Insured Can’t Try Bad Faith Claims with Insurance Coverage (Breach of Policy) Case

In Florida, an insured cannot try its breach of insurance contract case (the coverage dispute) with its bad faith claim or dispute. See Universal Property & Casualty Co. v. Naze, 50 Fla.L.Weekly D1208a (Fla. 4th DCA 2025). It’s putting the cart before the horse. In Naze, bad faith claims against the insurer were not claimed, but at trial, the insured used opening argument, closing argument, and testimony to go into the insurer’s “bad faith” claims handling process. The insurer objected and moved for a mistrial, which was denied. The appellate court reversed and remanded the case for a new trial finding the claims...

03 July

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Serving the Civil Remedy Notice (CRN) to Perfect a First-Party Bad Faith Insurance Claim

Posted by David Adelstein

in Trial Perspectives

In order for an insured under a first-party insurance policy (e.g., property insurance policy) to have a bad faith claim against their insurer, they must first file a Civil Remedy Notice (known as a “CRN”) per Florida statute s. 624.155 identifying the alleged bad faith violation. The CRN gives the insurer sixty days to cure the alleged bad faith violation. In a recent opinion, Apex Roofing and Restoration, LLC A/A/O Derrick v. State Farm Florida Ins. Co., 47 Fla.L.Weekly D1423c (Fla. 5th DCA 2022), the Court looked at two things. First, whether the sixty-day cure period in s. 624.155 is tolled...

23 January

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Florida Supreme Court says No! – Extra-Contractual Damages cannot be Recovered against Property Insurer Absent Bad Faith Claim

Posted by David Adelstein

in Trial Perspectives

Can an insured recover extra-contractual, consequential damages from its property insurer without pursuing a separate bad faith claim against the insurer? The Florida Supreme Court, quashing an order of a lower appellate court, held NO!: [W]e conclude that extra-contractual, consequential damages are not available in a first-party breach of insurance contract action because the contractual amount due to the insured is the amount owed pursuant to the express terms and conditions of the policy. Extra-contractual damages are available in a separate bad faith action pursuant to section 624.155 but are not recoverable in this action against Citizens because Citizens is statutorily...

14 December

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Deficient Jury Instruction could Amount to Reversible Error

Posted by David Adelstein

in Appeal

In a recent case, Cooper v. Federated National Insurance Company, 44 Fla. L. Weekly D2961a (Fla. 5th DCA 2019), involving an insured suing their property insurer for bad faith, discussed in more detail here, a jury returned a verdict in favor of the insurer and against the insured. The insured appealed arguing that the trial court’s bad faith jury instruction amounted to reversible error. The trial court refused to present to the jury the jury instruction drafted by the insured and instead went with a standard form bad faith jury instruction. The appellate court agreed that the standard form jury...

18 June

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Seller’s Remorse can have Consequences, Particularly when the Seller Acts in Bad Faith

Posted by David Adelstein

in Trial Perspectives

Seller’s Remorse? We all have experienced buyer’s remorse in some fashion, but what about seller’s remorse? Perhaps talked about less than buyer’s remorse, but sellers can have regrets too. This, however, does not mean that a seller’s remorse can go consequence-free, particularly when the seller backs out of a deal or sabotages the deal because of seller’s remorse. For instance, what if a seller of real property signs a deal to sell her property and then realizes she could have gotten some more money for the same property? Can she simply back out of the deal or proactively prevent certain...