Bad Faith Insurance Lawyer Pompano Beach, FL
Not every insurance dispute is a bad faith case. But when a carrier’s conduct crosses from aggressive claims handling into deliberate dishonesty, unreasonable delay designed to force a discounted settlement, or a denial issued without any meaningful investigation, Florida law provides a remedy that goes well beyond the policy limits.
Pompano Beach policyholders who have experienced that kind of misconduct are not without options. They are also not starting from a fair position without counsel. Carriers have entire departments staffed with attorneys, adjusters, and engineers who know how to build a file that defends a denial. They have decades of experience fighting Civil Remedy Notices filed against them. What most policyholders do not have is an attorney who spent years inside those same carriers learning exactly how that process works.
Our Pompano Beach, FL bad faith insurance lawyer has over 25 years of South Florida property insurance experience, including years defending the carriers she now fights. We handle bad faith cases in Pompano Beach on a pure contingency basis. No fees unless we win. No out-of-pocket costs. Ever. Contact The People’s Law Team, PA Property Damage Lawyers today to learn about your rights under Florida law.
Why Choose The People’s Law Team, PA Property Damage Lawyers for Bad Faith Insurance Claims in Pompano Beach?
She Built the Defense. Now She Dismantles It.
Maria O’Donnell founded The People’s Law Team, PA Property Damage Lawyers in 2014 at 2436 N Federal Highway in Pompano Beach. Before founding the firm, she ran one of the largest female-owned insurance defense firms in Florida. She represented Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, State Farm, Allstate/Castle Key, Universal Property, Mercury, Travelers, and Esurance in property damage disputes throughout Broward County and South Florida. She managed Special Investigation Unit matters for those same carriers.
She knows how carriers construct a file designed to survive bad faith scrutiny. She knows how adjusters are trained to document claim decisions in ways that make misconduct harder to prove. She knows which internal practices the carriers relied on, and she knows how to pull those practices apart in litigation. As a bad faith insurance attorney in Pompano Beach, FL, she brings every bit of that career history to the cases she takes on behalf of policyholders.
Ms. O’Donnell earned her J.D. from Brooklyn Law School in 2001 and has been a Florida Bar member since 2002. Her record includes establishing substantive published case law across decades of South Florida property insurance litigation.
Attorney David Edwards was recognized in the Top 40 Under 40 by the National Trial Lawyers Association in the civil plaintiff attorney division. The firm is listed with Martindale-Hubbell, one of the most established attorney peer-review directories in the country.
A 99% Success Rate Across South Florida Insurance Cases
Our firm has maintained a 99% success rate across residential and commercial property damage and insurance dispute cases throughout Florida, including Broward County. We have helped policyholders recover millions of dollars in proceeds that carriers initially refused to pay, including cases where the carrier’s handling of the underlying claim supported extracontractual bad faith recovery.
No Fee Unless We Win
Every bad faith insurance claim and homeowner property damage case we handle is taken on full contingency. You pay nothing until we win. No retainers, no hourly billing, no out-of-pocket costs at any point in the process.
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“Maria has 25 years in law. She previously represented State Farm, Allstate, and Citizens Insurance. Her background is a key factor in her being the best suited to represent YOU against your insurance company. I highly recommend getting Maria to represent you!” — Sal Trinkey
Read more reviews on our Google Business Profile.
Types of Bad Faith Insurance Cases We Handle in Pompano Beach
Bad faith conduct by Florida insurance carriers takes several distinct forms. Our attorneys handle all of the following in Pompano Beach and throughout Broward County.
- Denial without reasonable investigation. When a carrier denies a Pompano Beach property damage claim without conducting a genuine investigation of the loss, or issues a denial based on a boilerplate adjuster report that contradicts the physical evidence, that denial may constitute bad faith. Florida law requires insurers to investigate every claim promptly and thoroughly before denying it.
- Unreasonable delay past statutory deadlines. Under Florida Statute 627.70131, your insurer has 60 days from receiving your claim to pay it, pay the undisputed portion, or issue a written denial. Carriers that use manufactured documentation requests and serial reinspections to push past that window without paying may be building a bad faith record.
- Hurricane damage. Post-storm bad faith is common in coastal Broward County. Carriers who reclassify covered wind damage as excluded flood damage, apply anti-concurrent causation clauses to deny claims they know are valid, or use adjuster reports that misrepresent cause of loss are exposing themselves to extracontractual liability on top of the underlying breach of contract claim.
- Insurance disputes. When a carrier misrepresents what a Pompano Beach policy covers to induce a policyholder to accept a below-value settlement or abandon a valid claim, that conduct is a specifically enumerated unfair practice under Florida Statute 626.9541 and creates a foundation for bad faith liability under Florida Statute 624.155.
- Beach property damage claims. When the underlying denial of a Pompano Beach homeowner or commercial property claim was issued without a reasonable basis, and the carrier failed to cure that deficiency within 60 days of receiving a Civil Remedy Notice, the bad faith lawsuit can proceed alongside the breach of contract action to final judgment.
- Bad faith on residential insurance claims. Pompano Beach homeowners in neighborhoods from Cresthaven to Palm Aire to Cypress Bend whose insurance claims for roof damage, mold remediation, water intrusion, or structural failure have been systematically mishandled may have both a breach of contract and a bad faith claim. We evaluate the full picture from the first case review.
Florida Legal Requirements for Bad Faith Insurance Cases in Pompano Beach
Bad faith insurance litigation in Florida follows a specific and strictly enforced statutory framework. These are the requirements every Pompano Beach policyholder needs to understand before pursuing a bad faith claim.
The Civil Remedy Notice requirement. Under Florida Statute 624.155, a Civil Remedy Notice must be filed using the form provided by the Florida Department of Financial Services before a bad faith lawsuit can proceed. The notice must state with specificity the statutory provision the insurer violated, the exact policy language at issue, the facts and circumstances giving rise to the violation, and the names of individuals involved. A notice that is too vague will be held legally insufficient. Courts have dismissed bad faith suits where the Civil Remedy Notice did not satisfy the specificity requirements of the statute. After the notice is properly filed, the carrier has 60 days to cure the alleged violation. If it pays the claim or corrects the conduct within that window, the bad faith cause of action is extinguished. If it does not, the lawsuit can proceed.
The breach of contract prerequisite. Under Florida Statute 624.1551, a court judgment establishing that the insurer breached the underlying property insurance contract is required before extracontractual bad faith damages can be recovered. A Pompano Beach policyholder cannot simply file a bad faith claim in isolation. The sequential structure of Florida bad faith litigation, first establishing the breach, then pursuing extracontractual damages, makes it essential to build the breach of contract case correctly from day one.
The Unfair Insurance Trade Practices Act. Under Florida Statute 626.9541, specific insurer conduct constitutes an unfair or deceptive trade practice. These include misrepresenting policy provisions, failing to acknowledge claims promptly, and refusing to pay claims without conducting a reasonable investigation. A violation of this statute is one of the independently actionable bases for a bad faith civil remedy claim under Florida Statute 624.155. When a Pompano Beach carrier’s denial letter mischaracterizes the policy, this statute applies directly.
The 60-day pay-or-deny deadline. Under Florida Statute 627.70131, your insurer must pay, deny, or pay the undisputed portion of your claim within 60 days of receiving notice, and payments made after that deadline bear interest from the date the claim was filed. Systematic violations of this deadline, particularly when combined with other carrier misconduct, are key evidence in a bad faith file. These disputes are litigated at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale.
What Damages Are Recoverable in a Pompano Beach Bad Faith Insurance Case?
Contractual damages. The baseline recovery in every bad faith case is the full amount the underlying property insurance policy was required to pay: repair and replacement costs, contents, additional living expenses during displacement, and ordinance and law coverage for code upgrades. We pursue every contractual dollar before the bad faith action proceeds.
Extracontractual damages. When a Pompano Beach bad faith insurance case succeeds under Florida Statute 624.155, the damages available exceed the policy limits. Florida courts have awarded extracontractual damages where carriers denied valid claims without investigation, deliberately delayed payment to force discounted resolutions, and misrepresented coverage to policyholders who accepted less than they were owed.
Punitive damages. Under Florida Statute 624.155, punitive damages may be awarded when the insurer’s conduct was willful, wanton, or in reckless disregard for the policyholder’s rights with sufficient frequency to indicate a general business practice. We pursue them when the evidence supports that threshold.
Interest on late payments. Under Florida Statute 627.70131, payments made after the 60-day deadline bear interest from the date the claim was filed. We account for and pursue that interest in every case we handle.
Contact The People’s Law Team, PA Property Damage Lawyers
If your Pompano Beach insurance company has denied, delayed, or mishandled your property damage claim in a way that goes beyond an ordinary dispute, do not wait. Speak with the talented legal team at The People’s Law Team, PA Property Damage Lawyers Property Damage Lawyers. The Civil Remedy Notice must be filed before any bad faith lawsuit can proceed, and the underlying claim deadlines under Florida Statute 627.70132 are strict.
We offer free consultations with our Pompano Beach bad faith insurance lawyer, so you can learn what options are available to you. No upfront costs, no out-of-pocket fees, no payment of any kind unless we win. Contact us today to put over 25 years of South Florida insurance industry knowledge to work against a carrier that has not treated you fairly.