Category «627.426 Claims Administration Statute»

Two Wrongs Can Make It Right

There are few things I hate more than seeing a policyholder forfeit coverage.  Most of my claims involve close calls, or unsettled or novel areas of the law.  Sometimes the claim is the type that is clearly covered, but the insurer refuses to provide coverage because it asserts the policyholder forfeited the coverage due to …

Florida Appellate Court Rules Policyholder May Control Its Own Defense When Insurer Reserves Rights

I still need to catch up on several important Florida coverage decisions from this summer, but I could not wait to discuss this new coverage opinion out of the Third District Court of Appeal in Miami.  The case is Geico General Ins. Co. v. Rodriguez, Nos. 3D11-2905 & 3D12-506 (Fla. 3rd DCA Sept. 10, 2014), …

Southern District of Florida Voids Coverage For Pre-Tender Defense Costs

I have been meaning for some time to write about Judge Kenneth Marra’s decision in Embroidme.com, Inc. v. Travelers Prop. Cas. Co. of Am., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7715 (S.D. Fla. Jan. 23, 2014).  Let me start by saying that Judge Marra is a great judge.  But this decision is terribly flawed.  It is now …

Myth # 6: Your Insurance Company Selects Your Defense Counsel

It has been a fairly quiet summer for insurance coverage decisions in Florida, and it has been a while since I added an installment to my series on Commercial Insurance Myths & Misconceptions. So let’s talk about selection of defense counsel. When appointing counsel to defend a newly-filed lawsuit, insurers typically announce to their policyholder …

Additional Insured Entitled to Independent Defense Counsel

In University of Miami v. Great American Assurance Company, No. 3D09-2010 (Fla. 3d. DCA Feb. 20, 2013), the Third DCA held that an insurance company had to pay for separate and independent defense counsel to defend its additional insured.  The coverage dispute arose out of a tragic incident in which a four-year-old child suffered severe injuries …

Late Notice Dooms Policyholder (Or, Do Not Be Like Archie Bunker)

Back when New York was the last of the no-prejudice notice jurisdictions, we policyholder lawyers had a saying that giving notice in New York was like voting in Chicago: do it early and often.  Fortunately for policyholders in New York, the legislature amended Section 3420 in 2009 to add a requirement that insurers prove they …