Provisions altering the rules for awarding attorney fees in Florida have been added to legislation originally focused on procedures for phosphate mining litigation.
The amendment would award attorney fees to the prevailing party in insurance disputes. If enacted, a policyholder qualifies as the prevailing party if the judgment exceeds the insurer’s highest written good faith offer.
The insurer qualifies if the final settlement is less than that offer or if the insured or beneficiary receives no damages.
Settlements would include reasonable attorney fees, taxable costs, and prejudgment interest. If an offer is revoked within five business days, it would be treated as made in bad faith under the amendment.
This proposal follows Florida’s 2023 repeal of one-way attorney fee statutes, part of broader, multiyear insurance reforms.
Critics argue the amendment would reverse recent progress in stabilizing Florida’s insurance market.
Caitlin Murray, Southeast regional vice president for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, said the measure would undermine those gains.
She described the tactic of attaching the amendment to unrelated legislation as an admission that it could not succeed on its own.
Michael Carlson, president of the Personal Insurance Federation of Florida, called the measure a “prevailing party” policy in name only during earlier debate when it appeared as a standalone bill.
