MARKO SERRANO AND DOLORES SERRANO
v.
CITIZENS PROPERTY INSURANCE CORPORATION
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When an insurer moves for summary judgment on an all-risk homeowner's policy claim, the insurer must provide affidavits or other sworn proof establishing that a policy exclusion bars coverage; failure to do so requires reversal.
[1] A movant seeking summary judgment bears the initial burden to prove that no genuine, triable issues of material fact are in dispute.
[2] The burden of proving the existence of genuine, triable issues of material fact is not shifted to the opposing party until the movant has successfully met its initial bur…
Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“with an all-risk policy, the insured is only required to prove that damage occurred during the policy period. Subsequently, the burden shifts to the insurer to prove that one of the policy exclusions bars coverage.”
The court explained the burden-shifting framework applicable to all-risk homeowner's policies.
Marko and Dolores Serrano filed a homeowner's insurance claim for a water-related loss under an all-risk policy issued by Citizens Property Insurance …
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Opinion filed August 16, 2023. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
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No. 3D22-560 Lower Tribunal No. 17-15551
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Marko Serrano and Dolores Serrano,
Appellants,
vs.
Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, Appellee.
An appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, David C. Miller, Judge. Giasi Law, P.A. and Melissa A. Giasi, and Erin M. Berger (Tampa), for appellants. Nicklaus & Associates, P.A., and Edward R. Nicklaus, and Stephen P. Byrnes, for appellee. Before EMAS, MILLER, and LOBREE, JJ. PER CURIAM. In this first-party property dispute, appellants, Marko and Dolores Serrano, appeal a final summary judgment rendered in favor of their insurer, appellee, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. Appellants filed a complaint seeking payment for a water-related loss under an all-risk homeowner’s policy. Citizens moved for summary judgment under Florida’s so-called “old” summary judgment standard. In so moving, Citizens failed to produce affidavits or other sworn proof establishing the claim was not covered or excluded under the policy.1 Given this procedural deficiency, we are constrained to reverse the judgment under review and remand for further proceedings. See Star Lakes Ests. Ass’n, Inc. v. Auerbach, 656 So. 2d 271, 274 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995) (quoting Holl v. Talcott, 191 So. 2d 40, 43–44 (Fla. 1966)) (“[T]he movant . . . has the initial burden to prove that there are no genuine, triable issues of material fact in dispute, ‘and the burden of proving the existence of such issues is not shifted to the opposing party until the movant has successfully met this burden.’”); see also Sec. First Ins. Co. v. Czelusniak, 305 So. 3d 717, 718 (Fla. 3d DCA 2020) (citation omitted) (“[W]ith an all-risk policy, the insured is only required to prove that damage occurred during the policy period. Subsequently, the burden shifts to the insurer to prove that one of the policy exclusions bars coverage.”); B & S
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- Star Lakes Ests. Ass'n, Inc. v. Dory Auerbach and Hortense Auerbach, 656 So. 2d 271 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995)
- Sec. First Ins. Co. v. Czelusniak, 305 So. 3d 717 (Fla. 3d DCA 2020)