An appeals court Friday upheld a ruling that a property insurer should cover the costs of cleaning up blood after a burglary, rejecting arguments that blood was a “pollutant” excluded from coverage under a homeowners’ policy.
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The ruling by a panel of the 5th District Court of Appeal said Laurance Anton, “while intoxicated and apparently injured,” broke into a shed owned by John and Joyce Worrell in Marion County. Anton left behind blood and what appeared to be feces and later was found dead outside a nearby house from a head injury stemming from a fall, the ruling said.
The Worrells contracted with Accident Cleaners and Restoration to clean the shed, but Florida Farm Bureau General Insurance Co. declined to pay a claim, saying the expenses were excluded from the Worrells’ policy. A Marion County judge ruled in favor of the Worrells, awarding $4,103, attorney fees and costs. Florida Farm Bureau appealed, but Friday’s opinion rejected arguments that blood was a pollutant, as the insurer contended.
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“A fair reading of the exclusion provision leads us to conclude that the blood left at the Worrells’ residence by Anton’s unlawful entrance onto their property is not a ‘pollutant’ as defined by the policy’s exclusion provision — that is, blood is not ‘any solid, liquid, gaseous or thermal irritant or contaminant, including smoke, vapor, soot, fumes, acids, alkalis, chemicals and waste,’” the opinion, written by Judge Adrian Soud and joined fully by Judge Harvey Jay, said. “Indeed, blood is materially different from any of the substances listed to illustrate that which constitutes a ‘pollutant.’ Further, blood does not meet the definition of ‘waste,’ as blood plainly is not a material to be ‘recycled, reconditioned or reclaimed.’”
Chief Judge Brian Lambert agreed with the result but did not sign onto the main opinion.
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