TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal from the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance in a dispute about a water-damage claim linked to Hurricane Wilma.
Justices, as is common, did not explain their reasons for refusing to take up the case.
The decision, however, effectively let stand a 3rd District Court of Appeal ruling last year in favor of Miami-Dade County condominium owner Edie Laquer.
Though Hurricane Wilma hit South Florida in 2005, Laquer filed a claim in 2009 after mold and other water damage were discovered in the condominium unit.
The unit, which had been rented to a tenant, was not directly damaged by Hurricane Wilma, but a neighbor's unit had been flooded, according to the ruling by the appeals court.
The state-backed Citizens denied the claim, pointing to a policy requirement to provide "prompt" notice of claims and the more than three years that had elapsed after the hurricane.
Laquer contended she had no way of knowing about the damage until 2009.
A Miami-Dade County circuit judge sided with Citizens in finding that Laquer failed to provide prompt notice, and a jury also ruled for the insurer on the related issue of whether Citizens had been prejudiced by the late notice.
But the appeals court ordered a new trial, finding that "issues of fact exist concerning when a reasonable and prudent person would believe that a potential claim for damages" might occur.
The appeals court ruling prompted Citizens to take the issue to the Supreme Court.