Proceeding under an assignment of the policyholder's bad faith rights against the defendant insurance company (under a Coblentz agreement), the injured claimant did not ask "directly" for bad faith damages under Florida's Bad Faith Statute, Section 624.155. Rather, according to the District Court in that case, "Plaintiff has asked for a declaratory judgment that Defendant Capitol is liable to Plaintiff in the amount of $5,000, 000. This amounts to the same thing ...." Mobley v. Capitol Specialty Ins. Corp., 2013 WL 3794058 *3 (S.D. Fla. July 19, 2013).
Since the claim alleged in that case amounted to the same thing as a Florida statutory bad faith claim, the claim alleged was subject to the same defenses including prematurity. Since there was no determination of coverage in this case, the claim was premature. The claim was abated in accordance with settled Florida law. Mobley v. Capitol Specialty Ins. Corp., 2013 WL 3794058 *3 (S.D. Fla. July 19, 2013).
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