{"id":898623,"date":"2021-04-01T12:40:16","date_gmt":"2021-04-01T18:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=898623"},"modified":"2021-04-01T12:40:20","modified_gmt":"2021-04-01T18:40:20","slug":"bad-faith-statute-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/bad-faith-statute-florida\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cSpecific\u201d Means \u201cSpecific\u201d \u2013 Florida\u2019s Bad Faith Statute Must Be Strictly Construed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Jeffrey Michael Cohen | <a href=\"https:\/\/propertycasualtyfocus.com\/specific-means-specific-floridas-bad-faith-statute-must-be-strictly-construed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">PropertyCasualtyFocus<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The purpose of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/summary-judgment-bad-faith-florida\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Florida\u2019s \u201cbad faith\u201d statute<\/a>\u00a0is to \u201cavoid unnecessary bad faith litigation.\u201d To that end, the statute provides a civil remedy for any person damaged by an insurer\u2019s conduct. However, as a condition precedent to filing suit, the policyholder must provide appropriate information to the Department of Insurance and the insurer by filing and serving a civil remedy notice (CRN). The CRN must specify the policyholder\u2019s complaint and provide the insurer with a 60-day period to \u201ccure\u201d the alleged deficiency. If the insurer corrects the policyholder\u2019s complaint within the 60-day period, no statutory bad faith lawsuit may be pursued. Florida\u2019s common law does not recognize actions for first-party bad faith. Therefore, absent compliance with the statute, a policyholder may not pursue a first-party bad faith lawsuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In\u00a0<em>Julien v. United Property &amp; Casualty Insurance Co<\/em>., the court, on motion for rehearing, emphasized well-recognized precedent, i.e., \u201c[b]ecause the statute is in\u00a0derogation of the common law, we strictly construe the statutory requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In&nbsp;<em>Julien<\/em>, the policyholder claimed that a fire damaged his home. He filed a CRN alleging claim delay, an unsatisfactory settlement offer, unfair trade practice, failure to properly investigate the claim, and failure to acknowledge and act promptly to communications regarding the claim. The insurer timely responded to the CRN and denied Julien\u2019s contentions. Julien filed suit, and the insurer moved to dismiss with prejudice because the CRN was facially invalid and, therefore, Julien could not state a cause of action for statutory bad faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The trial court granted the motion because the CRN did not comply with the statutory mandate to \u201cstate with specificity\u201d five expressly enumerated pieces of information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The&nbsp;statutory provision, including the&nbsp;specific language of the statute, which the insurer allegedly violated.<\/li><li>The&nbsp;facts and circumstances&nbsp;giving rise to the violation.<\/li><li>The name of any individual involved in the violation.<\/li><li>Reference to the&nbsp;specific policy language&nbsp;that is relevant to the violation.<\/li><li>A statement that the notice is given in order to perfect the right to pursue the statutory remedy.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>It seems that Julien, perhaps from a concern that one of his complaints would be omitted, \u201clisted every statutory provision and every policy provision available to him as the insured.\u201d He included 14 statutory provisions, followed by 21 sections of the Florida Administrative Code, and referenced \u201cthe entire policy.\u201d The dismissal was affirmed by the appellate court, which held that \u201cJulien did not substantially comply with the specificity standard and this was&nbsp;more than a mere technical defect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Julien moved for rehearing, rehearing en banc, and certification of a question of great public importance, arguing that in&nbsp;<em>Pin-Pon Corp. v. Landmark<\/em>&nbsp;<em>American Insurance Co.<\/em>, No. 2:20-cv-14013, 2020 WL 6588379 (S.D. Fla. Nov. 10, 2020), Judge Middlebrooks granted rehearing and withdrew dismissal of a bad faith claim based on deficiencies in the CRN. Judge Middlebrooks had held that the statute\u2019s specificity standard will not bar a statutory bad faith action where the defect in the CRN information was \u201cpurely technical,\u201d the policyholder \u201csubstantially complied\u201d with the specificity standard, the insurer received \u201cfair notice\u201d of the policyholder\u2019s claim, and the insurer was \u201cnot prejudiced.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a result of Judge Middlebrooks\u2019 intervening order, the Fourth District Court of Appeal withdrew its first opinion to \u201cavoid confusion,\u201d but it did not change its conclusion that Julien\u2019s CRN was fatally defective. The court held that it was&nbsp;bound to strictly construe&nbsp;the bad faith statute because it was in derogation of common law, that Julien had not substantially complied with the specificity standard of the statute, and that Julien\u2019s reference to substantially all policy sections and the 35 statutory provisions was more than a technical violation of the statute. In short, the policyholder\u2019s contention that the insurer breached the entire policy and all of Florida\u2019s bad faith laws did not meet the statute\u2019s specificity requirement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jeffrey Michael Cohen | PropertyCasualtyFocus The purpose of\u00a0Florida\u2019s \u201cbad faith\u201d statute\u00a0is to \u201cavoid unnecessary bad faith litigation.\u201d To that end, the statute provides a civil remedy for any person damaged by an insurer\u2019s conduct. However, as a condition precedent to filing suit, the policyholder must provide appropriate information to the Department of Insurance and the&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/bad-faith-statute-florida\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">\u201cSpecific\u201d Means \u201cSpecific\u201d \u2013 Florida\u2019s Bad Faith Statute Must Be Strictly Construed<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10720],"tags":[9895,11321,94],"class_list":["post-898623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bad-faith-insurance-coverage","tag-advise-consult","tag-bad-faith-statute","tag-florida","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\u201cSpecific\u201d Means \u201cSpecific\u201d \u2013 Florida\u2019s Bad Faith Statute Must Be Strictly Construed - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Florida\u2019s \u201cbad faith\u201d statute is to \u201cavoid unnecessary bad faith litigation\u201d, provides a civil remedy for persons damaged by insurer\u2019s conduct\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/bad-faith-statute-florida\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u201cSpecific\u201d Means \u201cSpecific\u201d \u2013 Florida\u2019s Bad Faith Statute Must Be Strictly Construed - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Florida\u2019s \u201cbad faith\u201d statute is to \u201cavoid unnecessary bad faith litigation\u201d, provides a civil remedy for persons damaged by insurer\u2019s conduct\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/bad-faith-statute-florida\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-04-01T18:40:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-04-01T18:40:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/bad-faith-statute-florida\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/bad-faith-statute-florida\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\"},\"headline\":\"\u201cSpecific\u201d Means \u201cSpecific\u201d \u2013 Florida\u2019s Bad Faith Statute Must Be Strictly Construed\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-01T18:40:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-01T18:40:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/bad-faith-statute-florida\/\"},\"wordCount\":674,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Advise &amp; Consult\",\"Bad Faith Statute\",\"Florida\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Bad Faith\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/bad-faith-statute-florida\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/bad-faith-statute-florida\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/bad-faith-statute-florida\/\",\"name\":\"\u201cSpecific\u201d Means \u201cSpecific\u201d \u2013 Florida\u2019s Bad Faith Statute Must Be Strictly Construed - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-01T18:40:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-01T18:40:20+00:00\",\"description\":\"Florida\u2019s \u201cbad faith\u201d statute is to \u201cavoid unnecessary bad faith litigation\u201d, provides a civil remedy for persons damaged by insurer\u2019s conduct\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/bad-faith-statute-florida\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\",\"description\":\"Construction Expert Witnesses\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Advise & Consult\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"width\":162,\"height\":75,\"caption\":\"Advise & Consult\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u201cSpecific\u201d Means \u201cSpecific\u201d \u2013 Florida\u2019s Bad Faith Statute Must Be Strictly Construed - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","description":"Florida\u2019s \u201cbad faith\u201d statute is to \u201cavoid unnecessary bad faith litigation\u201d, provides a civil remedy for persons damaged by insurer\u2019s conduct","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/bad-faith-statute-florida\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u201cSpecific\u201d Means \u201cSpecific\u201d \u2013 Florida\u2019s Bad Faith Statute Must Be Strictly Construed - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","og_description":"Florida\u2019s \u201cbad faith\u201d statute is to \u201cavoid unnecessary bad faith litigation\u201d, provides a civil remedy for persons damaged by insurer\u2019s conduct","og_url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/bad-faith-statute-florida\/","og_site_name":"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","article_published_time":"2021-04-01T18:40:16+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-04-01T18:40:20+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@adviseconsult","twitter_site":"@adviseconsult","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/bad-faith-statute-florida\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/bad-faith-statute-florida\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7"},"headline":"\u201cSpecific\u201d Means \u201cSpecific\u201d \u2013 Florida\u2019s Bad Faith Statute Must Be Strictly Construed","datePublished":"2021-04-01T18:40:16+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-01T18:40:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/bad-faith-statute-florida\/"},"wordCount":674,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["Advise &amp; Consult","Bad Faith Statute","Florida"],"articleSection":["Bad Faith"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/bad-faith-statute-florida\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/bad-faith-statute-florida\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/bad-faith-statute-florida\/","name":"\u201cSpecific\u201d Means \u201cSpecific\u201d \u2013 Florida\u2019s Bad Faith Statute Must Be Strictly Construed - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-04-01T18:40:16+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-01T18:40:20+00:00","description":"Florida\u2019s \u201cbad faith\u201d statute is to \u201cavoid unnecessary bad faith litigation\u201d, provides a civil remedy for persons damaged by insurer\u2019s conduct","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/bad-faith-statute-florida\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","name":"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","description":"Construction Expert Witnesses","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Advise & Consult","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","width":162,"height":75,"caption":"Advise & Consult"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com"]}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2ztG6-3LLV","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=898623"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898623\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":898624,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898623\/revisions\/898624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=898623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=898623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=898623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}