Florida Senate Bill 2-A pertaining to property insurance claims in Florida has made a major change to the way attorney fees are covered. Previously, the insurance company would be held responsible for paying attorney fees if the company wrongfully denied your claim. Under this new law, enacted on December 16, 2022, insurance companies will no longer be ordered to pay attorney fees even if they improperly denied the claim.
The logic behind the former law was that the attorney fees are only necessary because litigation was forced by the insurer’s failure to properly rule in a claim. Now, insurers can rely on SB 2-A to save money in litigation – only holding them responsible for the sum of the claim rewarded.
What This Means for You
SB 2-A went into effect on December 16, 2022, meaning all policies issued or renewed after that date in Florida will be impacted. Any policies started or renewed prior to that date will be governed by the previous law. This means any Hurricane Ian-related claims will be governed by the previous law, not these new changes.
If you need to file a Florida property insurance claim and hold a policy effective after that date, you will be on the hook for your own attorney fees regardless of the result of your case. Your attorney will have to take a percentage of any recovery you are awarded through property insurance litigation or you will need to pay out of pocket.
Unfortunately, this may impact your ability to recover from the incident in question whether you win or lose. Even if you win your case, you will get a lesser sum than you would have prior to this new law. If you lose your case, you will still be responsible for any attorney fees associated with the case which could make it harder to repair the damages you suffered, to begin with.
Florida Insurance Laws Change Frequently
Our team is constantly keeping up with changes to Florida laws that impact our clients. Back in November 2021, we wrote two separate articles about changes to attorney fee statutes at that time.
Changes like this are nothing new, but Floridians who are wronged by their insurance company ultimately pay the price. The team at Alvarez Law is still proud to represent you through property insurance litigation when you believe your claim was improperly denied. Contact us when you need legal assistance.
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