{"id":2371,"date":"2017-08-10T03:08:00","date_gmt":"2017-08-10T03:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.schirmerlaw.com\/?p=2371"},"modified":"2023-05-02T22:22:53","modified_gmt":"2023-05-02T22:22:53","slug":"bad-faith-in-florida-brief-overview-of-first-par","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.schirmerlaw.com\/blog\/2017\/bad-faith-in-florida-brief-overview-of-first-par\/","title":{"rendered":"Bad Faith in Florida: Brief overview of First Party Bad Faith"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This blog post is designed to give a brief overview of Bad Faith actions<\/a> by Insurance companies in the Homeowners Insurance context. In Florida, Bad Faith law exists by means of the existing case law and by Florida statutes. However, a first-party lawsuit for bad faith must be pursuant to the statute. This means that when a homeowner wishes to sue their own insurance company for bad faith there are specific steps in the statute that must be followed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Sue Your Insurance Company for Bad Faith<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Florida Statute 624.155(1)<\/a> establishes the first-party cause of action in Florida. The statute essentially states that any person can sue an insurance company when they have been damaged by that insurance company by their failure to attempt to settle a claim in good faith when, under all the circumstances, it could and should have done so, had it acted fairly and honestly towards its insured and with due regard for their interests. The insurer should settle, if possible, when a reasonably prudent person, faced with the prospect of paying the total recovery, would settle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, the insurance company owes a duty of good faith to their insureds. The duty of \u201cgood faith\u201d in Florida provides that insurers owe \u201ca duty to their insureds to refrain from acting solely on the basis of their own interest in settlement.\u201d The duty of good faith obligates an insurer to handle claims brought against its insureds with \u201cthe same degree of care and diligence as a person of ordinary care and prudence should exercise in the management of his own business.\u201d The courts in Florida consider \u201cthe totality of the circumstances\u201d anytime they are faced with a bad faith analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A court may consider:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Efforts to resolve the coverage dispute promptly and\/or limit prejudice to the insured as much as possible;<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. The seriousness of the matter disputed and\/or weight of legal authority on the issue;<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Diligence and thoroughness in their investigation by the insurance company;<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. If the insurer obtained a reservation of the right to deny coverage if a defense existed.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Florida Civil Remedy Notice<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The Florida Department of Insurance and the insurer must be given 60 days’ written notice of any alleged violation. This notice is called a Civil Remedy Notice (CRN). If the insurance company fails to respond within the 60-day time period it creates a presumption of bad faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The insurance company can then rebuttal against the bad faith claim, otherwise, the contents of the civil remedy notice will be taken as true. One final event that must occur prior to filing a bad faith cause of action is a determination that coverage for the loss exists and the extent of the coverage. In other words, there must be a final determination that the insurance company breached its contract and a final determination as to how much was owed by the insurance company under the contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    For the purposes of filing a subsequent bad faith lawsuit, a final determination may be obtained through a jury verdict, confession of judgment, settlement without a release of bad faith, or a final determination by means of alternative dispute resolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Bad faith does not occur in every insurance claim, but it is very important for an insured to understand exactly what bad faith is so that they will know to look out for it. Bad faith actions should be properly documented so that the insurance company can be held accountable for their actions\/inactions. Some of the most common actions\/inactions by insurance companies that may be considered bad faith are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. Failing to make a good faith offer to settle when the insurance company could and should have done so,<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. Making claims payments to insureds without specifically stating in writing what coverage provision allowed for it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. When multiple claims exist, failing to settle one claim in order to influence a settlement of another claim under a different portion of the policy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    4. Refusing to provide the insurance policy upon request by the insured.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    5. Delaying settlement when the obligation to settle is reasonably clear.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    6. Material misrepresentations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    7. Not acknowledging or acting promptly with regard to communications from the insured.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    8. Denying claims without conducting a reasonable investigation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    9. Misrepresenting pertinent facts or policy provisions relating to coverages at issue.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    10. Failing to make a coverage determination or provide a written statement as to the investigation within 30 days after the proof of loss has been submitted.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    11. Not providing a reasonable explanation in writing for denial or offer for a compromised settlement offer.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    12. Failure to promptly notify the insured of additional information necessary to process a claim or clearly explain the nature of requested information and the reason why the information is necessary.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    13. Failure to pay undisputed amounts within 90 days after being notified of the loss.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Florida Property Damage Statute Of Limitations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      The statute of limitations for a property damage case in Florida is four years. If you fail to file a claim before this four-year period ends you will most like lose your ability to do so. There are exceptions to this rule, so it\u2019s important to contact an attorney about your case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Damages and Your Case<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      Once a bad faith claim becomes viable, a subsequent bad faith cause of action must be filed and litigated before damages for bad faith can be assessed. If the insured prevails on the subsequent bad faith claim then there are several additional damages available to the insured. Attorney\u2019s fees, total damages, interest, consequential damages, and punitive damages can be assessed in statutory bad faith claims. Compensatory damages include those which are a \u201creasonably foreseeable\u201d result of a violation and can include damages above and beyond the policy limits. Fla. Stat. 768.73 limits punitive damages to three times the amount of the compensatory or $500,000, whichever is greater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n\n\n\n

      Have a claim? Contact our firm<\/a> today to get started on your case. Our experienced firm<\/a> is ready to help you.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      This blog post is designed to give a brief overview of Bad Faith actions by Insurance companies in the Homeowners Insurance context. In Florida, Bad Faith law exists by means of the existing case law and by Florida statutes. However, a first-party lawsuit for bad faith must be pursuant to the statute. This means that … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2249,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,11],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schirmerlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2371"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schirmerlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schirmerlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schirmerlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schirmerlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2371"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.schirmerlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2371\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3416,"href":"https:\/\/www.schirmerlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2371\/revisions\/3416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schirmerlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schirmerlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schirmerlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schirmerlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}