How does my Palm Beach County accident attorney utilize Florida Statute to discover available insurance policies?

Obviously, after a lawsuit has been filed, discovery rules allow a plaintiff to inquire about the type of insurance coverage and extent of coverage available. Montano v. Wrigfield, 239 So.2d 609 (Fla. 3d DCA 1970); Fla.R.Civ.P. 1.280. Prior to the implementation of F.S. 627.4137 insurance companies sometimes made it very difficult for a plaintiff because insurers were often unwilling to provide insurance information before the lawsuit. The passage of F.S. 627.4137 required that insurance companies, within 30 days of a written request by a claimant, provide certain information including:

• Name of the insurer
• Name of each insured
• Limits of liability coverage
• Statement of any policy/coverage defense which such insurer reasonably believes is available to such insurer at time of filing such statement
• Copy of the policy

Your Palm Beach County accident attorney should obtain this disclosure obligation from all insurers that do or “may” provide liability coverage. Id. Each insurer has an obligation to include information regarding “each known” policy, including excess or umbrella coverage. Anytime there is an excess carrier involved, your Palm Beach County accident attorney should make sure all underlying coverage is obtained from an excess carrier because it can prove fruitful down the line and because the excess carrier may be required to disclose it. The statute also require that each insurer, on written request by the claimant (or claimant’s attorney), produce the “name and coverage” of each known insurer and forward the request for information to each carrier. Id. When additional facts are discovered, the Statute requires a duty to update such information. F.S. 627.4137(2). Your Palm Beach County accident attorney should be aware that failure to provide a copy of the policy may amount to waiver of any conditions stated in it. Because the statute does not provide any specific mechanism to enforce timely cooperation by an insurer, it is sometimes necessary that your Palm Beach County accident attorney file a lawsuit to discover the relevant liability policy information. Insurers will usually comply with request for information from a claimant because of possible bad-faith actions being brought against them down the road.