Homeowners v. Insurance Companies – Florida Law Works to Level the Playing Field
Imagine, like most people, you pay your home insurance premiums for years or decades, and never file a claim. Then, you come home and find standing water in a hallway or kitchen.
You call a plumber who comes out and turns off the water, and identifies the source of the loss. You then hire a restoration company to remediate the damages and dry out your home.
The insurance company sends an adjuster out to inspect the loss, and a few weeks later you get a letter denying your claim based on some various exclusion in the policy, such as “constant or repeated seepage”. The carrier denies your claim based on their determination that the loss was ongoing for a period of weeks or years, even though you had no knowledge of any leak prior to when you reported it.
Most people are shocked and stunned when faced with the realization that their insurance carrier is not going to pay for a loss that you assumed would obviously be covered. Sadly, they are among thousands of others who are forced to sue their insurance company over a wrongfully denied or underpaid claim.
Fortunately, in the state of Florida, victims of wrongfully denied and underpaid claims have readily accessible options to fight back.
While many people have their claims covered without issue; others are not so lucky. Sometimes, the threat of litigation is enough to get a carrier to pay what is owed.
Other times, carriers will spend tens thousands just on their own attorney’s fees to fight a minor discrepancy.
When a carrier doesn’t want to pay what is owed, it helps to have a lawyer advocating on your behalf.
It can also be beneficial to have a lawyer during the investigative process to ensure compliance with the policy.
A lot of people do not realize how the law works in Florida with regards to property insurance: If an insured goes to court and gets a judgment against a carrier on a wrongfully denied or underpaid claim, the carrier is responsible for paying the insured’s fees and costs pursuant to Florida Statute 627.428.
This fee-shifting statute exists in only a handful of states; Florida and New Jersey being two examples.
These laws protect consumers, and level the playing field so that every day homeowners can challenge and compete with the deep pocket insurance corporations in court.
As homeowners are required by law to carry insurance (unless they own property outright), safeguards are necessary to protect the consumer for any injustice, no matter how large or small.
Another safeguard mechanism is the Civil Remedies Notice, also referred to as a CRN.
Filing a CRN puts a carrier on notice that they have 60 days to remedy a wrongdoing. If they fail to remedy the violation described in the CRN, a petitioner may also then bring a bad faith action against a carrier, and seek punitive damages.
Punitive damages are meant to punish a party for egregious conduct, and if successfully proven, can be awarded separately from the money owed by a carrier for the breach of contract claim.
The CRN can be a valuable tool in litigation against most carriers.
Citizens Property Insurance Corporation is quasi-state owned, and cannot be sued for Bad Faith. However, insureds may still file CRNs against Citizens. These Notices become public record and can outline the inappropriate claims handling and litigation practices that are far too common with Citizens.
From there, it is up to the general public and Florida legislature to hold Citizens accountable.
Insurance companies may have lots of money, but in Florida, the playing field is leveled so that anyone who is wronged can still be entitled to their day in court.
Hopefully, no one ever has to experience a loss to their home, and if they do, ideally the carrier properly handles the claim and helps put the property back in its pre-loss condition.
But when a carrier wrongfully denies a claim, Florida homeowners can take solace in the fact that 627.428 provides that attorney’s fees are covered in the event that an insured obtains a judgment against an insurance carrier, and the CRN can be used to initiate a bad faith lawsuit which can result in punitive damages against a carrier.
If you have any questions about your rights as a homeowner, give us a call today.
COHEN LAW GROUP
DISCLAIMER: This website is for informational purposes only and does not provide legal advice. Please do not act or refrain from acting based on anything you read on this site. Using this site or communicating with Cohen Law Group through this site does not form an attorney/client relationship. This site is legal advertising. Please review the full disclaimer for more information by clicking here.
