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Section 624.155(1)(b) is clearly the target of Section 624.1551 and its amendments. Section 624.1551 and its amendments were all enacted in 2022. Although the Florida Legislature did not touch any part of Florida's Bad Faith Statute itself, Section 624.155, the changes made by the Legislature changed the law of insurer bad faith in Florida.
Property insurers were obviously concerned about the risk of exposure to bad faith damages beyond and maybe even above their policy limits. As a result, property insurers had every reason to make it especially hard to sue under Fla. Stat. § 624.155(1)(b) for extracontractual damages. Section 624.155 itself was untouched by the Florida Legislature in 2022. That includes Paragraph (b) of Subsection (1), which was chosen for limitation to property insurers through the enactment of new and amended Section 624.1551.
It is not hard to identify the provision of Paragraph (b) of Subsection 624.155(1) that was the greatest concern to property insurers. It is the same provision that has always been the greatest concern to insurance companies since Subsection 624.155(1) was first enacted: The greatest concern to any insurer is Subparagraph (b)1.
Over all, Paragraph (1)(b) of Section 624.155 provides that any person may bring a civil action against an insurance carrier when that person is damaged by the insurer's commission of any of the following acts:
- Not attempting in good faith to settle claims 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 her or his interests[.]
` As the Florida Supreme Court has held since 1995, Subparagraph 1 of Paragraph 624.155(1)(b) "provides remedies for both first- and third-party causes of actions."[1] Subparagraph 1 of Paragraph (1)(b) of the Bad Faith Statute sets the standard for all bad faith actions under Florida law, whether by statute or at common law, and whether third-party or first-party.[2] It is certainly no coincidence that Subparagraph 1 of Florida Statute Paragraph 624.155(1)(b) is nearly identical to the language of Florida's Standard Jury Instruction for an Insurer's Bad Faith (Failure to Settle).[3]
This blog article is based on an article in progress by the author, tentatively titled "Consumers Had No Voice: Changes to Property Insurers' Laws in Florida."
Please read the disclaimer. ©2023 Dennis J. Wall. All rights reserved.
[1] State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Laforet, 658 So. 2d 55, 62 (Fla. 1995).
[2] See Laforet, 658 So. 2d at 63.
[3] Compare Fla. Stat. § 624.155(1)(b)1 with Florida Standard Jury Instruction 404.4, Insurer's Bad Faith (Failure to Settle).
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