News & Resources

An insurer has a legal duty to act with good faith and fair dealing in every insurance contract. When that duty is breached, a tort and breach of contract action for bad faith insurance may be allowed, depending upon the facts of the case. As a general rule in Florida and elsewhere, the insurer will incur liability to the insured if it recklessly or in bad faith exposes the insured to liability in derogation of its contract of insurance.

Try not to get too excited about a hurricane-free 2015, Florida. Chances are your property insurance premiums will not know the difference. Nor, for that matter, will your auto insurance rates respond to the news that we are not the worst drivers in the country.

Florida has not seen a hurricane in 10 years, and the state’s ranking for worst drivers has improved dramatically over the past five years. Why, then, are our homeowners and auto insurance rates among the highest if not the highest in the nation? It seems unfair, but no one said insurance rates were fair. Reasonable, maybe — but not fair.

This week marks an important milestone for Florida: We have officially completed 10 years of relatively quiet hurricane seasons, the longest stretch without a hurricane making landfall in 160 years of tracking such data. That, insurance companies will tell you, is a long time.

We are continuing our discussion of life insurance policies and different ways the policy owner can take advantage of a policy’s value. Our focus here is on one particular option: the life settlement.

In July 2014, we wrote a series of posts about stranger-originated life insurance policies and the efforts of various states, including Florida, to regulate, even to eliminate STOLIs. With STOLIs taking so much of the spotlight, though, life insurance companies found it difficult to explain legitimate ways to turn a policy into cash.

More than two years have passed since a sinkhole opened in Seffner, swallowing a portion of a house and killing a 37-year-old man. The victim’s body was never found. In time, the house was demolished, the sinkhole was filled and stabilized — or so authorities believed. The hole opened again in August.

This did not happen in Florida, but it shows just how quirky, even ridiculous insurance laws can be.

Insurance carriers would like us all to believe that they are our partners in adversity. Tree fell on your house? The calm insurance professional is right there to help you with your claim. Attacked by lions? Your insurance agent will teleport you to safety. Aliens destroyed your vacation home? Don’t worry, you’re covered!

The Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal decided a case in September that illustrates just how tough it can be to fight an insurance company. It also shows that Chinese drywall complaints are still working their ways through insurance companies and the courts, but the insurance companies have taken steps to avoid paying homeowners’ claims.