2009

34 Fla. L. Weekly D1437a
17 So. 3d 732

Insurance — Arbitration — Coverage disputes — Liability coverage under maritime policy — Case law prohibiting arbitration of insurance coverage disputes must give way to requirements of Federal Arbitration Act and Convention on the Recognition of and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards — There was no conflict between the arbitration clause of the policy and the service of suit clause, and even if there were a conflict, the arbitration clause would prevail — McCarran-Ferguson Act applies only to arbitration agreements within the United States and has no effect on an international arbitration agreement that is governed by the Convention — Arbitration agreement is protected by the Convention where the parties made an agreement in writing to engage in a commercial relationship, that of insurer and insured, and they agreed to arbitrate any disputes under the agreement in England, a country that is a signatory to the Convention — Federal Arbitration Act and Convention apply, and the provisions of the Act and Convention are not preempted by state laws regulating the business of insurance

34 Fla. L. Weekly D186a
998 So. 2d 677

Insurance — Commercial general liability — Exclusions — Workers’ compensation obligations — Provision excluding coverage for any obligation of the insured under workers’ compensation and similar laws applied to negligence claims brought by insured’s employees against insured based on injuries employees sustained during the course and scope of their employment, even though insured failed to maintain statutorily mandated workers’ compensation insurance

34 Fla. L. Weekly D93a
998 So. 2d 662

Insurance — Commercial general liability — Coverage — Declaratory judgment — Trial court departed from essential requirements of law in staying coverage issues in non-jury declaratory judgment action pending resolution of jury proceeding in underlying wrongful death action where declaratory judgment action and underlying tort action were mutually exclusive and a decision on the issues underlying insurance coverage would promote settlement and avoid the problem of collusive actions between claimant and insured

34 Fla. L. Weekly D2614d
27 So. 3d 95

Insurance — Liability — Bad faith — Error to enter summary judgment in favor of insurer in insured’s action alleging that insurer acted in bad faith in failing to settle claim within policy limits, failing to properly advise insured of possibility of excess verdict, and failing to inform insured of remedial steps available to minimize her risk of a substantial money judgment against her where there existed genuine issues of material fact which might support a jury finding of bad faith

34 Fla. L. Weekly D1422a
15 So. 3d 749

Insurance — Homeowners — Prejudgment interest — Where insurer was obligated to pay claim sixty days after filing of appraisal award, insured was entitled to prejudgment interest on portion of appraisal award not timely paid from date payment became due under policy — Error to award prejudgment interest from date insured’s property was damaged

34 Fla. L. Weekly D466b
7 So. 3d 552

Insurance — Homeowners — Coverage — Hurricane damage — Valued Policy Law — Covered and non-covered perils — Error to hold that insurer was required to pay full policy limits where property was total loss, and loss was caused partially by wind, a covered peril under the policy, and partially by water, a non-covered peril — Amount due under debris removal and law and ordinance provisions of policy to be determined on remand where record did not establish that costs claimed by homeowners were solely attributable to wind — Prejudgment interest — No error in refusing to award prejudgment interest from date residence was damaged by hurricane under debris removal and law and ordinance provisions where policy provided that insurer was not obligated to pay a claim for debris removal or law and ordinance coverage until twenty days after it reached an agreement with the insureds or sixty days after filing of an appraisal award or mediation settlement with insurer

34 Fla. L. Weekly D1398a
11 So. 3d 1012

Insurance — Uninsured motorist — Circuit court did not err in finding that claimant, who had received personal injury protection benefits under his employer’s policy until that coverage was exhausted, was obligated under the policy to submit to an examination under oath and to produce medical records , which were requested by insurer in order to investigate its potential liability under uninsured motorist provisions of the policy, even though claimant had not made a written claim under UM portion of policy — No error in finding that policy permitted insurer to reserve its right to later deny coverage — Record does not establish that insurer failed to abide by reasonableness provisions set forth in its policy or that it engaged in unfair claim settlement practices

34 Fla. L. Weekly D844b
10 So. 3d 1120

Insurance — Insolvent insurers — Discovery — Department of Financial Services had authority to serve investigative demand to obtain information it believed to be relevant to the affairs of insolvent insurance companies — Authority for investigative demand is established by section 631.156, Florida Statutes, which provides that the Department may conduct an investigation to determine the cause of an insurer’s insolvency — Right to obtain discovery is not limited to business entities that have managerial control over insurer or one of its affiliates — Fact that entity from which discovery is sought is not authorized to do business in Florida has no bearing on issue, because statute does not contain an exemption for foreign corporations — Argument that there is no basis for exercise of long-arm jurisdiction is out of place because Department does not seek relief against party as would be the case had Department filed lawsuit or administrative complaint against it

34 Fla. L. Weekly D1014b
8 So. 3d 506

Insurance — Homeowners — Discovery orders — Appeals — Certiorari — Petition for writ of certiorari requesting that court quash order compelling production of certain materials regarding issuance of homeowners’ policies to applicants with prior bankruptcies and regarding the obtaining of credit reports or other financial reports on policy applicants for two year period — Insurer is not entitled to certiorari relief because insurer has not demonstrated irreparable harm where policy applicant has abandoned any claim of entitlement to materials insurer seeks to shield and insurer has abandoned its objection to producing the remaining materials — Even without parties’ concession, insurer is not entitled to relief, because it made no claim in trial court that materials at issue were proprietary

34 Fla. L. Weekly D1023a

NOT FINAL VERSION OF OPINION
Subsequent Changes at 34 Fla. L. Weekly D1278a

Insurance — Uninsured motorist — Discovery — Order compelling production of insurer’s claim file constituted departure from essential requirements of law where extent of damages incurred by insured as result of underlying accident had not been fully determined, and bad faith claim had not fully accrued — Bad faith claim is premature where there has been no determination of damages claimed by insured — Offer and acceptance of policy limits under uninsured motorist policy did not determine the amount of damages that must be established as a condition precedent to litigating the potential bad faith claim

WITHDRAWN at 34 Fla. L. Weekly 1278a