Search results for: In Florida, An Appraisal Award May Be A Final Determination Of Liability For A Bad Faith Case

Following my post on September 8, 2014, I received a comment from Matthew Litsky, Esq., a very experienced attorney from the firm, Phelps Dunbar, LLP. Mr. Litsky posed a great question related to the opinion in Cammarata v. State Farm Florida Insurance Company.1 Here is what he asked:

What is the range for a “favorable resolution”; not in terms of is there substantive bad faith or not, but whether the action can even proceed per this opinion? Is it $5 for the award above the money paid by the Insurer? Is it a percentage above? Is how much the Insured sought relevant? Is it now a separate analysis for whether a bad faith claim can proceed because there was a "favorable resolution" before you ever get to whether there is or is not bad faith?

Continue Reading In Florida, an Appraisal Award May Be a Final Determination of Liability For a Bad Faith Case – Update 2

On August 30, 2014, I wrote about a hot topic in Florida that concerns whether a policyholder can pursue a bad faith case against their insurance company after the claim proceeds through the appraisal process and an award is entered: In Florida, an Appraisal Award May Be a Final Determination of Liability For a Bad Faith Case. Continuing on the discussion of this topic is a recent case of Merlin Law Group attorney Kelly Kubiak from Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal (“4th DCA”), Cammarata v. State Farm Florida Insurance Company.1

Continue Reading In Florida, An Appraisal Award May Be A Final Determination Of Liability For A Bad Faith Case – Update

On several occasions the following insurance industry argument has been addressed on this blog: the insurance company argues that since a claim proceeded to the contractual alternative dispute resolution process of appraisal and that it paid the award amount, there cannot be a bad faith case brought against it since they claim they followed the policy. This has been a hot topic in the Florida property insurance industry in the last couple of years. Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeals ("4th DCA") has issued two opinions on this topic – State Farm Insurance Company v. Ulrich,1 and Trafalgar At Greenacres v. Zurich.2

Continue Reading In Florida, an Appraisal Award May Be a Final Determination of Liability For a Bad Faith Case

As a follow up to my colleague, Shaun Marker’s series, In Florida, An Appraisal Award May Be A Final Determination Of Liability For A Bad Faith Case, posted August 30, September 8, and September 15, 2014, I wanted to take a moment and highlight the cases that have come out since Cammarata v. State Farm Florida Insurance Company,1 that further underscore the principle that a first party property bad faith suit can be ripe absent an actual finding that the insurer breached the contract. Continue Reading More on the Ripeness of Bad Faith in First-Party Property Cases in Florida