"Navigating Florida Property Insurance Claims in a Post-Fee-Shifting World."
Aaron Cohn (along with co-author Alan Palma) analyzed Florida’s property insurance landscape since the passage of Senate Bill 2A in December 2022 and offered guidance for Floridians seeking residential and commercial claims in an article published in the Daily Business Review.
The bill effectively eliminated the one-way attorney fee statute in property claim disputes with insurers, which has left many homeowners vulnerable and uncertain about how to proceed with their claims because attorneys no longer have incentive to represent clients in most property insurance disputes. While the road ahead is more challenging, there are still options - particularly for larger residential and commercial claims.
“Attorneys for residential and commercial policyholders have had to adjust. They can still take cases against insurance companies on an hourly basis or work on contingency, and in rarer cases, they may be able to recoup attorney fees in a bad faith action or through an offer of judgment. But those latter options are notoriously difficult,” says Cohn and Palma. “Judges have been very reluctant to enforce offers of judgment in most instances, and the various Courts of Appeal in Florida have gone out of their way to strictly enforce every requirement before an offer can result in a fee-shifting award. Bad faith awards are even more difficult because, in most instances, they require a final award on the underlying claim and then a second lawsuit to seek damages caused by the insurer’s violation(s) of the Florida Unfair Insurance Trade Practices Act, a process that can take several years to adjudicate.”
Subscribers can access the full article here.