In Cooper v. Federated Nat'l Ins. Co., No. 5D18-2585, 2019 WL 6794250 (Fla. 5th DCA December 13, 2019) (stated Not Final Until Officially Released for Publication in Permanent Law Reports), a Florida intermediate appellate court issued a ruling that so far as I know, is unique. The panel unanimously approved a jury instruction for one of the Uniform Unfair and Deceptive Insurance Practices Act provisions that has been adopted in Florida but that has not received such attention in the national case law before now.
The Florida appellate panel approved the following jury instruction based on the evidence in the case. In particular, the evidence they cited concerned alleged statutory violations "through acts such as failing to adopt and implement standards for the proper investigation of claims, misrepresenting pertinent facts or insurance policy provisions relating to coverages at issue, and denying claims without conducting reasonable investigations based upon available information." Cooper, 2019 WL 6794250, at *1. These are alleged violations of Florida's version of the Uniform Act, codified in Fla. Stat. § 626.9541(1)(i)3a, b, and d [brought forward to 2019 unchanged in pertinent part]. (The court later included 3c in its ruling in this case.)
The court's unique ruling and its solid analysis bear quoting at length here:
At trial, both sides presented conflicting evidence and experts as to the appropriateness of FedNat’s handling of the claim. The Coopers submitted a proposed jury instruction related to the alleged violation of section 626.9541(1)(i)3., which provided, in relevant part:
Bad faith on the part of an insurance company also includes violating Fla. Stat. § 626.9541 by committing any of the following acts:
Failing to adopt and implement standards for the proper investigation of the claim; misrepresenting pertinent facts or insurance policy provisions relating to coverages at issue; failing to acknowledge and act promptly upon communications with respect to the claim; denying the claim without conducting reasonable investigations based upon available information; failing to promptly provide a reasonable explanation in writing to the insured of the basis in the insurance policy, in relation to the facts or applicable law, for denial of a claim or for the offer of a compromise settlement; failing to promptly notify the insured of any additional information necessary for the processing of a claim; failing to clearly explain the nature of the requested information and the reasons why such information is necessary.
That proposed instruction tracked the language of section 626.9541(1)(i) 3. The trial court denied the Coopers’ request. Instead, it gave the standard jury instruction for bad faith:
Bad faith on the part of an insurance company is failing to settle a claim when under all the circumstances it could and should have done so had it acted fairly and honestly toward its insured and with due regard for their interests.
Fla. Std. Jury Instr. (Civ.) 404.4. It also instructed the jury that it may consider evidence of negligence but that mere negligence does not constitute bad faith.
A note to the bad faith standard jury instruction provides that the instruction is not exhaustive on the subject of an insurer’s failure to settle a claim. See Fla. Std. Jury. Instr. (Civ.) 404.4 n.2. Although the trial court’s instruction was a correct statement of the law, it failed to encompass the pleadings and proof elicited at trial; the Coopers presented evidence that FedNat violated section 626.9541(1)(i)3.a., b., c., and d.
Cooper, 2019 WL 6794250, at *2.
Although the parties were allowed to argue the evidence, the arguments of attorneys were no substitute for a jury instruction under settled Florida law. The court's unique ruling was therefore straight-forward here: " Accordingly, we reverse for a new trial; however, we limit the Coopers’ claims to section 626.9541(1)(i)3.a., b., c., and d., and section 624.155(b) [also brought forward to 2019 unchanged in pertinent part], as the Coopers’ evidence at trial supported only these claims." Cooper, 2019 WL 6794250, at *3.
If this unique ruling stands, it will be solid precedent for similar jury instructions in similar cases across the nation when the record contains evidence of the alleged violations of the Uniform and Deceptive Insurance Practices Act as enacted in the given jurisdiction.
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