Coco Rico, LLC v. Universal Insurance Company
Court
First Circuit Court of Appeals
Decided
June 20, 2025
Jurisdiction
F
Importance
47%
Case Summary
United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit Nos. 24-1328 24-1335 COCO RICO, LLC, Plaintiff, Appellant/Cross-Appellee, v. UNIVERSAL INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant, Appellee/Cross-Appellant. APPEALS FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO [Hon. Marcos E. López, U.S. Magistrate Judge] Before Gelpí, Lipez, and Rikelman, Circuit Judges. Julián R. Rivera-Aspinall, with whom Eduardo R. Jenks Carballeira and Rivera-Aspinall, Garriga & Fernandini P.S.C. were on brief, for appellant. Victor O. Acevedo-Hernández, with whom Juan Rafael González Muñoz, Gonzalez Muñoz Law Offices P.S.C., Luis R. Ramos Cartagena, Israel Fernández Rodríguez, and Casillas, Santiago & Torres LLC were on brief, for appellee. June 20, 2025 RIKELMAN, Circuit Judge. After Hurricane Maria damaged its business, Coco Rico, LLC sued its insurer, Universal Insurance Company, for failing to pay its insurance claim and won. The jury awarded Coco Rico higher damages for its business interruption loss claim than it had requested, plus extra, consequential damages. This appeal centers on the district court's rulings on several post-verdict motions: Universal sought to eliminate or reduce the jury's damages awards, while Coco Rico sought attorneys' fees and prejudgment interest from Universal. After the district court denied the motions, both parties appealed. We agree with Universal that there was no evidentiary basis for the jury to award consequential damages or higher business interruption loss damages than Coco Rico had established at trial. But we see no abuse of discretion in the district court's decision to deny Coco Rico's request for fees and prejudgment interest, which the court could award only if it had concluded that Universal's conduct during the litigation had been "obstinate." Thus, we reverse the district court's ruling denying Universal's motions regarding the damages awards and affirm its ruling denying Coco Rico's motion for attorneys' fees and prejudgment interest. - 2 - I. BACKGROUND A. Relevant Facts For many years, Coco Rico manufactured beverage concentrate in Puerto Rico. In September 2017, Hurricane Maria caused widespread damage throughout Puerto Rico, including to Coco Rico's manufacturing facility. Soon after, Coco Rico contacted its insurer, Universal, to submit an insurance claim. The insurance policy between Universal and Coco Rico included "Business Income" and "Extra Expense" coverage ("BI & EE" insurance, sometimes referred to as "business interruption loss" insurance). Generally, BI & EE insurance covers expenses that a business incurs while it is temporarily unable to operate due to a covered reason, such as a natural disaster. Business Income insurance can make up for income that the business would have earned if it had not needed to suspend its operations. It can also cover ongoing operating expenses, like payroll. Extra Expense insurance covers the extra costs that arise as the business restores its operations. For example, an Extra Expense might include the cost of relocating to a temporary manufacturing facility and equipping that facility. Insurance policies usually do not cover business interruption loss indefinitely; instead, they cover loss during a prescribed period while the business attempts to restore its operations. Coco Rico's insurance policy provided that business - 3 - interruption loss would be calculated over the course of the "period of restoration." In turn, the policy defined the restoration period as the interval between the date of the damage (approximately) and the date when the damaged property "should [have been] repaired, rebuilt[,] or replaced with reasonable speed and similar quality" or when "business [was] resumed at a new permanent location." The policy also capped BI & EE coverage at $750,000. B. Procedural History When Coco Rico and Universal were unable to agree on the amount owed to Coco Rico for its BI & EE loss covered under the policy, Coco Rico sued Universal in the United States District Court for the District
Case Details
Case Details
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Status
Decided
Date Decided
June 20, 2025
Jurisdiction
F
Court Type
appellate
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Case Summary
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United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit
Nos. 24-1328 24-1335 COCO RICO, LLC,
Plaintiff, Appellant/Cross-Appellee,
v.
UNIVERSAL INSURANCE COMPANY,
Defendant, Appellee/Cross-Appellant.
APPEALS FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO
[Hon. Marcos E. López, U.S. Magistrate Judge]
Before
Gelpí, Lipez, and Rikelman,
Circuit Judges.
Julián R. Rivera-Aspinall, with whom Eduardo R. Jenks
Carballeira and Rivera-Aspinall, Garriga & Fernandini P.S.C. were on brief, for appellant.
Victor O. Acevedo-Hernández, with whom Juan Rafael González
Muñoz, Gonzalez Muñoz Law Offices P.S.C., Luis R. Ramos Cartagena, Israel Fernández Rodríguez, and Casillas, Santiago & Torres LLC were on brief, for appellee.
June 20, 2025
RIKELMAN, Circuit Judge. After Hurricane Maria damaged
its business, Coco Rico, LLC sued its insurer, Universal Insurance
Company, for failing to pay its insurance claim and won. The jury
awarded Coco Rico higher damages for its business interruption
loss claim than it had requested, plus extra, consequential
damages.
This appeal centers on the district court's rulings on
several post-verdict motions: Universal sought to eliminate or
reduce the jury's damages awards, while Coco Rico sought attorneys'
fees and prejudgment interest from Universal. After the district
court denied the motions, both parties appealed.
We agree with Universal that there was no evidentiary
basis for the jury to award consequential damages or higher
business interruption loss damages than Coco Rico had established
at trial. But we see no abuse of discretion in the district
court's decision to deny Coco Rico's request for fees and
prejudgment interest, which the court could award only if it had
concluded that Universal's conduct during the litigation had been
"obstinate." Thus, we reverse the district court's ruling denying
Universal's motions regarding the damages awards and affirm its
ruling denying Coco Rico's motion for attorneys' fees and
prejudgment interest.
- 2 -
I. BACKGROUND
A. Relevant Facts
For many years, Coco Rico manufactured beverage
concentrate in Puerto Rico. In September 2017, Hurricane Maria
caused widespread damage throughout Puerto Rico, including to Coco
Rico's manufacturing facility. Soon after, Coco Rico contacted
its insurer, Universal, to submit an insurance claim.
The insurance policy between Universal and Coco Rico
included "Business Income" and "Extra Expense" coverage ("BI & EE"
insurance, sometimes referred to as "business interruption loss"
insurance). Generally, BI & EE insurance covers expenses that a
business incurs while it is temporarily unable to operate due to
a covered reason, such as a natural disaster. Business Income
insurance can make up for income that the business would have
earned if it had not needed to suspend its operations. It can
also cover ongoing operating expenses, like payroll. Extra Expense
insurance covers the extra costs that arise as the business
restores its operations. For example, an Extra Expense might
include the cost of relocating to a temporary manufacturing
facility and equipping that facility.
Insurance policies usually do not cover business
interruption loss indefinitely; instead, they cover loss during a
prescribed period while the business attempts to restore its
operations. Coco Rico's insurance policy provided that business
- 3 -
interruption loss would be calculated over the course of the
"period of restoration." In turn, the policy defined the
restoration period as the interval between the date of the damage
(approximately) and the date when the damaged property "should
[have been] repaired, rebuilt[,] or replaced with reasonable speed
and similar quality" or when "business [was] resumed at a new
permanent location." The policy also capped BI & EE coverage at
$750,000.
B. Procedural History
When Coco Rico and Universal were unable to agree on the
amount owed to Coco Rico for its BI & EE loss covered under the
policy, Coco Rico sued Universal in the United States District
Court for the District
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Case Details
Legal case information
Status
Decided
Date Decided
June 20, 2025
Jurisdiction
F
Court Type
appellate
Legal Significance
Case importance metrics
Metadata
Additional information
Quick Actions
Case management tools