HB 1439 2024
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to the resolution of disputed property 2
insurance claims; amending s. 627.7015, F.S.; 3
requiring, rather than authorizing, parties to a 4
property insurance claims dispute to participate in 5
mediation; providing that mediation is a condition 6
precedent to commencing litigation; deleting 7
provisions relating to the eligibility of claims for 8
mediation; providing that the parties may mutually 9
agree to conduct the mediation by teleconference or by 10
telephone; requiring all insureds, or a representative 11
thereof, to personally attend the mediation; revising 12
and specifying duties as to bearing certain costs of 13
mediation; requiring, rather than authorizing, the 14
Department of Financial Services to adopt certain 15
rules; authorizing the department to adopt certain 16
emergency rules; requiring the policyholder to provide 17
the insurer with certain documents within a certain 18
timeframe after mediation is invoked; revising 19
conditions under which a policyholder has a certain 20
timeframe to rescind a settlement; revising the 21
definition of the term "claim"; providing and revising 22
construction; amending s. 627.7074, F.S.; conforming a 23
provision to changes made by the act; providing an 24
appropriation; providing effective dates. 25
HB 1439 2024
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 27
28
Section 1. Section 627.7015, Florida Statutes, is amended 29
to read: 30
627.7015 Mandatory mediation Alternative procedure for 31
resolution of disputed property insurance claims. — 32
(1) This section sets forth a nonadversarial alternative 33
dispute resolution procedure for a mediated claim resolution 34
conference prompted by the need for effective, fair, and timely 35
handling of property insurance claims. There is a particular 36
need for an informal, nonthreatening forum for helping parties 37
who elect this procedure to resolve their claims disputes 38
because most homeowner and commercial residential insurance 39
policies obligate policyholders to participate in a potentially 40
expensive and time-consuming adversarial appraisal process 41
before litigation. The procedure set forth in this section is 42
designed to bring the parties together for a mediated claims 43
settlement conference without any of the trappings or drawback s 44
of an adversarial process. Before resorting to these procedures, 45
policyholders and insurers are encouraged to resolve claims as 46
quickly and fairly as possible. This section applies is 47
available with respect to claims under personal lines and 48
commercial residential policies before commencing the appraisal 49
process and is a condition precedent to , or before commencing 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
litigation. Mediation may be requested only by the policyholder, 51
as a first-party claimant, a third -party, as an assignee of the 52
policy benefits, or the insurer. However, an insurer is not 53
required to participate in any mediation requested by a third -54
party assignee of the policy benefits. If requested by the 55
policyholder, Participation by legal counsel is permitted. 56
Mediation under this section is also required of available to 57
litigants referred to the department by a county court or 58
circuit court. This section does not apply to commercial 59
coverages, to private passenger motor vehicle insurance 60
coverages, or to disputes relating to liability cove rages in 61
policies of property insurance. 62
(2) At the time of issuance and renewal of a policy or at 63
the time a first-party claim within the scope of this section is 64
filed by the policyholder, the insurer shall notify the 65
policyholder of its right to participate in the mandatory 66
mediation program under this section. A claim becomes eligible 67
for mediation after the insurer complies with s. 627.70131(7) or 68
elects to reinspect pursuant to s. 627.70152(4)(a)3. If the 69
insurer has not complied with s. 627.70131(7 ) or elected to 70
reinspect pursuant to s. 627.70152(4)(a)3. within 90 days after 71
notice of the loss, the insurer may not require mediation under 72
this section. This subsection does not impair the right of an 73
insurance company to request mediation after a det ermination of 74
coverage pursuant to this section or require appraisal or 75
HB 1439 2024
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
another method of alternative dispute resolution pursuant to s. 76
627.70152(4)(b). The department shall prepare a consumer 77
information pamphlet for distribution to persons participating 78
in mediation. 79
(3) If the parties mutually agree, mediation may be 80
conducted by teleconference or by telephone in lieu of appearing 81
in person. All named insureds, or a representative thereof, must 82
personally attend the mediation, regardless of how it is 83
conducted. The costs of mediation must be reasonable, and the 84
insurer must bear all of the cost of conducting mediation 85
conferences, except as otherwise provided in this section. If a 86
named insured or his or her representative policyholder fails to 87
appear at the conference, thus preventing the mediation from 88
proceeding, the conference must be rescheduled upon the 89
policyholder's payment of the costs of a rescheduled conference. 90
If the insurer fails to appear at the conference, the insurer 91
must pay the policyh older's actual cash expenses incurred in 92
attending the conference if the insurer's failure to attend was 93
not due to a good cause acceptable to the department. An insurer 94
is will be deemed to have failed to appear if the insurer's 95
representative lacks autho rity to settle the full value of the 96
claim. The insurer shall incur an additional fee for a 97
rescheduled conference necessitated by the insurer's failure to 98
appear at a scheduled conference. The fees assessed by the 99
department must include a charge necessar y to defray the 100
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expenses of the department related to its duties under this 101
section and must be deposited in the Insurance Regulatory Trust 102
Fund. The department may suspend the insurer's authority to 103
appoint licensees if the insurer does not timely pay the 104
required fees. If a party elects to request an expert or a 105
representative to attend the mediation, that party must bear any 106
costs for the attendance of the expert or representative. 107
(4) The department shall adopt by rule a property 108
insurance mediation p rogram to be administered by the department 109
or its designee. The department shall may also adopt special 110
rules that which are applicable in cases of an emergency within 111
this the state, including emergency rules as necessary to 112
establish physical addresses for the mediation program in areas 113
affected by natural disasters . The rules shall be modeled after 114
practices and procedures set forth in mediation rules of 115
procedure adopted by the Supreme Court. The rules shall provide 116
for: 117
(a) Reasonable requirements requirement for processing and 118
scheduling of requests for mediation. 119
(b) Qualifications and, denial of application, suspension, 120
revocation of approval, and other penalties for mediators as 121
provided in s. 627.745 and the Florida Rules for Certified and 122
Court-Appointed Mediators. 123
(c) Provisions governing who may attend mediation 124
conferences. 125
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(d) Selection of mediators. 126
(e) Criteria for the conduct of mediation conferences. 127
(f) Right to legal counsel. 128
(5)(a) All statements made and documents produce d at a 129
mediation conference shall be deemed to be settlement 130
negotiations in anticipation of litigation within the scope of 131
s. 90.408. All parties to the mediation must negotiate in good 132
faith and must have the authority to immediately settle the 133
claim. Mediators are deemed to be agents of the department and 134
shall have the immunity from suit provided in s. 44.107. 135
(b) Within 10 days after mediation is invoked, the 136
policyholder must provide to the insurer any supporting 137
documents and information that serve as the basis for the claim. 138
(6)(a) Mediation is nonbinding; however, if a written 139
settlement is reached and the policyholder is not represented by 140
an attorney or a public adjuster , the policyholder has 3 141
business days within which the policyholder may r escind the 142
settlement unless the policyholder has cashed or deposited any 143
check or draft disbursed to the policyholder for the disputed 144
matters as a result of the conference. If a settlement agreement 145
is reached and is not rescinded, it is binding and acts as a 146
release of all specific claims that were presented in that 147
mediation conference. 148
(b) At the conclusion of the mediation, the mediator shall 149
provide a written report of the results of mediation, including 150
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any settlement amount, to the insurer, the p olicyholder, and the 151
policyholder's representative if the policyholder is represented 152
at the mediation. 153
(7) If the insurer fails to comply with subsection (2) by 154
failing to notify a policyholder of its right to participate in 155
the mediation program under this section or if the insurer 156
requests the mediation, and the mediation results are rejected 157
by either party, the policyholder is not required to submit to 158
or participate in any contractual loss appraisal process of the 159
property loss damage as a precondit ion to legal action for 160
breach of contract against the insurer for its failure to pay 161
the policyholder's claims covered by the policy. 162
(8) The department may designate an entity or person to 163
serve as administrator to carry out any of the provisions of 164
this section and may take this action by means of a written 165
contract or agreement. 166
(9) For purposes of this section, the term "claim" refers 167
to any dispute between an insurer and a policyholder relating to 168
a material issue of fact other than a dispute: 169
(a) With respect to which the insurer has a reasonable 170
basis to suspect fraud; 171
(b) When the insurer has determined , based on agreed-upon 172
facts as to the cause of loss, there is no coverage under the 173
policy; 174
(c) With respect to which the insurer has a re asonable 175
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basis to believe that the policyholder has intentionally made a 176
material misrepresentation of fact which is relevant to the 177
claim, and the entire request for payment of a loss has been 178
denied on the basis of the material misrepresentation; 179
(d) With respect to which the amount in controversy is 180
less than $500, unless the parties agree to mediate a dispute 181
involving a lesser amount; or 182
(e) With respect to a loss that does not comply with s. 183
627.70132. 184
(10) Participation in mediation under this section before 185
the policyholder's filing of a notice under s. 627.70152 does 186
not prohibit or waive an insurer's right to invoke and 187
participate in mediation under this section in response to the 188
notice. 189
Section 2. Subsection (3) of section 627.7074, Florida 190
Statutes, is amended to read: 191
627.7074 Alternative procedure for resolution of disputed 192
sinkhole insurance claims. — 193
(3) If there is coverage available under the policy and 194
the claim was submitted within the timeframe provided in s. 195
627.706(5), following the receipt of the report provided under 196
s. 627.7073 or the denial of a claim for a sinkhole loss, the 197
insurer shall notify the policyholder of his or her right to 198
participate in the neutral evaluation program under this 199
section. Neutral evaluati on supersedes the mediation alternative 200
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
dispute resolution process under s. 627.7015 but does not 201
invalidate the appraisal clause of the insurance policy. The 202
insurer shall provide to the policyholder the consumer 203
information pamphlet prepared by the depar tment pursuant to 204
subsection (1) electronically or by United States mail. 205
Section 3. Effective July 1, 2024, for the 2024 -2025 206
fiscal year, the sum of $1 million in recurring funds is 207
appropriated from the Insurance Regulatory Trust Fund to the 208
Department of Financial Services for the purpose of 209
administering the amendment made by this act to s. 627.7015, 210
Florida Statutes. 211
Section 4. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this 212
act and except for this section, which shall take effect July 1, 213
2024, this act shall take effect January 1, 2025. 214