In a previous article I discussed bad faith when it comes to an insurance claim. Recently, in Barton v. Capitol Preferred Insurance Co., Inc., 41 Fla. L. Weekly D2736b (Fla. 5th DCA 2016), the court discussed bad faith in the first-party insurance context (i.e., a property / homeowners insurance policy).
In this case, homeowners, as the insured, sued their homeowners insurance carrier for sinkhole coverage. The homeowner filed a Civil Remedy Notice of Insurer Violation (also known as a Civil Remedy Notice) against their insurer with the Florida Department of Insurance in accordance with Florida Statute s. 624.155. This Civil Remedy Notice is a prerequisite to initiating such a bad faith claim; the notice specifies the statutory violations committed by the insurer and gives the insurer 60 days to cure the violation.
The insurer denied the assertions in the Civil Remedy Notice. Thereafter, the homeowners served a proposal for settlement / offer of judgment trying to settle the claim for $65,000. The insurer paid $65,000 and the lawsuit was dismissed. But, the proposal for settlement did not require the homeowners to release the insurer. In other words, there was no release of any bad faith insurance claim. So, naturally, the homeowners refiled a lawsuit against their homeowners insurance carrier for bad faith.
“[A] bad-faith action is premature until there is a determination of liability [coverage] and extent of damages owed on the first-party insurance contract.” Barton, supra. citing Vest v. Travelers Ins. Co., 753 So.2d 1270, 1276 (Fla. 2000). An insured can obtain a determination of liability through an agreed settlement, arbitration, or stipulation—the determination of liability / coverage does not have to be made through trial. Id. quoting Fridman v. Safeco Ins. Co. of Ill., 185 So.3d 1214, 1224 (Fla. 2016).
Here, the court held that there was a determination of liability because the insurer paying the insured-homeowners $65,000 was a favorable resolution to the homeowners. It did not matter that the $65,000 was less than the insured’s original demand or less than the policy limits for sinkhole coverage. Why? Because the settlement operated as a determination of liability and extent of the homeowners’ damages, thereby satisfying the condition precedent to filing a bad faith claim.
This was a clever move by the homeowners not to give the insurer a release in consideration of the $65,000 (and not to condition the proposal for settlement on giving the insurer a release). From an insurer’s standpoint, after it receives a Civil Remedy Notice and, then, a proposal for settlement, it should try to obtain such a release. Perhaps the insurer tried hard to get that release but the homeowners were unwilling to give such a release. This may have forced the insurer to pay the $65,000 pursuant to the proposal for settlement to minimize its exposure in the underlying insurance coverage dispute. The fact that accepting a proposal for settlement can satisfy the determination of liability and extent of damages requirement (even if the proposal for settlement amount is less than any original demand) before initiating a bad faith claim may motivate insurers to negotiate and pay for a release that protects them from such bad faith claims.
Please contact David Adelstein at dadelstein@gmail.com or (954) 361-4720 if you have questions or would like more information regarding this article. You can follow David Adelstein on Twitter @DavidAdelstein1.