A few weeks back, our blog discussed how even though we were only a few days into 2017, the battle cry to repeal personal injury protection — or PIP — here in Florida had already been raised.
Last week, our blog discussed how those entrepreneurs looking to make their dreams of owning and operating a small business a reality will need to ensure that they devote adequate attention to completing mundane yet crucial tasks, including ensuring that they are in compliance with Florida’s insurance law.
When an entrepreneur finally decides to move ahead with their plans for starting a small business, it will initiate a process that is equal parts excitement and exhaustion. That’s because in addition to doing everything in power to seeing their vision for a thriving enterprise become a reality, the budding small business owner will also have to handle a host of far more mundane yet crucial tasks.
Over the course of the last year, our blog has been closely following the growing debate over the utility and even the future of personal injury protection — otherwise known as PIP — here in Florida.
Most homeowners’ insurance policies provide liability coverage that offers protection against lawsuits if a person is injured or suffers damage to their property while on your premises. All too often, however, liability claims are denied by insurers for unclear or unfair reasons.
At this time of the year, most people are focused on preparations, gatherings and all things holiday-related. Indeed, it’s probably safe to say that the last thing on the minds of many Floridians are the two major hurricanes that hit the state this past fall — Hurricane Hermine in September and Hurricane Matthew in October.
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.
Health insurers are not consumer-oriented protectors in our dog-eat-dog healthcare system of today. In fact, in Florida and elsewhere, some of the greatest heartache and family suffering has been caused by wrongful decisions of health insurers. It is common these days to receive a denial of health insurance coverage based on illogical and irrational reasons. These decisions are so hurtful to consumers that some of them must seek bankruptcy relief while others suffer permanent credit record blemishes for outlandish medical bills that they cannot pay.
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.
