In Gooden v. People's Trust Insurance Co.,[1] Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal decided an issue of Civil Remedy Notice specificity: The essence of Civil Remedy Notice specificity is that a Civil Remedy Notice can contain quotations of provisions of Florida's Bad Faith Statute, and provisions of Florida's version of the NAIC's Unfair Settlement Practices Act, and still meet the Bad Faith Statute's specificity requirements.[2]
More to the point, every one of the nine statutory provisions Ms. Gooden quoted in her CRN were relevant to her Bad Faith claim against People's Trust. Her CRN's invocation of just one of her insurance policy provisions was also relevant. As the Fourth District panel described the CRN:
Gooden's civil remedy notice cited nine statutory provisions and a single policy provision, listing only the statutory and policy provisions relevant to his [sic] allegations.[3]
Further, Gooden's CRN explicitly stated what the carrier would need to do to cure its alleged bad faith.
In the judgment of the Fourth District, this specificity distinguished Ms. Gooden's CRN from the CRN involved in Julien v. United Property & Casualty Co.[4] Julien was the subject of an earlier article posted here. The Fourth District decided both cases, Gooden and Julien.
In the judgment of the trial court, in contrast, the Gooden CRN looked like the Julien CRN and so the trial judge dismissed Gooden's statutory bad faith claim for supposed failure "to meet section 624.155's specificity requirements." However, in Gooden, the Fourth District had a different judgment, and so the Fourth District said, "We reverse."[5]
[1] Gooden v. People's Trust Ins. Co., 336 So. 3d 331 (Fla. 4th DCA 2022).
[2] The statute's specificity requirements are set out in Fla. Stat. § 624.155(3)(b).
[3] Gooden, 336 So. 3d at 332 (emphasis added).
[4] Julien v. United Prop. & Cas. Co., 311 So. 3d 875 (Fla. 4th DCA 2021).
[5] Gooden, 336 So. 3d at 331.
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