| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to civil remedies against insurers; |
| 3 | amending s. 624.155, F.S.; requiring that before |
| 4 | bringing a common-law bad faith action against an |
| 5 | insurer, the party bringing the action must first |
| 6 | provide to the department and insurer prior written |
| 7 | notification of a specified number of days; requiring |
| 8 | that a notice relating to the bringing of a common-law |
| 9 | claim of bad faith must specify the common-law duty |
| 10 | violated by the insurer; requiring a notice to specify |
| 11 | the amount of moneys that an insurer has failed to |
| 12 | tender or pay if the specific statutory or common-law |
| 13 | based violation includes such failure; providing that |
| 14 | the circumstances giving rise to certain statutory or |
| 15 | common-law based violations are corrected by |
| 16 | specifically described monetary tenders by an insurer; |
| 17 | providing that either a third-party claimant or |
| 18 | insured is entitled to a general release under certain |
| 19 | circumstances; providing that the applicable statute |
| 20 | of limitations is tolled for a specified period of |
| 21 | time when certain notices alleging a common-law based |
| 22 | violation are mailed; revising provisions to conform |
| 23 | to changes made by the act relating to statutory or |
| 24 | common-law based actions being brought against |
| 25 | insurers; providing an effective date. |
| 26 |
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| 27 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 28 |
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| 29 | Section 1. Subsections (3) and (8) of section 624.155, |
| 30 | Florida Statutes, are amended to read: |
| 31 | 624.155 Civil remedy.- |
| 32 | (3)(a) As a condition precedent to bringing an action |
| 33 | either under this section or based on the common-law claim of |
| 34 | bad faith, the department and the authorized insurer must have |
| 35 | been given 60 days' written notice of the violation. If the |
| 36 | department returns a notice for lack of specificity, the 60-day |
| 37 | time period shall not begin until a proper notice is filed. |
| 38 | (a)(b) The notice shall be on a form provided by the |
| 39 | department and shall state with specificity the following |
| 40 | information, and such other information as the department may |
| 41 | require: |
| 42 | 1. The statutory provision or common-law duty, including |
| 43 | the specific language of the statute, if applicable, which the |
| 44 | authorized insurer allegedly violated. |
| 45 | 2. The facts and circumstances giving rise to the |
| 46 | violation and, if the violation includes failure to pay or |
| 47 | tender moneys, the amount of such moneys. |
| 48 | 3. The name of any individual involved in the violation. |
| 49 | 4. Reference to specific policy language that is relevant |
| 50 | to the violation, if any. If the person bringing the civil |
| 51 | action is a third-party third party claimant, she or he shall |
| 52 | not be required to reference the specific policy language if the |
| 53 | authorized insurer has not provided a copy of the policy to the |
| 54 | third-party third party claimant pursuant to written request. |
| 55 | 5. A statement that the notice is given in order to |
| 56 | perfect the right to pursue the civil remedy authorized by this |
| 57 | section or by the common law. |
| 58 | (b)(c) Within 20 days after of receipt of the notice, the |
| 59 | department may return any notice that does not provide the |
| 60 | specific information required by this section, and the |
| 61 | department shall indicate the specific deficiencies contained in |
| 62 | the notice. A determination by the department to return a notice |
| 63 | for lack of specificity shall be exempt from the requirements of |
| 64 | chapter 120. |
| 65 | (c)(d) No action shall lie if, within 60 days after filing |
| 66 | notice, the damages are paid or the circumstances giving rise to |
| 67 | the violation are corrected. If the alleged violation is based |
| 68 | on this section or on the common-law claim of bad faith, the |
| 69 | insurer's tender of either the amount demanded in the notice or |
| 70 | the applicable policy limits constitutes correction of the |
| 71 | circumstances giving rise to the violation. In third-party |
| 72 | liability claims: |
| 73 | 1. If the claimant files the notice, the insured is |
| 74 | entitled to a general release from the claimant upon the |
| 75 | insurer's tender of the amount demanded in the notice or the |
| 76 | applicable policy limits. |
| 77 | 2. If the insured files the notice and the claimant |
| 78 | accepts the insurer's tender, the insured is entitled to a |
| 79 | general release from the claimant. |
| 80 | (d)(e) The authorized insurer that is the recipient of a |
| 81 | notice filed pursuant to this section shall report to the |
| 82 | department on the disposition of the alleged violation. |
| 83 | (e)(f) The applicable statute of limitations for an action |
| 84 | under this section or based on the common-law claim of bad faith |
| 85 | shall be tolled for a period of 65 days by the mailing of the |
| 86 | notice required by this subsection or the mailing of a |
| 87 | subsequent notice required by this subsection. |
| 88 | (8) Except as provided in subsection (3), the civil remedy |
| 89 | specified in this section does not preempt any other remedy or |
| 90 | cause of action provided for pursuant to any other statute or |
| 91 | pursuant to the common law of this state. Any person may obtain |
| 92 | a judgment under either the common-law remedy of bad faith or |
| 93 | this statutory remedy, but shall not be entitled to a judgment |
| 94 | under both remedies. This section shall not be construed to |
| 95 | create a common-law cause of action. The damages recoverable |
| 96 | pursuant to this section shall include those damages which are a |
| 97 | reasonably foreseeable result of a specified violation of this |
| 98 | section by the authorized insurer and may include an award or |
| 99 | judgment in an amount that exceeds the policy limits. |
| 100 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2012. |