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If you believe that you have been wronged by your insurer in Florida, you may be entitled to bring a bad faith insurance claim against them and thus recover compensation for the losses you suffered.  In Florida, insurers have a duty to their policyholders to act in good faith in settling claims, and to act fairly and honestly (with due regard for the policyholder’s interests) when doing so. Bad faith insurance claims can be either […]

In Florida, if an insurer does not settle a claim within the insured’s policy limits (whether the claim is first-party or third-party), the insurer may be exposed to liability in excess of the policy limits on the basis of having violated their duty of good faith.  This mechanism lies at the center of some controversy in the state of Florida, as legislators have actively debated whether allowing claimants to bring a bad faith action against […]

In Florida, insurers owe their policyholders a duty of good faith to refrain from acting on exclusively on the basis of their own self-interest in handling a claim and in their decision-making surrounding a settlement.  The insurer is required by Florida law to handle claims brought against their policyholders with the degree of care and diligence that would have been exercised by a reasonably prudent person in managing their own business. If you are a […]

Last time, our blog began discussing how many businesses make the strategic decision to purchase directors and officers liability insurance, otherwise known as D&O insurance, to insulate their corporate leaders from liability for claims made against them while serving in this official capacity.

Specifically, we examined how the D&O insurance purchased by everyone from privately held firms and for-profit businesses to non-profit organizations and educational institutions is comprised of elements known as “Sides.” We’ll continue our examination of this topic in today’s post.

It goes without saying that for any business, the primary objective is always improving the bottom line, meaning its net earnings. While this, of course, can be accomplished by simultaneously growing revenue and cutting costs, it can also be realized to a certain extent through defensive measures like securing the necessary business insurance policies.

While these business insurance policies safeguard the enterprise itself, it’s important to understand that this coverage does not extend to individual company officers, meaning they may be left personally exposed to financial losses stemming from a lawsuit.

In a previous post, we discussed how the failure on the part of an insurance company to fulfill its duties to defend and indemnify may be grounds for an insurance bad faith lawsuit. Specifically, we discussed how aggrieved policyholders can pursue either first-party claims — failing to settle claims in good faith — or third-party claims — failing to settle third-party claims within policy limits in good faith.

Many people in Florida and elsewhere do not question an insurer when it issues a denial of benefits. In many instances, however, insurers will interpret language in the policy to their own benefit. When they do that blindly and ignore their plain responsibilities to their insured customer, the company may be liable to the insured under the principles of bad faith insurance law.

In general, insurance companies owe their policyholders the duties to defend and to indemnify, meaning the obligation to provide a legal defense against claims filed by third parties that fall within the scope of the policy and the obligation to make payments to their customers for valid claims, respectively.

While it can undoubtedly be painful to write out a check once a month, once every six months or once a year to cover an insurance premium, it can nevertheless grant you, the policyholder, much-needed peace of mind. Indeed, you might feel secure knowing that should the unexpected and the unfortunate occur, your best interests will be protected — at least from a financial perspective.

Florida is a study in contradictions when it comes to insurance law. The state has led the nation in consumer protection actions, like the national mortgage settlement and, for that matter, established Citizens Property Insurance Co. to provide coverage to residents who would otherwise go without.