11th Circuit Confirms No Coverage for Yacht Disappearance

In Gamez v. Ace American Insurance Company, the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit upheld Ace American’s voiding a policy covering a $32 million yacht after ACE established the insured made material misstatements concerning ownership of the boat in the application for coverage.

The Court held that the insured attempted to confuse two separate sections of a Florida statute covering material misrepresentations, one permitting the voiding of a policy for material misrepresentations in the application, and the other holding that post-coverage misrepresentations would not void coverage unless the misrepresentations were material.

Gamez v. Ace American Insurance Company (U.S. Ct. App., 11th Cir., 2016)

Author: CJ Haddick

C.J. Haddick is a Director with the law firm of Dickie, McCamey, & Chilcote, PC, based in Pittsburgh, Pa. He has advised and represented insurers in insurance coverage and bad faith litigation for more than three decades, and written and spoken throughout the United States on insurance coverage and bad faith prevention and litigation. He is Managing Director of the firm's Harrisburg, Pa. office. Reach him at chaddick@dmclaw.com or 717-731-4800. View all posts by CJ Haddick