Damages Recoverable Under Florida Insurance Law
When a policyholder is able to show that the insurance company breached its covenant of good faith and fair dealing, all damages that have been caused by the breach are recoverable. This will include any amounts that were already due to you under the policy coverage, but may not be limited to only those amounts.
If you prove bad faith by your insurance company, you may also be awarded what is known as consequential damages. These are damages that you have suffered as a result, or consequence, of your carrier having failed to pay you the amounts you were originally owed under the contract. For example, any additional monies that you have had to pay to medical providers or any other providers or businesses as a result of the delayed or denied coverage by your carrier are consequential damages and are recoverable in a bad faith case.
You may also be awarded damages for emotional distress in a bad faith case. Damages of this nature are not in a set amount. Based upon the nature and magnitude of your case, including factors such as the manner in which your carrier exhibited bad faith in handling your claim, the courts may decide whether or not to award damages for emotional distress, and what those damages should be.
Attorney’s fees and court costs associated with the litigation of a bad faith claim are recoverable when you prevail. The insurance company will be responsible for paying those costs and they will not be deducted from your damages awarded for other purposes.
Additionally, in the case of extremely egregious or outrageous conduct by your insurance company, you may be awarded punitive damages. It will be up to the courts to decide whether punitive damages are appropriate, but the guidelines to be used when evaluating the conduct of your carrier are whether it acted willfully, wantonly ,or maliciously with respect to its insured or any other claimant and whether it acted with reckless disregard for the rights of its insured. There are no specific guidelines to be followed at the present time as to the amount of punitive damages that should be awarded, but it is clear that the conduct must be egregious. Punitive damages are awarded to the insured or other claimant, but the purpose is to punish the conduct of the insurance company. Punitive damages are not commonly awarded, but in bad faith cases, they are allowable.
The Bad Faith Insurance information offered by the greater Tampa Bay area Bad Faith Insurance Lawyers and contained herein, regarding Florida Bad Faith Insurance statutes and Pasco, Pinellas, and Hillsborough County, Florida Insurance Dispute claimants' rights, is general in scope. No denied Insurance Claim attorney / client relationship with our greater Tampa Bay area Insurance Bad Faith attorneys is hereby formed nor is the information herein intended as formal legal advice. See terms of use. Please contact the greater Tampa Bay area Insurance Dispute Lawyers toll-free at 1-800-4-INJURY regarding your specific claim if your insurance claim was denied in Dade City, City of New Port Richey, City of Port Richey, City of San Antonio, Town of St. Leo, Zephyrhills, Bayonet Point, Beacon Square, Blanton, Crystal Springs, Dade City North, Elfers, Holiday, Hudson, Jasmine Estates, Lacoochee, Land O' Lakes, New Port Richey East, Odessa, Saint Joseph, Shady Hills, Trinity, Wesley Chapel, Wesley Chapel South, Zephyrhills North, Zephyrhills South, Zephyrhills West, Belleair, Belleair Beach, Belleair Bluffs, Belleair Shore, Clearwater, Dunedin, Gulfport, Indian Rocks Beach, Indian Shores, Kenneth City, Largo, Madeira Beach, North Redington Beach, Oldsmar, Pinellas Park, Redington Beach, Redington Shores, Safety Harbor, Seminole, South Pasadena, Pete Beach, St. Petersburg, Tarpon Springs and Treasure Island, Florida. |
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