Bad faith insurance in Florida — when your insurer crosses the line.

Bad faith insurance occurs when an insurer fails to handle a claim fairly, promptly, and in accordance with its legal obligations. Florida Statute 624.155 defines specific bad faith conduct including: failing to attempt in good faith to settle claims when the insurer could and should have; not attempting to promptly, fairly, and equitably settle claims in which the insurer's liability has become reasonably clear; compelling insureds to initiate litigation to recover amounts clearly owed; failing to promptly provide a reasonable explanation for denial; and misrepresenting facts or policy provisions. Bad faith in Florida is separate from a simple claim dispute — it requires a pattern of conduct or specific acts that go beyond merely disagreeing on the claim value.

A Civil Remedy Notice (CRN) is the required statutory precondition for filing a bad faith lawsuit against an insurance company in Florida under Florida Statute 624.155. Before you can sue your insurer for bad faith, you must file a CRN with the Florida Department of Financial Services (DFS) and send a copy to the insurer, giving them 60 days to cure the alleged bad faith conduct. The CRN must specify: the insurer, the policy, the claim number, the specific statutory violations alleged, and the damages sought. If the insurer cures the violation within 60 days (usually by paying the disputed amount), the right to sue for bad faith is extinguished. If they don't cure, you may file a bad faith lawsuit seeking actual damages plus potentially attorneys' fees and punitive damages.

Florida Statute 627.70131 establishes specific claim-handling timelines: insurers must acknowledge a claim within 14 days; begin investigation within 14 days; provide coverage decisions within 90 days of receiving all required information. Florida Statute 627.70132 requires claims to be reported within 3 years of a covered loss. Florida Statute 627.428 provides for attorney fee awards against insurers who wrongfully deny claims (though this was modified by the 2023 AOB reform). Documenting your insurer's failure to meet these statutory timelines — with dated correspondence — is part of building a bad faith record. Each late communication, missed deadline, or unexplained delay is a potential bad faith element.

Step-by-step: (1) Document everything — save all emails, letters, and notes from phone calls with dates, times, and representative names; (2) Send all communications in writing via email or certified mail; (3) File a complaint with the Florida Department of Financial Services (myfloridacfo.com) — this creates an official record; (4) Hire a public adjuster to document the claim scope and supplement your insurance claim with a competing Xactimate estimate; (5) Consult a Florida first-party insurance attorney before filing a CRN — attorneys experienced in FL 624.155 bad faith claims can assess whether the conduct meets the threshold and draft the CRN properly; (6) File the CRN through the DFS portal to start the 60-day cure clock. Most bad faith cases resolve after the CRN is filed when insurers realize the litigation risk.

Yes. Under Florida's bad faith statute (FL Stat. 624.155), damages in a successful bad faith case can include: the full original claim amount the insurer should have paid; consequential damages (additional losses caused by the insurer's failure to pay); attorneys' fees and costs; and in egregious cases, punitive damages. The 2023 Florida insurance reform modified the one-way attorney fee provision (FL Stat. 627.428), making it harder to recover attorney fees in first-party insurance disputes. However, bad faith claims under FL Stat. 624.155 still carry attorney fee exposure for insurers. Given the complexity of bad faith litigation, these cases are best handled by a Florida first-party insurance attorney on contingency.