Bill Text: FL S1088 | 2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Civil Remedies Against Insurers
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2015-05-01 - Died in Banking and Insurance [S1088 Detail]
Download: Florida-2015-S1088-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2015 SB 1088
By Senator Brandes
22-00742-15 20151088__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to civil remedies against insurers;
3 amending s. 624.155, F.S.; requiring an insured, a
4 claimant, or a person acting on behalf of an insured’s
5 or a claimant’s behalf, to provide an insurer with
6 written notice of loss as a condition precedent to
7 bringing a statutory or common law action for a third
8 party bad faith action for failure to settle an
9 insurance claim; providing that an insurer is not
10 liable for such claim if certain conditions are met;
11 reenacting s. 766.1185(3), F.S., relating to bad faith
12 actions, to incorporate the amendment made to s.
13 624.155, F.S., in a reference thereto; providing an
14 effective date.
15
16 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
17
18 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section
19 624.155, Florida Statutes, is amended, and subsection (10) is
20 added to that section, to read:
21 624.155 Civil remedy.—
22 (3)(a) Except as provided in subsection (10), as a
23 condition precedent to bringing an action under this section,
24 the department and the authorized insurer must have been given
25 60 days’ written notice of the violation. If the department
26 returns a notice for lack of specificity, the 60-day time period
27 does shall not begin until a proper notice is filed.
28 (10) As a condition precedent to bringing a third-party
29 statutory or common-law bad faith action for failure to settle a
30 liability insurance claim, the insured, the claimant, or any
31 person on behalf of the insured or the claimant must have
32 provided the insurer with a written notice of loss. An insurer
33 does not violate the duty to attempt in good faith to settle the
34 claim and is not liable for a bad faith failure to settle under
35 this section or common law if the insurer:
36 (a) Complies with a request for a disclosure statement as
37 described in s. 627.4137.
38 (b) Offers, within 45 days after receipt of the written
39 notice of loss, to pay the claimant the lesser of the amount
40 that the claimant is willing to accept or the limits of
41 liability coverage applicable to the claimant’s insurance claim
42 in exchange for a full release of the insured from any liability
43 arising from the incident reported in the written notice of
44 loss.
45 Section 2. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment
46 made by this act to section 624.155, Florida Statutes, in a
47 reference thereto, subsection (3) of section 766.1185, Florida
48 Statutes, is reenacted to read:
49 766.1185 Bad faith actions.—In all actions for bad faith
50 against a medical malpractice insurer relating to professional
51 liability insurance coverage for medical negligence, and in
52 determining whether the insurer could and should have settled
53 the claim within the policy limits had it acted fairly and
54 honestly towards its insured with due regard for her or his
55 interest, whether under statute or common law:
56 (3) The provisions of s. 624.155 shall be applicable in all
57 cases brought pursuant to that section unless specifically
58 controlled by this section.
59 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2015.
