Mary Ann Ruiz contributed to a USA Today article that was featured on the front page of its Wednesday, August 4, 2021, print edition. The article, titled “Homes destroyed. Neighbors perished. Now, Surfside survivors face insurance companies,” concerns condominium unit owner property insurance claims at the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida. Readers can view the full article here.
The condominium building was massively uninsured, as we have heard. Now, some individual unit owner policies are refusing to pay out until the cause of the collapse is determined. Even those policies which have made full payouts provide minimum relief to survivors.
Mary Ann Ruiz gave the following insight, and was quoted in the article as follows:
The bigger issue – adding to the slew of separate lawsuits the condo association for Champlain Towers South is facing – is how dramatically under-insured the building was.
During an emergency hearing earlier this month, Judge Michael Hanzman of the 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida said the $48 million insurance coverage would be “inadequate to compensate everyone fully for the extent of their losses,” first reported by the Miami Herald.
The Condo Association for Champlain Towers South told the judge it knew of two policies, $30 million with Great American and $18 million in liability insurance.
Florida has more than 1.5 million condo units – more than any other state in America, buying an entire insurance industry.
The policies are designed to cover damage from hurricanes and tropical storms, not rebuilding a condo from the ground up.
At Champlain, that means other insurance companies could fear they’ll never get paid back through subrogation, a practice where insurance companies sue the party ultimately believed to be at fault to recover the amount paid by the claim.
“Insurance companies are wondering whether they are going to get money back and from whom,” said Mary Ann Ruiz, a Miami-area condominium attorney who represents mostly individual owners.
Thank you Romina Ruiz-Goiriena and Sudiksha Kochi.
For nearly thirteen years, Mary Ann Ruiz, P.A. has strived to be a valuable resource to the South Florida condominium community, with a specialty in representing condominium unit owners.
