Opinion ID: 6337978
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Relevant Florida Statutes

Text: We begin by summarizing the relevant Florida statutes, starting with Fla. Stat. § 627.428. Under that statute, generally, an USCA11 Case: 21-12257 Date Filed: 05/05/2022 Page: 7 of 17 21-12257 Opinion of the Court 7 insured who wins a suit against her insurer may recover reasonable attorney’s fees. But the general provision for attorney’s fees does “not apply to any action brought . . . against the uninsured motorist insurer unless there is a dispute over whether the policy provides coverage for an uninsured motorist proven to be liable for the accident.” Fla. Stat. § 627.727(8); see also State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Petersen, 855 So. 2d 1248, 1250 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003). So but for the disputed-coverage exception, fee-shifting is not statutorily available when an insured successfully sues her UM insurer to obtain benefits under the policy. No one argues that the disputed-coverage exception is implicated here, so in the UM Case, the Levesques had no statutory right to recover their attorney’s fees from GEICO. But as we have noted, if the plaintiff believes that her UM insurer acted in bad faith, she may file a separate lawsuit, as the Levesques did here. See Fla. Stat. § 624.155; Levesque I, 817 F. App’x at 672. And in the second, bad-faith suit, the recoverable damages include attorney’s fees and costs expended in the original action: The damages recoverable from an uninsured motor- ist carrier in an action brought under s. 624.155 shall include the total amount of the claimant’s damages, including the amount in excess of the policy limits, any interest on unpaid benefits, reasonable attorney’s fees and costs, and any damages caused by a violation of a law of this state. The total amount of the USCA11 Case: 21-12257 Date Filed: 05/05/2022 Page: 8 of 17 8 Opinion of the Court 21-12257 claimant’s damages is recoverable whether caused by an insurer or by a third-party tortfeasor. Fla. Stat. § 627.727(10) (emphases added). Section 627.727(10), though, must be read alongside Fla. Stat. § 624.155(8). That provision explains that the “damages recoverable [in a bad-faith action] shall include those damages which are a reasonably foreseeable result of a specified violation of this section by the authorized insurer and may include an award or judgment in an amount that exceeds the policy limits.” Id. § 624.155(8). Another subsection of § 624.155—subsection (4)—provides for fee-shifting in the bad-faith action when the plaintiff is successful. Id. § 624.155(4) (“Upon adverse adjudication at trial or upon appeal, the authorized insurer shall be liable for damages, together with court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees incurred by the plaintiff.”).