A judge agreed with my view posted in, Did Florida Mistakenly Place an Insurer Into Insolvency, Try to Disqualify the Law Firm That Pointed Out the Mistake and Harm 91,000 Policyholders By Quick and Unnecessary Non-Renewals?
The Florida Department of Financial Services and the Office of Insurance simply made a mess of Florida Specialty Insurance Company’s financial problems and cancellation of policies.
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The propriety of Florida Specialty Insurance Company’s insolvency should be investigated by the media and other Florida leaders. The Florida Department of Financial Services filed what appears to be a spurious motion to disqualify a very reputable insurance company law firm, Cozen O’Connor, that filed a motion, which if correct, shows that a simple accounting error lead to a false claim that Florida Specialty Insurance Company was insolvent.
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In Florida, if an insured fails to meet a post-loss obligation, is it a complete bar to recovery? In a recent decision, the Third District Court of Appeal certified conflict with the Fourth District Court of Appeal and held that an insurer must be prejudiced by the insured’s non-compliance with a post-loss obligation in order for the insured to forfeit coverage.
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Before law school, I worked for nearly two years at the Florida Division of Emergency Management. During major events, I served on the State Emergency Response Team at the emergency operations center in Tallahassee. With Hurricane Dorian projected to impact Florida, I wanted to take a moment to provide you some of the insights that I learned as a former member of Florida’s emergency management team.
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A newspaper article, 10 months After Hurricane Michael, Florida Still Doesn’t Know Why So Many Insurance Claims are Open,1 noted the slow-moving Hurricane Michael insurance claims. The title is telling because it indicates Florida insurance officials do not know why the delays are happening.
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Chomp, Chomp!
Insurance Policies are designed to cover sudden and accidental loss and damage. Mary Wischusen, 77, believed that she had a suffered a sudden and accidental act of nature and that coverage would be afforded when a gator came crashing into her kitchen. This 11-foot alligator was not her domestic pet or a planned guest, but her insurance company has denied the claim.
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Picking the right expert has never been more important when fighting an insurance company that has wrongfully denied an insurance claim. The rule for expert admissibility has just changed in Florida and the same concerns about experts apply everywhere.
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A septic system back-up into a home can be a rotten situation for a homeowner, and depending on the extent of the back-up, can cause widespread damage throughout the home. When researching coverage for septic system back-ups I was surprised by the number of Florida cases addressing this very issue.
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The purpose of Section 627.7015, Florida Statutes titled “Alternative procedure for resolution of disputed property insurance claims” is to encourage insurance companies and policyholders to resolve their disagreements regarding disputed property insurance claims without the necessity of litigation or appraisal. The statute requires, in part:
(2) At the time a first-party claim within the scope of this section is filed by the policyholder, the insurer shall notify the policyholder of its right to participate in the mediation program under this section.1
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Reporter Steve Andrews ran a televised story highlighting that some Florida legislators are listening to insurance company lawyers and lobbyists rather than taking care of their constituents in Consumers Would Take Hit If Insurance Lobby Gets Its Way, and Change in Insurance Law Would Take Away Consumers’ Day in Court. The story references Florida House Bill 751 filed by Representative Alex Andrade. Senate Bill 1464 filed by Senator Jeff Brandes from St. Petersburg is just as bad. It is obviously written by insurance company lawyers and lobbyists wanting to make it more difficult for policyholders to bring actions holding delaying, denying, and underpaying insurance companies accountable.
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