What is Florida Statute 624.155?
624.155 is Florida's civil remedy statute: the law that lets a policyholder sue an insurer for bad faith. Before suing you file a Civil Remedy Notice with the Department of Financial Services and serve the insurer. The carrier then gets 60 days to pay or correct. Pay inside that window and the bad-faith claim never exists.
| What it is | Florida's statutory civil action against an insurer, Fla. Stat. 624.155 |
|---|---|
| Two ways in | (1)(a) violating a listed statute such as 626.9541(1)(i); (1)(b)1 failing to settle in good faith |
| Condition precedent | 60 days written notice to DFS and the insurer, 624.155(3)(a) |
| Cure window | No action lies if damages are paid or circumstances corrected in 60 days, 624.155(3)(c) |
| If you win | Court costs and reasonable attorney fees, 624.155(7) |
- • Two ways in: 624.155(1)(a) for violating listed statutes including 626.9541(1)(i), and 624.155(1)(b)1 for not attempting in good faith to settle when it could and should have.
- • Condition precedent: 60 days written notice to the Department of Financial Services and to the insurer, under 624.155(3)(a).
- • The cure: no action lies if the damages are paid or the circumstances corrected inside 60 days, under 624.155(3)(c).
- • Mere negligence alone is not bad faith, under 624.155(5). Punitive damages need willful, wanton, or malicious conduct as a general business practice, under 624.155(8).
- • Win and the insurer pays court costs and reasonable attorney fees, under 624.155(7).
The section, subsection by subsection
624.155 is titled Civil remedy. It is short, and every clause does work. Read the notice subsections twice: they are where most bad-faith claims are won or lost, long before anyone argues about the roof.
Violation of a listed statute
A civil action lies for a violation of 626.9541(1)(i), (o), or (x), 626.9551, 626.9705, 626.9706, 626.9707, or 627.7283. For a property claim, (1)(i) is the one that matters: the unfair claim settlement practices list.
Not settling in good faith
Three named acts. The first is the one property policyholders use: not attempting in good faith to settle claims when, under all the circumstances, it could and should have done so.
Unauthorized insurers
A parallel action against an insurer that was never authorized to write the business.
The 60-day notice
The department and the insurer must have been given 60 days written notice of the violation. No notice, no action.
What the notice must state
The statutory provision violated, the facts and circumstances, the name of any individual involved, the specific policy language at issue, and a statement that the notice is given to perfect the right to the civil remedy.
The cure
No action shall lie if, within 60 days after the insurer receives the notice, the damages are paid or the circumstances giving rise to the violation are corrected.
The insurer reports back
The insurer must tell the department how it disposed of the alleged violation.
Tolling
The limitations period is tolled for 60 days after the notice is received, and for 60 days after appraisal is invoked.
Appraisal blackout
On a residential property claim, a notice cannot be filed within 60 days after appraisal is invoked.
The floor
Mere negligence alone is not enough to constitute bad faith, and the insured's own duty to act in good faith can reduce the damages.
Fees
On a judgment against the insurer, it pays court costs and reasonable attorney fees.
Punitive damages
Reserved for willful, wanton, or malicious conduct, or reckless disregard, committed with such frequency as to indicate a general business practice.
Two ways a property claim gets in
Door one is 624.155(1)(a). It borrows conduct from elsewhere in the code. For a hurricane claim, the borrowed list is 626.9541(1)(i), the unfair claim settlement practices: denying without a reasonable investigation, misrepresenting policy provisions, failing to promptly explain the basis for a denial, failing to pay undisputed amounts. Cite the subsection, not the theme.
Door two is 624.155(1)(b)1, and it needs no other statute: not attempting in good faith to settle claims when, under all the circumstances, it could and should have done so. That is the classic first-party bad-faith claim. It lives or dies on the claim file: what the carrier knew, when it knew it, and what it did next. Which is why the first move in any of these cases is a written demand for the entire claim file, including every dated estimate the carrier generated.
The Civil Remedy Notice, and why it is the whole ballgame
A bad-faith suit that skips the notice is not a suit. 624.155(3)(a) requires 60 days written notice to the Department of Financial Services and to the authorized insurer, and 624.155(3)(b) lists what the notice must state: the statutory provision violated, the facts and circumstances, the name of any individual involved, the specific policy language at issue, and a statement that the notice is given to perfect the right to the civil remedy. Every one of those elements gets tested later.
Filings go through the DFS system at apps.fldfs.com/civilremedy ↗, and they are public record, searchable by insurer name. That cuts two ways: the mechanics of your own filing matter, and the filings already made against your carrier tell you exactly which arguments it runs. The full mechanics, and the traps, are in the Civil Remedy Notice guide.
Sixty days to make it go away
624.155(3)(c) is the carrier's exit. If, within 60 days after receiving the notice, the damages are paid or the circumstances giving rise to the violation are corrected, no action lies. The Florida Supreme Court read that literally in Talat Enterprises, Inc. v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., 753 So. 2d 1278 (Fla. 2000): the statutory cause of action for extra-contractual damages never comes into existence unless the 60-day window expires without payment of the damages owed under the contract. The insurer cures by paying the contract damages. It does not have to pay extra-contractual damages to close the door.
The practical consequence is the reason so many notices produce a check and nothing else. That check is not a failure. It is often the fastest route to the money on a claim the carrier had been sitting on, and it is why the amount stated as owed in the notice needs to be right the first time.
When the bad-faith claim ripens
A first-party bad-faith action is not ready the day the denial arrives. Coverage liability and the extent of damages have to be settled first. In Cammarata v. State Farm Florida Insurance Co., 152 So. 3d 606 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014), the Fourth District held en banc that a determination of the insurer's breach of contract is not required, and that an appraisal award can be the favorable resolution that establishes liability and the amount. That matters on storm claims, where appraisal resolves the number far more often than a jury does.
Two timing rules sit alongside it. 624.155(3)(e) tolls the limitations period for 60 days after the notice is received and for 60 days after appraisal is invoked. 624.155(3)(f) blocks filing a notice on a residential property claim within 60 days after appraisal is invoked. Neither one extends your deadline to sue on the policy itself, which is five years from the date of loss.
What a 624.155 case actually pays
Damages under 624.155 are the losses caused by the violation, which is the point: they can exceed the policy limit, because the injury is the handling, not the roof. 624.155(7) adds court costs and reasonable attorney fees on a judgment against the insurer. 624.155(8) reserves punitive damages for willful, wanton, or malicious conduct, or reckless disregard, committed with such frequency as to indicate a general business practice, which is a much higher wall than most claims clear.
The counterweight is 624.155(5): mere negligence alone is not bad faith, and your own duty to act in good faith can cut the recovery. Missed inspections, unreturned document requests, and a claim reported late all show up in that column. What the cases reward is a clean, dated, documented file on your side and a demonstrably careless one on theirs. Start with the denial-letter legality test, then read what bad-faith damages cover.
624.155 questions, answered
What is Florida Statute 624.155 in plain English? +
It is the law that lets a policyholder sue an insurer for bad-faith claim handling instead of only for the amount owed under the policy. It has two entry points: a violation of one of the listed statutes, most often the unfair claim settlement practices list in 626.9541(1)(i), or a failure to attempt in good faith to settle a claim the carrier could and should have settled.
Do I have to file a Civil Remedy Notice before suing for bad faith? +
Yes. Fla. Stat. 624.155(3)(a) makes 60 days written notice to the Department of Financial Services and to the insurer a condition precedent. The notice must name the statutory provision violated, describe the facts and circumstances, identify any individual involved, quote the specific policy language at issue, and state that it is given to perfect the civil remedy.
What happens if the insurance company pays during the 60 days? +
The bad-faith claim goes away. In Talat Enterprises v. Aetna the Florida Supreme Court held that the statutory cause of action for extra-contractual damages never comes into existence unless the 60-day window expires without payment of the damages owed under the contract. The carrier only has to pay the contract damages, not extra-contractual damages, to cure.
Can I file a Civil Remedy Notice myself? +
The Department of Financial Services runs a public filing system at apps.fldfs.com/civilremedy and the notices in it are public record. A vague or incomplete notice can sink the later case, because the statute lists what it must contain and the defense will test every element. Have a licensed Florida attorney prepare or review it.
Is a slow or rude adjuster bad faith? +
Not by itself. Fla. Stat. 624.155(5) says mere negligence alone is insufficient to constitute bad faith. What builds a case is a documented pattern measured against duties written elsewhere: the 60-day pay-or-deny rule in 627.70131(7)(a), the reasonable-investigation and written-explanation duties in 626.9541(1)(i)3, and undisputed amounts left unpaid.
When does a Florida bad-faith claim become ripe? +
After the insurer liability for coverage and the extent of your damages have been determined, plus the notice under 624.155(3)(a). In Cammarata v. State Farm Florida the Fourth District held en banc that a determination of breach of contract is not required, and that an appraisal award can be the favorable resolution that satisfies the first two conditions.
- Fla. Stat. 624.155, civil remedy · flsenate.gov ↗
- Fla. Stat. 626.9541(1)(i), unfair claim settlement practices · flsenate.gov ↗
- Talat Enterprises, Inc. v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co., 753 So. 2d 1278 (Fla. 2000) · caselaw.findlaw.com ↗
- Cammarata v. State Farm Fla. Ins. Co., 152 So. 3d 606 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014) · caselaw.findlaw.com ↗
- Florida DFS Civil Remedy Notice system · apps.fldfs.com/civilremedy ↗
Statute summaries drafted August 2026 and simplified for education; verify against current statute. Not legal advice; consult an attorney about your specific claim.
Is there a 624.155 case in your file?
Send the denial letter, the estimates, and the dates. You will get a straight answer on which subsections are in play, whether a Civil Remedy Notice is the right next move, and what the cure window is likely to do.
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