What happened: Florida's Fifth District reversed a directed verdict that wiped out a homeowner's personal property claim after a 2018 housefire
Who's involved: Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA), the state's insurer-of-last-resort for insolvent carriers
What's at stake: Up to $159,000 in contents coverage, plus the right to present evidence beyond FIGA's $500,000 statutory cap
Why it matters: Claims teams cannot demand a professional inventory when the insurer's own stipulation already put contents evidence before the jury
Where it stands: Reversed and remanded for further proceedings as of October 2, 2026
Fertilizer and red ant killer spontaneously combusted in a Florida garage - and eight years later, the property claim is heading back to trial.
Florida's Fifth District Court of Appeal reversed a directed verdict that wiped out a homeowner's personal property claim after a 2018 housefire in New Smyrna Beach. The court also vacated an order barring him from presenting evidence of damages beyond FIGA's $500,000 statutory cap.
The homeowner's property was insured by Southern Fidelity Insurance Company, with contents covered up to $159,000 at full replacement cost. After the fire, the insurer hired a restoration company, but the homeowner dismissed it before the work was done. The insurer paid a combined $54,800.66 but could not agree on the total.
He sued for breach of contract in 2019. Southern Fidelity then became insolvent, and Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) stepped in as defendant. By the time the case reached trial in January 2025, the homeowner's lawyer had withdrawn. He represented himself.
That is where things unravelled.
On the morning of trial, FIGA stipulated to the admission of the homeowner's exhibits - including an email-based contents list with handwritten valuations. FIGA later moved for a directed verdict, arguing the homeowner had no professional inventory to prove his losses. The trial court agreed and struck the entire contents claim.
The appeals court disagreed. Once FIGA stipulated without limitation, it waived its right to challenge the exhibits on hearsay or authentication grounds. Under Florida law, an owner may testify to the value of their own property - and the admitted evidence was enough for a jury to assess at least some of the claimed losses.
FIGA had also admitted a professional inventory as its own exhibit before the homeowner rested - then tried to withdraw it during the directed verdict argument. No written leave of court was obtained. The inventory was excised from the record anyway.
On the damages cap, the court held that FIGA's $500,000 statutory ceiling is a post-verdict limit on recovery, not a pre-trial cap on evidence.
The case heads back to the trial court. Evidence stipulations are binding - and demanding a professional inventory may not hold up when an insurer's own admissions already put contents evidence on the record.
This is a slip opinion and is not final until disposition of any timely motion under Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure 9.330 or 9.331.
