Source: https://insuranceclaimsbadfaith.typepad.com/insurance_claims_badfaith/2010/05/discovery-of-files-in-florida-hurricane-bad-faith-case.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 18:40:17+00:00

Document:
Claims and Bad Faith Law Blog: Discovery of Files in Florida Hurricane Bad Faith Case.
Discovery of Files in Florida Hurricane Bad Faith Case.
In previous posts here, including on July 15, 2009, I examined the treatment in recent cases by lower Florida Courts of the Florida Supreme Court's decision in Allstate Indemnity Co. v. Ruiz, 899 So. 2d 1121 (Fla. 2005). In Ruiz, the Florida Supreme Court addressed the "application of work product privilege" in Insurer Bad Faith Cases. The Supreme Court determined, in sum and in substance, that "in connection with evaluating the obligation to process claims in good faith under section 624.155 [Florida's Bad Faith Statute]" all materials in the First-Party Insurance Company's Claims File should be produced in discovery "up to and including the date of resolution of the underlying disputed matter and pertain[ing] in any way to coverage, benefits, liability, or damages" just as in a Third-Party Bad Faith Case filed at Florida Common Law "for failure to settle third-party cases." Id. at 1129-30.
Mayfair House Association v. QBE Insurance Corp., 2010 WL 472827 *1 (S.D. Fla. February 5, 2010). Mayfair also alleged that QBE violated several provisions of Florida's Unfair Claim Settlement Practices Act, Fla. Stat. § 626.9541(1)(i). Mayfair House Association v. QBE Insurance Corp., 2010 WL 472827 *2 (S.D. Fla. February 5, 2010).
The plaintiff "sought production of QBE's claim file in the underlying coverage dispute with Mayfair House, together with the claim files of other insured condominium associations who also litigated windstorm damage claims against QBE arising our of Hurricane Wilma." Mayfair House Association v. QBE Insurance Corp., 2010 WL 472827 *2 (S.D. Fla. February 5, 2010). The U.S. District Court affirmed a Magistrate-Judge's Order compelling the production, but for different reasons, stated by the U.S. District Judge.
The District Judge applied the Ruiz holding to mean that "the Florida Supreme Court effectively eliminated the attorney client privilege as a discovery shield in bad faith insurance litigation between an insured and its insurance company with respect to all materials generated prior to resolution of the underlying disputed matter." Mayfair House Association v. QBE Insurance Corp., 2010 WL 472827 *3 (S.D. Fla. February 5, 2010).
The holdings of many Courts which have addressed Discovery issues of this kind in Insurance Bad Faith Cases are collected and examined by Dennis J. Wall, "Litigation and Prevention of Insurer Bad Faith" § 8:6 (Third-Party Bad Faith Cases) and § 12:6 (First-Party Bad Faith Cases) (Shepard's McGraw-Hill First Edition; West Publishing Co. Second Edition and 2010 Supplement).

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