TERESA VANEGAS
v.
CITIZENS PROPERTY INSURANCE CORPORATION
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
An insured's failure to substantially comply with a homeowner's insurance policy's prompt notice requirement constitutes material breach relieving the insurer of coverage obligations when the insured cannot rebut the presumption of prejudice resulting from untimely notice.
[1] An insured's conclusory engineer report and affidavit are insufficient to rebut the presumption of prejudice to an insurer resulting from the insured's untimely notice of…
Previewing 1 of 1 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceTeresa Vanegas held a homeowner's insurance policy with Citizens Property Insurance Corporation covering her property. She failed to timely notify Cit…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Material Breach Of Insurance Policy cases and more on FLexlaw
Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida
Opinion filed May 13, 2026. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
No. 3D25-0969 Lower Tribunal No. 22-6706-CA-01
Teresa Vanegas, Appellant,
vs.
Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, Appellee.
An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Vivianne del Rio, Judge.
Shield Law Group of Florida, LLC, and Jamie Alvarez (Davie), for appellant.
Vernis & Bowling of Broward, P.A., and Evan A. Zuckerman (Hollywood), for appellee.
Before SCALES, C.J., and LOBREE, and BOKOR, JJ.
PER CURIAM.
In this first-party insurance case, appellant Teresa Vanegas, the plaintiff below, appeals an April 17, 2025 order entering final summary judgment in favor of her insurer, the defendant below, appellee Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (“Citizens”). In the challenged judgment, the trial court determined that Citizens was relieved of its duty to provide coverage for a loss allegedly caused by Hurricane Irma because (i) Vanegas materially breached her homeowner's insurance policy by failing to timely notify Citizens of the loss, and (ii) Vanegas failed to adequately rebut the presumption of prejudice resulting from the untimely notice.
On our de novo review of the summary judgment evidence,1 we affirm the judgment. The undisputed facts establish that Vanegas failed to substantially comply with her policy's post-loss obligation to promptly notify Citizens of the Hurricane Irma loss. See Navarro v. Citizens Prop. Ins. Corp.,
353 So. 3d 1276, 1280 (Fla. 3d DCA 2023). The conclusory report and affidavit of Vanegas's engineer were insufficient to rebut the presumption of prejudice to Citizens resulting from Vanegas's untimely notice of the loss. See Bouchard v. Citizens Prop. Ins. Corp., 406 So. 3d 311, 314 (Fla. 3d DCA 2025); Perez v. Citizens Prop. Ins. Corp., 343 So. 3d 140, 143-44 (Fla. 3d DCA 2022).
Affirmed.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Vanegas v. Citizens Prop. Ins. Corp. (Fla. 3d DCA 2026)
-
Jacome v. People's Tr. Ins. Co. (Fla. 3d DCA 2024)
Authorities Cited
- Yohandy Varona v. SafePoint Ins. Co., 353 So. 3d 1276 (Fla. 3d DCA 2024)
- Bouchard v. Citizens Prop. Ins. Corp., 406 So. 3d 311 (Fla. 3d DCA 2025)
- Vanegas v. Citizens Prop. Ins. Corp. (Fla. 3d DCA 2026)