From Escambia County
October 3, 2014

In a case stemming from Hurricane Ivan a decade ago, the Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear arguments about whether the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. can face a “bad faith” lawsuit because of its handling of a damage claim.

The 1st District Court of Appeal sided with the Perdido Sun Condominium Association in the Escambia County case, prompting Citizens to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Perdido Sun was unhappy with the amount of Citizens’ payment of a claim from the 2004 hurricane and filed a breach of contract lawsuit to get additional money, according to court records. The condominium association ultimately won that lawsuit and filed another case under a law dealing with insurers failing to settle claims in good faith.

Citizens contends it should be immune from such bad-faith lawsuits.