Florida’s Bad Faith Insurance Statute Balances The Playing Field For Insured Floridians
Generally speaking, when people get into motor vehicle accidents or come home and find their property damaged for a variety of reasons, they face great difficulties trying to recoup their losses from their insurance companies. Those hurt in accidents find themselves in much greater need to receive the compensation than the insurer does in settling and paying out on the claim. Florida law provides for bad faith claims against the insurer in many situations in which the insurance companies have wrongfully refused to move claims along or settle matters at the monetary levels they deserve.
The Florida statute allows an individual to bring a claim of bad faith for:
- Unreasonable refusal to settle
- Employing an unreasonable claims process
- Delaying settlement for a lengthy time
- Improper denial of coverage
- Erroneous cancellation of a policy
- Failure to investigate claims properly or in a timely fashion
- Undervaluing or underpaying claims
The manner in which an individual goes about bringing such a claim against an insurance company is determined by statute. Under the law, the insurance company must be given a 60-day notice stating what the circumstances underlying the bad faith are, giving them the opportunity to respond. No civil lawsuit alleging bad faith can proceed until this preliminary notice is complete.
The manner in which this notice is given to the insurance company will be critical to the eventual success of your claim. The failure to properly articulate that claim, not to mention comply fully with the notice requirements, can doom your case. Accordingly, once you believe you may have a possible claim for bad faith conduct against an insurance company, seek legal advice immediately.
For prosecution of bad faith claims against insurance companies, contact skilled Tampa attorneys.
