August 13, 2025
ShareKelley Kronenberg Secures Summary Judgment in Hurricane Nicole Property Case
Kelley Kronenberg’s team of Practice Partner Nadine Mathieu, Partner/Business Unit Leader Derek Goldsmith, and Partner/Business Unit Leader Todd Schwartz achieved a decisive summary judgment victory for Citizens Property Insurance Corporation in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court, wiping out approximately $140,000.00 in potential liability from a Hurricane Nicole property damage claim.
The homeowner claimed Hurricane Nicole damaged her roof system, creating openings that let rainwater enter and damage the interior. Citizens had already denied this claim following an investigation that found no storm-created openings or wind damage to the roof.
Our defense team moved for final summary judgment, backing their arguments with a professional engineer’s thorough inspection report and expert analysis, which clearly showed the claimed damages stemmed from normal wear, tear, and deterioration—not covered storm damage.
The plaintiff countered with an expert affidavit attempting to prove Hurricane Nicole created storm-related openings. But our team methodically exposed serious flaws in the plaintiff’s expert’s work during their challenge.
Judge Abby Cynamon sided with our team, granting summary judgment after determining the plaintiff’s expert affidavit was “conclusory and based entirely on speculation, surmise, and conjecture.” The Court highlighted several problems like the fact that plaintiff’s expert never actually inspected the property, used wind speed data from hundreds of miles away, ignored other possible wind events, and failed to provide factual analysis proving a covered peril created roof openings.
The ruling emphasized that the plaintiff couldn’t meet her burden of proving an exception to the policy’s water damage exclusion since she failed to establish that Hurricane Nicole actually created the necessary storm-related opening for rain to enter.
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