Denied and Delayed Claims Lawyer Florida
Our Florida denied and delayed claims lawyer has spent over 25 years on both sides of insurance disputes. We understand the tactics carriers use because our founding attorney used them while defending the same companies she now fights against. We represent residential and commercial property owners across Florida on a pure contingency basis. No fees unless we win. No out-of-pocket costs at any stage of the process. Call The People’s Law Team, PA Property Damage Lawyers today to get started with a free consultation.
Why Choose The People’s Law Team, PA Property Damage Lawyers for Denied and Delayed Claims in Florida?
She Knows the Playbook From the Inside
Maria O’Donnell spent years building and running one of the largest female-owned insurance defense firms in the state of Florida before founding The People’s Law Team, PA Property Damage Lawyers in 2014. During that career, she represented State Farm, Allstate/Castle Key, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, Universal Property, Mercury, Travelers, and Esurance. She handled sensitive Special Investigation Unit cases for those carriers and defended them through complex litigation.
She knows how adjusters are trained to evaluate claims. She knows the documentation demands insurers use to delay decisions. She knows how carriers build denial rationale and which arguments do not hold up when challenged in court. Since 2014, she has put that knowledge to work exclusively for Florida policyholders whose claims have been wrongfully denied, stalled, or undervalued.
Ms. O’Donnell earned her J.D. from Brooklyn Law School in 2001 and was admitted to the Florida Bar in 2002. Her record includes establishing substantive published case law, and she is known throughout the industry for resolving claims aggressively and quickly. As a denied insurance claims attorney in Florida, she brings over two decades of institutional knowledge to every case we take on.
A 99% Win Rate Across Florida Insurance Disputes
Our firm has maintained a 99% success rate across residential and commercial property damage cases, including denied and delayed claim disputes throughout Florida. We are not just winning cases. We are winning them fast and recovering millions of dollars in insurance proceeds that carriers initially refused to pay.
Attorney David Edwards is recognized in the Top 40 Under 40 by the National Trial Lawyers Association for the civil plaintiff attorney division. The firm is listed with Martindale-Hubbell, one of the most widely recognized legal peer-review services in the country. Both reflect the standard of practice we hold ourselves to on every file.
Contingency Fees. Always.
We handle every denied insurance claim and Florida property damage case on a contingency basis. You pay nothing unless we win. No retainers, no hourly billing, and no invoices during the life of your case. We mean it when we say no out-of-pocket legal costs, ever.
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“Amazing Team! Our insurance company denied us the 1st time around and the 1st attorney obviously didn’t do their job. Our adjuster called us months later and introduced us to Maria. She said this should be quick because it’s all in our policy. Quick? She got this done I believe within 2 months! Sure wish we had Maria the first time around. Could have saved us from a lot of unnecessary stress! I can’t thank her enough!!” — Terri Roy
Read more reviews on our Google Business Profile.
Types of Denied and Delayed Claims Cases We Handle in Florida
Insurance companies deny and delay claims across every property type and policy category. Our firm handles all of the following across Florida.
- Denied homeowner property damage claims. A denial is not the end of the road. Carriers routinely deny claims for reasons that do not hold up under legal scrutiny, including policy exclusion arguments, late notice allegations, and unsupported engineering conclusions. Our Florida property damage attorneys challenge those denials directly and build the record needed to reverse them.
- Delayed claims past statutory deadlines. Under Florida law, your insurer has 60 days to pay, deny, or pay the undisputed portion of your claim after receiving notice. When carriers miss that window, there are legal consequences. We track those deadlines and use every statutory violation as leverage in your case.
- Hurricane disaster damage. Post-hurricane claim denials are among the most common we handle. Carriers dispute the cause of damage, challenge roof age and condition, and apply anti-concurrent causation clauses to shift losses onto flood policies. We have resolved hundreds of storm-related denied claims throughout Florida and know exactly how to dismantle those arguments.
- Coverage disputes. When an insurer argues that your specific loss falls outside the scope of your policy, the fight is about contract language and Florida insurance law. We analyze every exclusion and endorsement the carrier relies on and challenge interpretations that are not consistent with how Florida courts have read similar policy provisions.
- Commercial property claim denials. Business owners face a different statutory framework than residential policyholders, and carriers exploit that gap. Our Florida business liability attorneys handle commercial denied and delayed claims with the same aggressive approach we bring to residential disputes.
- Bad faith insurance claims. When a carrier’s denial or delay crosses from aggressive claims handling into a pattern of deliberate misconduct, Florida law provides a remedy that goes well beyond the original policy limits. We evaluate every case for bad faith potential and pursue those claims when the facts support them.
Florida Legal Requirements for Denied and Delayed Claims Cases
Florida’s insurance statutes define specific obligations insurers must meet when handling claims. When those obligations are violated, policyholders have legal remedies most carriers do not volunteer information about.
The 60-day pay-or-deny rule. Under Florida Statute 627.70131, your insurer must pay, deny, or pay the undisputed portion of your claim within 60 days of receiving notice. Payments made after that deadline bear interest from the date the claim was filed. Carriers that sit on claims past this deadline are in violation of Florida law. That violation is not just relevant to your breach of contract claim. It is also potential evidence in a bad faith proceeding if the delay was part of a broader pattern of misconduct.
The Civil Remedy Notice requirement. Under Florida Statute 624.155, before a policyholder can file a bad faith lawsuit against an insurer, a Civil Remedy Notice must be filed with both the insurer and the Florida Department of Financial Services. This notice gives the carrier 60 days to cure the alleged violation. If the carrier resolves the claim within that window, the bad faith cause of action is extinguished. If it does not, the lawsuit can proceed. This pre-suit step is mandatory, and getting it right matters. The notice must identify the specific statutory provision violated, the facts giving rise to the violation, and the relevant policy language. An experienced attorney needs to draft it.
The bad faith statute and the breach of contract prerequisite. Under Florida Statute 624.1551, enacted as part of the 2022 insurance reforms, a policyholder pursuing extracontractual damages in a property insurance bad faith claim must first establish through a court judgment that the insurer breached the underlying insurance contract. The bad faith case cannot run simultaneously with the breach of contract claim from the outset. This sequential requirement lengthens the road to bad faith recovery but does not eliminate it. A favorable breach of contract judgment opens the door to the full range of bad faith remedies under Florida Statute 624.155, which can include damages well beyond the policy limits.
The one-year notice deadline. Under Florida Statute 627.70132, property insurance claims must be reported to the insurer within one year of the date of loss. Supplemental claims must go in within 18 months. If you received a denial and have not yet retained counsel, the clock on these deadlines continues to run. Waiting costs you options.
What Damages Are Recoverable in a Florida Denied or Delayed Claim Case?
Contractual damages. Your baseline recovery is the full amount owed under the policy for the covered loss, including dwelling repair or replacement costs, contents, additional living expenses, and any other covered components your insurer failed to pay. When a carrier denies a valid claim, we pursue every dollar of contractual coverage available under the policy.
Interest on late payments. Under Florida Statute 627.70131, payments made after the 60-day statutory window bear interest from the date the claim was filed. That interest accrues daily and is a recoverable component of your total claim. We track it in every case.
Extracontractual and bad faith damages. When a carrier’s conduct rises to the level of bad faith under Florida Statute 624.155, the damages available go beyond what the policy would have paid. Florida courts have awarded amounts exceeding policy limits in bad faith cases where carriers were found to have deliberately misrepresented policy terms, refused to investigate claims properly, or systematically delayed payments on claims they knew were valid. These cases require a specific factual and procedural foundation, but when the facts are there, the exposure for the carrier is significant.
Punitive damages. Under Florida Statute 624.155, punitive damages may be available when the insurer’s conduct was willful, wanton, or in reckless disregard for the policyholder’s rights, and occurred with enough frequency to indicate a general business practice. We pursue them when the evidence supports that threshold.
Contact The People’s Law Team, PA Property Damage Lawyers
A denied or delayed insurance claim does not resolve itself. The longer you wait, the stronger the insurer’s position becomes as evidence ages and statutory deadlines approach. As soon as you become our client, our Florida denied and delayed claims lawyer swings into action, filing all necessary legal petitions, gathering evidence nad case-building, and professionally valuing your claim. We’re committed to asserting your rights and securing every penny you’re entitled to.
The People’s Law Team, PA Property Damage Lawyers Property Damage Lawyers offers free consultations for Florida insurance claim disputes of all kinds, including residential, commercial, and storm-related denials throughout the state. No upfront costs. No out-of-pocket fees. No payment of any kind unless we win. Contact us to schedule your free consultation and put over 25 years of insurance industry knowledge to work fighting your denial.