Can You Sue an Insurance Company for Bad Faith in Florida?

Can You Sue an Insurance Company for Bad Faith in Florida?

Your home was damaged, you paid your premiums for years, and now your insurer is stalling, lowballing, or denying the claim outright. It is natural to wonder whether you can sue an insurance company for bad faith. In Florida, the answer is yes. The law sets specific steps you must follow first, though, and missing one can cost you your case. This guide explains how it works.

What Bad Faith Means Under Florida Law

Every insurance policy carries an implied promise that the company will handle your claim fairly and honestly. Florida Statute 624.155 gives policyholders a civil remedy when an insurer breaks that promise. In plain terms, bad faith means the insurer failed to settle your claim when it could and should have, had it acted fairly and with due regard for your interests.

Bad faith is more than a disagreement over price. Since 2023, Florida law also says that an insurer's negligence alone is not enough to prove bad faith, although a court can consider it along with other evidence. The strongest cases show a pattern: ignored evidence, unexplained delays, or a decision that makes no sense given the facts.

Common Signs of Bad Faith in Property Damage Claims

Not every denial or low offer is bad faith. These are the behaviors we see most often when an insurer crosses the line:

• Denying a claim without a real investigation, such as never sending an adjuster to inspect the damage
• Lowballing the repair estimate far below what licensed contractors say the work will cost
• Missing Florida's claim deadlines. Insurers generally must acknowledge your claim within 7 days and pay or deny it within 60 days, with limited exceptions
• Misrepresenting your coverage or quoting policy language that does not say what the adjuster claims
• Ignoring your documents, photos, or contractor estimates
• Relying on a one-sided engineer or adjuster report that overlooks obvious damage

If several of these sound familiar, keep reading. Your situation may qualify.

The Steps Before You Can File a Bad Faith Lawsuit

Florida does not let you jump straight to a bad faith suit. The process has three main stages.

1. Resolve the underlying claim. For property insurance, Florida Statute 624.1551 generally requires you to first win a favorable result on the underlying claim, such as a court judgment or an appraisal award in your favor. Bad faith is built on top of the original coverage dispute, so that dispute usually has to be settled first.

2. File a Civil Remedy Notice (CRN). A CRN is a formal notice filed through the Florida Department of Financial Services. It must state the specific facts of the insurer's conduct, cite the policy language and the statute violated, and name the people involved. A vague or incomplete CRN can be rejected, so accuracy matters.

3. Give the insurer 60 days to cure. After you file, the company has 60 days to pay the amount owed or correct the problem. If it does, your bad faith claim may end there, and you still get paid. If it does not, you can move forward with a lawsuit.

There is also a safe harbor you should know about. Under the 2023 changes, an insurer that pays the amount owed within 90 days after receiving actual notice of the claim, with sufficient evidence to support it, generally cannot be sued for bad faith. That makes early, well-documented claims especially important.

What Compensation Can You Recover?

A successful bad faith case can reach beyond the original policy benefits. Depending on the facts, you may recover:

• The unpaid amount of your original claim
• Interest on money that was wrongfully withheld
• Consequential damages caused by the delay or denial, such as additional water damage, mold growth, or extra living expenses while your home sat unrepaired
• Other losses that flow directly from the insurer's conduct

The purpose is to put you back where you would have been if the insurer had done its job. It also sends a message that policyholders are not easy targets.

What to Do Right Now to Protect Your Claim

What you do in the next few weeks can shape the outcome. Take these steps today:

• Save every document. Keep the denial letter, the insurer's estimate, your contractor estimates, adjuster and engineer reports, and your policy
• Keep a communication log. Write down the date, time, and name of every call, plus what was said. Follow up important calls with an email
• Photograph and video the damage, and keep receipts for emergency repairs and temporary housing
• Do not sign a release or accept a final payment until you understand what rights you are giving up
• Watch your deadlines. Florida generally requires you to give notice of a new property claim within one year of the date of loss, and the clock for filing suit is limited too. Waiting can erase your rights

If the insurer has not yet explained its decision in writing, ask for that explanation and a copy of your claim file. Delays and non-answers are often the first evidence in a bad faith case.

How Louis Law Group Can Help

Insurance companies have teams of adjusters, engineers, and lawyers working to limit what they pay. You should have someone equally prepared on your side. Louis Law Group handles Florida property damage insurance disputes, and we know how to build a case from the first denial letter through the Civil Remedy Notice and, if needed, litigation. We review your policy and the insurer's file, identify where the company went wrong, and tell you honestly whether bad faith applies.

You do not have to figure this out alone while your home waits for repairs. A short conversation can show you whether you are dealing with an honest disagreement or a company that is acting in bad faith.

If your Florida property damage claim was denied or underpaid, Louis Law Group fights for your full compensation. Call us for a free case review.