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.