Typical ACC language
Common ACC-triggered exclusions
- Flood (even when wind also contributes)
- Earth movement (even when water also contributes)
- Maintenance / wear-and-tear (even when event also caused)
- Faulty construction / design
Florida enforcement
Generally enforceable
- Supreme Court of Florida has upheld ACC clauses
- Unambiguous language controls
- Burden on carrier to show excluded cause contributed
Limits
- Ensuing-loss doctrine may override
- Efficient proximate cause analysis still applies in some contexts
- Ambiguity construed against carrier
Strategic responses
Separate the causes
- Wind damage distinct from flood
- Document each cause's contribution separately
- Support separate coverage under separate policies
Efficient proximate cause
- Predominant cause argument
- Where covered cause predominates
- Factual battle
Ensuing-loss doctrine
- Damage resulting from covered cause through excluded cause
- Policy exceptions to ACC
- Florida case law supports
Policy-language analysis
- Strict interpretation of "concurrently or in any sequence"
- Narrow construction
- Any ambiguity resolved for insured