Florida Senate Committee on Judiciary Released Interim Report 2012-132 on Insurance Bad Faith
Nov 17, 2011
The Florida Senate Committee on Judiciary released Interim Report 2012-132 on Insurance Bad Faith on November 16, 2011.
The Report outlines current practices based on the experiences of legal practitioners, insurance companies and others with expertise in insurance bad faith. It also reviews case law, statutes, legal scholarship and data associated with bad faith in Florida and other jurisdictions in order to give legislators a basis for evaluating what potential changes to Florida law are needed, if any.
The Report concludes that Florida’s current Bad Faith Law is a complicated combination of statutory and common law that affects a number of varied interests, and thus sparks philosophical, economic, and policy debate from different perspectives.
According to the Report, while some argue that Florida’s Bad Faith Law offers important and properly balanced protections to insurance consumers while remaining fair to insurers, others insist that the law’s valid intentions have been distorted by excessive litigation and unfair gamesmanship, making it difficult for insurers to settle claims.
While the Report presents information on the legal landscape for insurers, insureds and third parties, it does not offer specific recommendations for legislative action on bad faith. Rather, it recommends a “policy decision” for the Legislature to consider whether the current law is being applied as intended to effectively encourage good faith settlement practices and should remain unchanged, or whether the current system encourages abuse and should be changed.
To view the entire Report, click here.
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