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Suing an insurer can become costly
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published June 2, 2006
TALLAHASSEE - It may be called no-fault, but car crash victims who sue insurance companies over personal injury coverage and lose can be required to pay the insurers' legal fees in some cases, the Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday. The justices ruled 5-2 that insurers may be entitled to the fees, often many times larger than claims, if victims earlier had rejected settlement offers. The high court unanimously decided, however, that the fees cannot be ordered if the settlement offers are ambiguous. "It's a giant loss for every insured motorist in Florida," said Don Hockman, a senior partner of a law firm that represented an Orange County woman in the case against State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. State Farm lawyer Kenneth Hazouri disagreed. He called the decision a victory for consumers because it gives insurers an important tool to discourage fraudulent claims that can cost them millions of dollars every year. An insurer is entitled to fees when it wins a no-fault case only if the insured recovers nothing at trial or had rejected an offer at least one-third greater than damages awarded.
[Last modified June 2, 2006, 05:56:05]
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