Newman v. American Home Assurance Company, Inc.
High-net-worth homeowners sued their insurer for statutory bad faith under Fla. Stat. § 624.155 after Hurricane Irma, following three appraisal awards totaling over $15 million. The court held that statutory interest under Fla. Stat. § 627.70131(5)(a) is recoverable as a form of damages in a bad faith action even though not specifically pled (though fact issues over COVID-related 'factors beyond the insurer's control' precluded summary judgment), struck the insurer's failure-to-mitigate, estoppel, unclean hands, collateral estoppel, and recoupment/setoff defenses as legally invalid in a statutory bad faith case, and held that appraisal awards satisfy the 'determination of liability' prerequisite to a bad faith suit.
Key facts
- High-net-worth homeowners insured by American Home Assurance Company sued for statutory bad faith under Fla. Stat. § 624.155 following Hurricane Irma.
- The parties participated in appraisal, which resulted in three awards totaling over $15 million in the insureds' favor.
- +2 more key facts with a free trial
Why it matters
This is a comprehensive roadmap for first-party bad faith litigation after appraisal in Florida. Policyholder counsel can cite it to obtain statutory interest under § 627.70131 as bad faith damages without a stand-alone… — full analysis with a trial
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