Hurricane Ian Readiness and Dock Issues

Hurricane Ian has impacted a large swath of Florida’s west coast, central Florida as well as the east coast. One of the biggest issues we see in hurricane-related claims is dock issues. During Hurricane Matthew in 2016 a homeowner out of Jacksonville asserted water-born materials in the form of docks, etc were driven into her dock causing damage. The insurance carrier, represented by Scarborough Attorneys filed a declaratory judgment action declining coverage.The homeowner’s policy had the following applicable exclusion:Endorsement-Water Exclusion" the policy excludes damage caused by water in Section I.l.c, which it specifies as (1) Flood, surface water, waves, including tidal wave and tsunami, tides, tidal water, overflow of any body of water, or spray from any of these, all whether or not driven by wind, including storm surge:* * * *(4) Waterborne material carried or otherwise moved by any of the water referred [*7] to in l.c.(l)The court granted Summary Judgment in favor of the insurance carrier upholding the exclusion and anti-concurrent clause in the subject policy determining no coverage for the dock damages.Be ready for these and other like issues. They will be coming. We are ready to assist.