What evidence is discoverable when pursuing a bad faith claim against an insurance carrier?
Depending if the case is for compensatory or punitive damages, the evidence needed will differ to establish that the insurance company has acted in bad faith in denying an insurance claim. In the compensatory damages scenario, the evidence must be specific enough that it contains every correspondence made with the insurer that will support the plaintiff’s position. This correspondence will include the demand letter, notice form and narrative and all typed memos that followed conversations with the adjuster. The insurance company’s CLAIM FILE IS DISCOVERABLE for both first party and third party bad faith plaintiffs, subject to attorney-client privileges. The case that decided this issue overturned an earlier ruling by the court that disallowed discovery of the claim file because the insured and insurer were in a quasi-adversarial relationship, rather than a fiduciary relationship. In Allstate Indemnity Co v. Ruiz, 30 FLW S219, S222 (Fla.2005), the court decided that it would not be lega
