The Florida legislature has released its multi-faceted proposals for reforming Florida’s property insurance market. The proposed legislation includes temporarily expanding available capacity from the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, incentivizing loss mitigation through windstorm protective devices, increasing regulatory oversight for distressed insurers, and curbing Florida’s litigation crisis by rebalancing attorneys’ fee incentives. To effectively address Florida’s […]
The Florida Supreme Court recently decided by a 4-3 vote to dismiss its review of Restoration 1 of Port St. Lucie v. Ark Royal Insurance Company. Interestingly, the three justices in the minority were Governor DeSantis’ recent appointees. The majority was comprised of four justices who were on the court when it accepted the case. The […]
Just before the new year, the Florida Supreme Court released its opinion in Progressive Select Insurance Company v. Florida Hospital Medical Center resolving a split among Florida’s appellate courts about the proper application of the deductible in Personal Injury Protection (PIP) claims. The underlying question related to whether the PIP deductible should be applied before […]
In a 4-3 decision, the Florida Supreme Court in Harvey v. GEICO General Insurance Company sent a sobering message to insurers. In Harvey, the insured was involved in an accident with another driver who died as a result of his injuries. More here. The insured was covered under a policy providing $100,000 in liability coverage. […]
Florida’s 4th District Court of Appeal in Restoration 1 of Port St. Lucie v. Ark Royal Insurance Company determined that an insurer may require approval of all insureds and the mortgagee before an assignment of benefits is valid. This ruling differs from a conclusion reached by the 5th DCA last year after the Office of […]
The Fourth District Court of Appeal recently issued three opinions that compound the concerns of insurers dealing with increased claims costs due to assignments of benefits. This latest setback follows an earlier decision of the Fifth DCA rejecting an insurer’s argument that post-loss assignments should be prohibited based on a contractor’s not having an insurable […]
