Blog Articles

18 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 988a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 1810BOWL

Insurance — Uninsured motorist — Bad faith — Insurer’s second amended motion to dismiss complaint without prejudice granted because underlying litigation for contractual UM benefits is not concluded

18 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 1175a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 1811CCAR

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Coverage — Medical expenses — Exhaustion of policy limits — Bad faith — Where there was no binding legal authority as to whether inclusion of professional license number on claim form was required at time insurer denied medical provider’s claim on that basis, there was no bad faith that would require insurer to set aside disputed amounts — Insurer is not responsible for disputed amounts after exhaustion of policy limits on other claims

18 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 884a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 1809DWIL

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Coverage — Medical expenses — Exhaustion of policy limits — Bad faith — Where there was no binding legal authority as to whether inclusion of professional license number on claim form was required at time insurer denied medical provider’s claim on that basis, there was no bad faith that would require insurer to set aside disputed amounts — Insurer is not responsible for disputed amounts after exhaustion of policy limits on other claims

18 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 459d

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 1805URSU

NOT FINAL VERSION OF OPINION
Subsequent Changes at 19 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 938a

Insurance — Homeowners — Bad faith failure to settle claim — Insurer’s motion for summary judgment in bad faith suit based on handling of claim for sinkhole damage to home is denied — Conditions precedent — Appraisal award determination is legally sufficient as condition precedent to filing a bad faith claim; insureds were not required to obtain judgment that insurer breached policy — Civil remedy notice — Insurer waived right to challenge sufficiency of civil remedy notice where insurer did not challenge sufficiency of notice with Department of Financial Services — Failure to include cure amount did not make notice deficient, as statute does not require insureds to indicate amount owed — No merit to argument that in absence of specified cure amount, the cure amount was within insurer’s discretion and, therefore, payments made during cure period effected cure — Whether or not the amount paid was good faith payment of what insureds were owed is question of fact which cannot be resolved by summary judgment — No merit to arguments that claim is precluded by insureds’ failure to advise insurer of amount for which they would settle or insurer’s invocation of appraisal — Determinations of good faith and bad faith depend on circumstances and are issues of fact

18 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 1142a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 1811WILD

Insurance — Bad faith — Appraisal award merely quantifies amount of loss and does not determine insurer’s liability and, therefore, is not determination of damages and liability satisfying condition precedent to insured’s bad faith claim against insurer — Civil remedy notice — Insured’s demand for appraisal waived claim under civil remedy notice — Where issue of whether there is cause of action for common law bad faith as to first party claims is before state supreme court as certified question, insurer’s motion for summary judgment on claim for breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing is denied without prejudice pending supreme court decision

18 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 585a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 1807LAMA

Insurance — Automobile — Coverage — Error to enter summary judgment for insurer where there exist factual issues as to whether insured timely sought to add new vehicle to policy and whether agent’s alleged acts and omissions can be imputed to insurer

18 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 73a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 1801SNUG

Insurance — Automobile — Coverage — Exclusions — Business purposes — Where insured’s vehicle was stolen while insured was delivering newspapers and later wrecked by thief, coverage is precluded by policy exclusion for damage arising out of use of vehicle to carry persons or property for compensation, including delivery of newspapers

18 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 161a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 1802SANC

Insurance — Automobile — Coverage — Non-renewal of policy — Notice — Error to enter summary judgment finding that insurer was required to extend coverage under lapsed policy due to its failure to send renewal letter where insurer filed affidavits attesting that it sent notice of renewal and never refused to renew policy, insured provided no evidence that he took necessary steps to avoid policy lapse, policy provided that insured’s failure to pay premium required to renew policy would be construed as refusal of renewal offer and policy would expire without notice, and insured purchased policy with another carrier

18 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 299c

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 1803ROJA

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Attorney’s fees — Proposal for settlement — Strict adherence to rule allowing service of proposal for settlement on plaintiff no earlier than 90 days after commencement of action is not warranted — Proposals which offered to settle “all claims” and which clearly set forth non-monetary terms were not ambiguous — Offers for nominal amounts were made in good faith, and reasonableness of offers is supported by zero dollar verdict

18 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 682a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 1808DOR

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Attorney’s fees — Proposal for settlement — Nominal $250 proposal for settlement was not made in good faith where at time offer was made, insurer did not have reasonable basis for concluding that its exposure was nominal in light of attorney’s fees and costs already incurred in years-long litigation, fact that medical provider had prevailed on all of insurer’s affirmative defenses, impossibility of predicting whether jury would believe insurer’s expert or treating physician regarding necessity of MRI, and insurer’s reliance on peer review which was unsupported by physical examination at a time when the law regarding whether insurer could rely on such reviews was in flux — Insurer’s motion for attorney’s fees and costs is denied