Policy Limits Demands and the New Safe Harbors, Part 1: Florida Bad Faith Fundamentals, HB 837, and the Developing Landscape

Florida bad faith law developed over decades through common-law doctrine and the statutory remedy of Fla. Stat. § 624.155. HB 837, enacted in March 2023, reshaped that framework in one stroke. It introduced a 90-day safe harbor, added claimant-side good faith duties, and unsettled rules practitioners had relied on for years.

The threshold questions now decide cases. Whether a claim is first-party or third-party determines which duties the insurer owes. Whether the insurer resolved the claim within the 90-day safe harbor can end a bad faith action before it begins. And the fate of the underlying claim controls whether a bad faith case ever ripens. Miss one of these questions and the strongest facts never reach a jury.

This program supplies the grounding to practice under the new framework. Attendees will evaluate common-law and statutory claims, apply the governing duties and standards, and account for the safe harbor. They will leave with a working map of what HB 837 changed, what survives, and which questions remain open. That judgment is work no search result supplies.