Actual Insurance "Bad Faith" in Florida Motor Vehicle Insurance Claims

#9 in a series of discussions on Florida’s Motor Vehicle No-Fault laws.

Unfortunately, there are those situations where an insurance adjuster maintains a completely untenable position in refusing to negotiate or refusing to attempt to settle a claim brought by a victim of a Florida vehicular accident, when it could and should have done so under the circumstances. These situations may arise when the victim has not availed her or himself of the benefit of skilled personal injury lawyer; or for a myriad of reasons, even if the victim is properly represented. Florida Statute section §624.155 was created by the Florida legislature to deal with such civil injustice. While this practice should never be tolerated, many victims of “bad faith” not only neglect to pursue their legal remedies against the wrongdoer and/or their insurer, but also fail or overlook the opportunity of obtaining the assistance of the insurance commissioner’s office to deal with such inappropriate behavior by an insurer.

Whether the insurer’s action is as a result of extraordinary oversight or by a deliberate intent to avoid or delay paying rightfully due insurance benefits, it is incumbent upon victim and/or their personal injury attorney to not only file the appropriate claims with the insurance commissioner’s office but also to bring a separate lawsuit for bad faith against the rogue insurance company, under the right circumstances. This process can be quite complex and it is strongly suggested that the victim of a vehicular accident, who suspects that they may be the victim of a rogue insurance adjuster or company, obtain the skilled representation from the right Fort Lauderdale Personal Injury Lawyer who will identify these wrongs and know how to act against the carrier and in the best interests of the victim by bringing the bad faith action.