Last week I had an interesting Court hearing in one of my Florida homeowner insurance claim lawsuits. Citizens Property Insurance Corporation argued my client, a Florida homeowner, had no right to sue for unpaid damages because she signed an assignment of benefits form for a water mitigation company. A water mitigation company was hired at the start of the insurance claim to remove water from the home during a leak. The insurance company argued disingenuously that the assignment of benefits form gave the water mitigation company all rights and benefits due under the insurance policy for the claim and my client was left with nothing. The Court properly saw through this ruse and denied the insurance company’s motion for summary judgment.
Florida Assignment of Benefits
Assignment of Benefits forms are used all the time in various situations. When you visit a doctor’s office, a laboratory or even an MRI facility, they will usually require you to sign an assignment of benefits form. The assignment of benefits form is used by the medical provider to directly bill your insurance company for the services rendered. This allows the medical provider to use your insurance benefits rather than requiring payment directly from you when services are rendered.
In a Florida homeowner’s insurance claim, assignment of benefits forms are often used by plumbers, water mitigation companies, mold specialists, and other contractors. Similar to assignment of benefit forms in the medical field, an assignment of benefits during a Florida property insurance claim allows contractors to directly bill the insurance company for the services they perform at your home. Many times these services are on an emergency basis and advance payment is not an option.
Defense By Any Means Necessary
In my case, the insurance company tried to argue only the water mitigation company could bring an insurance claim for unpaid damages. In making this argument, the insurance company attempted to read something into the assignment of benefits form which did not exist. The insurance defense lawyer argued my client’s signing of the assignment of benefits form meant she hired the water mitigation company for “all necessary work” and for “all restoration services”. Those precise words were not present in the assignment of benefits form and the argument falls flat. What was present in the assignment of benefits form was language which limited the assignment to the actual repair services rendered by the water mitigation company.
There is no doubt the assignment of benefits form drafted by a water mitigation company could have been worded better. But it was equally evident to everyone the true intent of the document was for a water mitigation company to get paid for its services and nothing more. Rather than abide by the true spirit of the document, the insurance company tried to wiggle out of the insurance claim on a technicality. To make it more insulting, the insurance company employed this tactic over two years into the insurance claim.
Lessons for the Future
Insurance companies will try everything they can to get out of paying an otherwise valid insurance claim. This is not a reassuring fact given you are paying insurance premiums to the insurance company for their promise to be there for you if an accident occurs. Florida insurance law requires that an insurance company investigates the insurance claim and deals with its policy holders in good faith.
Where you have an insurance claim and you are asked to sign an assignment of benefits, make sure the form specifically states it is a partial assignment of benefits. Avoid signing an assignment of benefits which assigns all rights and benefits to your claim or insurance policy to a contractor. If that has already happened, ask your contractor to correct the assignment of benefits form so it specifically states it is a partial assignment limited to the actual repair work the contractor performs and nothing more. You can do this by signing a new amended and corrected assignment of benefits form or you can contact us or a Miami insurance lawyer for help with your Florida insurance claim.
Related Topics: Florida Insurance Law, Florida Assignment of Benefits, Florida Insurance Lawyer, Florida insurance claim lawsuit, Miami insurance lawyer
