Damages Sustained in Tropical Storm Debby Excluded from Coverage, Fla. Federal Judge Rules

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Florida federal judge has awarded an insurer summary judgment in a tropical storm-related coverage dispute, finding the damage to the insured property fell within a policy exclusion for water intrusion damage caused by wind-driven rain.

On July 7, Judge Marcia Morales Howard of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida found the exclusion’s exception, which is triggered if "the building or structure first sustains damage by a Covered Cause of Loss to its roof or walls through which the rain enters," does not apply. The insured failed identify what other “covered cause of …