Abatement was ordered with the concurrence of the parties in a Florida Statutory First-Party Bad Faith case, Chalfonte Condominium Apt. Ass'n v. QBE Insurance Corp., Download Chalfonte Condominium Apt. Ass'n v. QBE Insurance Corp. (S.D. Fla. Case No. 10.80584, Order Denying Dismiss and Strike, Filed August 30, 2010) PUBLIC ACCESS also published as 2010 WL 3385982 (S.D. Fla. August 30, 2010)(Westlaw subscription required to access Westlaw).
That is a case on appeal after a Jury awarded Chalfonte Condominium Association $8,140,099.68, reduced to $7,237,223.88 after the disposition of post-trial motions, plus an additional $678,160.60 for Attorney's Fees and Costs. The awards came as a result of alleged Damages from Hurricane Wilma, which Chalfonte successfully proved were covered under its Policy issued by QBE. Chalfonte Condominium Apt. Ass'n v. QBE Insurance Corp., 2010 WL 335982 at *1.
Chalfonte Condominium Association then pursued additional Claims against QBE for Statutory, First-Party Bad Faith under Fla. Stat. § 624.155. The subsequent Claims included Claims based in particular on an alleged failure by QBE not to attempt in good faith to settle claims "when it should have if it had acted fairly and honestly and in various other ways." Id., paraphrasing Fla. Stat. § 626.9451(1) invoked by Chalfonte as a part of its Claims.
QBE appealed and, while its appeal is pending, QBE filed a Motion to Dismiss or Alternatively to Strike. "QBE filed the instant motion arguing that Chalfonte's bad-faith complaint is premature because the underlying suit is pending appeal." Chalfonte Condominium Apt. Ass'n v. QBE Insurance Corp., 2010 WL 335982 at *1.
With the Court deciding in favor either of Abatement or of Dismissal Without Prejudice based upon Florida Law, the parties successfully urged the Court to order Abatement rather than Dismissal. Chalfonte in particular expressed concern about the effect of dismissal, even without prejudice, "for fear that the statute of limitations would run on its bad faith claims." Id. at *2. The Court accordingly ordered abatement of the Bad-Faith Claims while the underlying case is on appeal. Id.
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