Fla. High Court Applies Concurrent Cause Doctrine in Case Involving Multiple Causes of Loss

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Supreme Court ruled that the efficient proximate cause doctrine does not apply in a case where a home covered by an all-risk policy was destroyed by a combination of construction defects, rainwater, and hurricane winds, explaining that no efficient cause of loss can be determined.

In a Dec. 1 opinion, the high court further concluded that because none of the provisions of the policy at issue barred application of the concurrent cause doctrine, the plain language of the policy did not preclude recovery.

John Sebo purchased a four-year-old house in Naples, Fla., in April 2005 …