MONTES DE OCA v. CITIZENS PROPERTY INSURANCE CORPORATION (2022)

Appellants Miguel Pena Montes de Oca and Patricia Ojeda, the insured homeowners, appeal from a final judgment, following a jury trial, in favor of Appellee Citizens Property Insurance Corp. Based on the record before us, we find no reversible error and affirm. See Empire Pro Restoration, Inc. v. Citizens Prop. Ins. Corp., 322 So. 3d 96, 98 (Fla. 4th DCA 2021) (“ ‘[A]n insured claiming under an all-risks policy has the burden of proving that the insured property suffered a loss while the policy was in effect. The burden then shifts to the insurer to prove that the cause of the loss was excluded from coverage under the policy's terms.’ [Kokhan v. Auto Club Ins. Co. of Florida, 297 So. 3d 570, 572 (Fla. 4th DCA 2020)] (alteration in original) (quoting Jones v. Federated Nat'l Ins. Co., 235 So. 3d 936, 941 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018)). ‘If there is an exception to the exclusion, the burden once again is placed on the insured to demonstrate the exception to the exclusion.’ E. Florida Hauling, Inc. v. Lexington Ins. Co., 913 So. 2d 673, 678 (Fla. 3d DCA 2005) ․”). Given the specific facts in this case, any alleged error with the jury instructions is harmless. See § 59.041, Fla. Stat. (2021) (“No judgment shall be set aside or reversed, or new trial granted by any court of the state in any cause, civil or criminal, on the ground of misdirection of the jury ․ unless in the opinion of the court to which application is made, after an examination of the entire case it shall appear that the error complained of has resulted in a miscarriage of justice. This section shall be liberally construed.”).

Affirmed.

LINDSEY, J.