the water originated from the home's plumbing system.
2. The Kosses were not entitled to additional coverage for tear-out costs or other indirect losses because those coverages applied only when the underlying loss resulted from a covered peril. Tear-out costs were part of the water-damage loss, not a separate and distinct coverage, and the Limited Water Damage Coverage Endorsement limited the covered water-damage claim to $10,000.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the policy's water-damage exclusions applied to damage caused by sewage water discharged from the home's cast-iron plumbing system.
2. Whether the policy provided separate or additional coverage for tear-out costs and other indirect losses beyond the $10,000 limit in the Limited Water Damage Coverage Endorsement.

Disposition

affirmed