Civil Remedy Notice of Insurer Violations
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Filing Number:     781007
Filing Accepted:  9/3/2024
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Complainant
Last/Business Name *  
FOUNDATION CHURCH   First Name  
Street Address * 13000 TAMIAMI TRAIL
City, State Zip * NORTH PORT, FL 34287
Email Address * HLAIPPLY@FOUNDATIONFL.COM
Complainant Type: * Insured
Insured
Last/Business Name*   FOUNDATION CHURCH   First Name  
Policy # * 2022-809288-01 Claim #* SDA22038150
Attorney
Attorney is Applicable
Last Name* MCELWEE First Name * JARED Initial
Street Address* 350 NORTH LAKE DESTINY ROAD
City, State Zip* MAITLAND , FLORIDA 32751
Email Address * JMCELWEE@ITSABOUTJUSTICE.LAW
Violation
Insurer Type *   Authorized Insurer Unauthorized Insurer
 
Insurer Name*   VELOCITY SPECIALTY INSURANCE COMPANY
NAIC Company Code 39640
 
Name of individual responsible for violation (if any):* N/A
Type of Insurance * Commercial Property & Casualty   
Reason for Notice *
Claim Denial
Claim Delay
Unsatisfactory Settlement Offer
Unfair Trade Practice
* Statutory provision(s) which the insurer allegedly violated.
 
624.155(1)(b)(1) Not attempting in good faith to settle claims when, under all the circumstances, it could and should have done so, had it acted fairly and honestly toward its insured and with due regard for her or his interests.
624.155(1)(b)(3) Except as to liability coverages, failing to promptly settle claims, when the obligation to settle a claim has become reasonably clear, under one portion of the insurance policy coverage in order to influence settlements under other portions of the insurance policy coverage.
626.9541(1)(i)(2) A material misrepresentation made to an insured or any other person having an interest in the proceeds payable under such contract or policy, for the purpose and with the intent of effecting settlement of such claims, loss, or damage under such contract or policy on less favorable terms than those provided in, and contemplated by, such contract or policy.
626.9541(1)(i)(3)(a) Failing to adopt and implement standards for the proper investigation of claims.
626.9541(1)(i)(3)(b) Misrepresenting pertinent facts or insurance policy provisions relating to coverages at issue.
626.9541(1)(i)(4) Failing to pay undisputed amounts of partial or full benefits owed under first-party property insurance policies within 60 days after an insurer receives notice of a residential property insurance claim, determines the amounts of partial or full benefits, and agrees to coverage, unless payment of the undisputed benefits is prevented by factors beyond the control of the insurer as defined in s. 627.70131(5).
* Specific policy language that is relevant to the violation.
Enter all words or phrases (one at a time) that should be used to filter.

The following policy provisions are relevant to this civil remedy notice: A. Coverages - 1. Coverage A A. Coverages - 3. Coverage D B. Covered Causes of Loss C. Additional Coverages - 3. Debris Removal; 8. Fungus, Mold(s), Mildew, Spores, or Yeast; 18. Ordinance or Law H. Property Loss Conditions - 3. Arbitration Clause and Choice of Law; 11. Settlement of Claims; 15. Loss Settlement Conditions Additional Coverages & Sublimit Options Endorsement
 
* Facts and circumstances giving rise to the violation.
Enter all words or phrases (one at a time) that should be used to filter.

Foundation Church is a house of worship located in North Port, Florida. On or about September, 28, 2022, Foundation Church, suffered damage to their property located at 13000 Tamiami Trail North Port, FL 34287 as a result of a Hurricane Ian. Hurricane Ian came ashore as catastrophic Category 4 Hurricane with winds estimated to be 149 MPH by NOAA. Winds at Foundation Church during the passage of Hurricane Ian were estimated to be 125 MPH. Prior to the loss, Independent Specialty Insurance Company, now known as Velocity Specialty Insurance Company, had issued a property insurance policy to Foundation Church along with several other insurers under Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's and Other Insurers Subscribing to Binding Authority B604510568622021 (collectively referred to hereafter as the “Insurers”). Said policy, which was in full force and effect at the time of the loss, afforded coverage for damage caused by Hurricane Ian. Independent Specialty Insurance Company was timely notified of the loss by the Foundation Church and assigned claim number SDA22038150 to the loss. During the course of Insurers’ investigation, the Foundation Church made their property available for inspection, provided facts and information surrounding the loss, and complied with the Insurers’ adjustment of the claim. Despite fully cooperating with Insurers’ investigation and the Insurer’s acknowledging Foundation Church’s property suffered significant damage due to the storm, they inexplicably failed to issue the full amount of benefits needed to fix damaged property caused by the storm. Instead, the Insurers intentionally undervalued the scope and cost of necessary repairs even though there was clear evidence additional benefits that were owed. The Insurers came to their coverage determination by ignoring relevant facts and information provided by Foundation Church’s public adjuster that proved additional moneys were needed to fix damage caused by the storm. Most concerning, Insurers and their representatives purposely downplayed the extent of the damage and misrepresented the total cost of repairs to avoid tendering the full amount of benefits it knew was owed pursuant to the terms of the policy. The Insurers intentionally omitted key facts from its coverage decision and misrepresented that some of the damages claimed were pre-existing or were otherwise excluded from coverage without any supporting evidence. As a result of Insurers’ flawed investigation, Foundation Church did not receive all of the insurance benefits owed to fix damaged property. The Insurers failures do not end there. Unbeknownst to Foundation Church at the time, the Insurers had amended the terms of Foundation Church’s policy to require them to partake in mandatory arbitration. This resulted in Foundation Church being stripped of their legal rights under Florida law and being forced to participate in a drawn-out arbitration process that has only further delayed resolution of their claim. The Insurers’ actions are part of a broader concerted effort to delay resolution of Foundation’s claim and other Hurricane Ian claims throughout Florida. The delays have left Foundation Church without the funds needed to bring their property to its pre-loss condition. The delay has also caused Foundation Church to pay significant increases to the Insurers while the await the remaining benefits owed to them. Foundation Church has no choice but to continue to pay the increased premiums charged by the Insurers because they are unable to find new insurance with unrepaired damage to their property and an open and still pending claim. There is no doubt that the Insurers know their actions have left Foundation Church left between the proverbial rock and a hard place and are intended to leverage a difficult set of circumstances against a church in hopes of obtaining the best possible financial outcome for themselves. Independent Specialty Insurance Company, or how it is now known as, Velocity Specialty Insurance Company and Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's and Other Insurers Subscribing to Binding Authority B604510568622021 have not acted honestly or fairly towards its Foundation Church. The Insurers and their representatives have failed to conduct a proper investigation of the loss, misrepresented the scope of damages and repairs, and misapplied policy provisions to wrongfully reduce payment for Foundation Church’s claim. It has become a general business practice of the Insurers to not implement proper claims handling procedures, to hire consultants that routinely ignore or intentionally misidentify relevant evidence, and to not settle claims in good faith when under all circumstances it should have. As is the case here, it is a pattern and practice for Insurers to arbitrarily deny portions of claims without conducting reasonable investigations based upon information and evidence available to it. The Insurers then utilize arbitration to further delay resolution of the claim all the while increasing the premiums charged to its insureds like Foundation Church. The Insurers’ actions are part of a broader scheme to delay claims and avoid issuing payment it knows is still owed to Foundation Church and its other claimants. The Insurers’ actions are widespread sufficient to constitute a general business practice. In order to cure this civil remedy notice, Independent Specialty Insurance Company n/k/a Velocity Specialty Insurance Company must acknowledge that the Foundation Church’s property was damaged by a Hurricane event and that additional benefits are owed. Insurers must also tender the full remaining contractual amount owed based on Foundations’ estimate of $4,242,292.00, less any prior payments and applicable deductibles, subject to the terms of the policy. Payment should be issued to the “Cohen Law Group Trust Account f/b/o Foundation Church.” The written explanation of benefits and payment should be sent to the Foundation Church’s counsel’s office at 350 N. Lake Destiny Road, Suite 300, Maitland, FL 32751. This notice is given in order to perfect the right to pursue the civil remedy authorized by Section 624.155, Florida Statutes.
Comments
User Id Date Added Comment
jmcelwee@itsaboutjustice.law 09-03-2025 Withdrawn on behalf of Foundation Church
irivero@wshblaw.com 10-25-2024 Foundation Church c/o Jared McElwee Cohen Law Group 350 North Lake Destiny Road Maitland, Florida 32751 jmcelwee@itsaboutjustice.law Re: CRN No. 781007 Policy No.: 2022-809288-01 Insurer: Velocity Specialty Insurance Company Date of Loss: September 28, 2022 Claim No.: SDA22038150 Location: 13000 Tamiami Trail, North Port, Florida 34287 CRN #: 781007 To Whom It May Concern, We write on behalf of the Insurer, Velocity Specialty Insurance Company (the "Insurer") in response to the Civil Remedy Notice of Insurer Violations bearing DFS File No. 781007 (the "Notice"), submitted to the Florida Department of Financial Services (the "Department") by Foundation Church (the "Insured") in connection with the property located at 13000 Tamiami Trail, North Port, Florida 34287 (the "Property"). Insurer insured the Property under Policy No. 2022-809288-01, with effective dates from January 31, 2022 to January 31, 2023 (the "Policy"). As an initial matter, the Insurer contends that the Policy includes a mandatory arbitration provision applying New York law for this current dispute. As such, the Notice and all Florida law cited therein are entirely inapplicable in this matter. That said, in an abundance of caution, the Insurers respond as follows: For the reasons outlined below, Insurer submits that the Insured's Notice is legally deficient because, on its face, it fails to comply with many of the requirements of Florida Statutes and Foundation Church October 25, 2024 Page 2 Florida law. However, if the Notice is not found to be deficient, Insurer unequivocally denies that it has acted in bad faith. To the contrary, Insurer respectfully submits that it has acted in good faith during the adjustment and continued investigation of the Insured's claim, in accordance with the applicable Policy provisions and Florida law. Insurer believes that if anyone has delayed the adjustment or handling of the claim, it is the Insured and their counsel via the unnecessary motion practice when the Policy is unambiguous regarding arbitration and the delays to progress the claim via arbitration have been due to the actions of the Insured and their counsel and not by Insurer. THE NOTICE IS LEGALLY DEFICIENT The Notice is legally deficient because it fails to comply with many of the requirements of Section 624.155, Florida Statutes (2022). Since Section 624.155 creates a remedy, it must be strictly construed. See Rousso v. Liberty Surplus Ins. Corp., 2010 WL 7367059 (S.D. Fla. 2010) citing Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co. v. Buck, 594 So.2d 280, 281 (Fla. 1992) and Talat Enterprises, Inc., v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co., 753 So.2d 1283–84 (Fla. 2000). First, the Notice in this instance fails to state with specificity the facts and circumstances giving rise to the alleged violations, as required by Section 624.155, Florida Statutes (2022). Moreover, the Notice misrepresents the actual facts of this claim and omits relevant facts that demonstrate how Insurer properly and efficiently adjusted this claim. Section 624.155 mandates that a notice "shall state with specificity . . . the facts and circumstances giving rise to the violation" (emphasis supplied). Additionally, a "civil remedy notice must be specific enough to provide the insurer notice of the wrongdoing so that insurer can cure the same within sixty days." See 624.155, Florida Statutes (2022). Here, the Notice fails to state with specificity the facts and circumstances giving rise to the alleged violation. The Insured alleged six (6) separate statutory violations; however, the Insured failed to connect the alleged statutory violations to any facts that support the claim that Insurer violated these statutes. Instead, the Insured generally states violations of these statutes occurred, but provide no specific facts to substantiate these conclusory claims. Namely, the Notice alleges among other things that Insurer is "violating Section 624.155(1)(b)(1), Florida Statutes by not attempting in good faith to settle claims when, under all the circumstances, it could and should have done so, had it acted fairly and honestly toward its insured and with due regard for the insured's interest". However, the Insured fails to provide specific instances or information regarding how Insurer has failed with the same. Also, the Insured failed to establish in the Notice how Insurer failed to adjust the claim properly. Therefore, the Notice is legally deficient because it fails to state with specificity how Insurer violated the alleged statutory provisions. Foundation Church October 25, 2024 Page 3 Second, civil remedy notices are required to cite to specific policy provisions and specific policy language. In this case, the Notice does not do so, and instead only generally cites to various policy sections. In the Notice, the Insured lists policy provisions by merely providing titles of sections. "The civil remedy notice must reflect a good-faith effort to inform the insurer of how it has fallen short of its obligations under the policy and what it can do to fix its shortcomings. Rousso, 2010 WL 7367059 (S.D. Fla. 2010). The civil remedy notice is not the place for posturing or advocacy, and an effort to overstate a claim in a civil remedy notice may end up undermining it." Id. Instead of providing Insurer with facts and instances of the Insured's concerns about the claim, the Notice is essentially a "shotgun-blast effort" to assert Insurer is not complying with the provisions of the Policy and Florida law, though no specific evidence of this has been alleged by the Insured. See, Rousso, 2010 WL 7367059 at 5. This type of approach is disfavored by Florida courts because it is contrary to the purpose of Section 624.155. As a result, Insurer cannot respond to the alleged violations since the policy provisions listed simply list areas of the Policy without citing to the “specific policy language that is relevant to the violation” as the Notice requires. Accordingly, the Insured's Notice is deficient because they do not state specific provisions or language that is relevant to the alleged violations in a manner to provide Insurer notice of the alleged wrongdoings, as required by Section 624.155. For these reasons, Insurer respectfully requests that the Notice be deemed deficient and insufficient. Third, the Notice is legally deficient because it fails to provide Insurer with a reasonable opportunity to “cure” the alleged defects. Section 624.155 mandates that “[n]o action shall lie if, within 60 days after the filing the notice, the damages are paid or the circumstances giving rise to the violation are corrected.” The Florida Legislature enacted the sixty-day cure window to provide a “last opportunity for Safety Specialty to comply with their claim-handling obligations.” 316, Inc v. Maryland Cas. Co., 625 F. Supp. 2d 1187, 1192 (N.D. Fla. 2008) (quoting Talat Enters., Inc. v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co., 753 So. 2d. 1278 (Fla. 2000)). “[T]he purpose of the civil remedy notice is to give the insurer one last chance to settle the claim with its insured and avoid unnecessary bad faith litigation.” 316, Inc., 625 F. Supp. 2d at 1192. Here, the Notice fails to give Insurer a reasonable opportunity to “cure” the alleged violations. The Notice demands Insurer : 1.) acknowledge that the property was damaged by the hurricane and that additional benefits are owed; 2.) tender the full remaining contractual amount owed based on Foundations' estimate of $4,242,292.00, less any prior payments and applicable deductibles, subject to the terms of the policy. However, Insurers’ continue to diligently investigate this claim to determine if coverage is afforded for these damages or not, and if so, to what extent. For these reasons, the notice is legally deficient because it fails to provide a reasonable opportunity to cure. Foundation Church October 25, 2024 Page 4 In closing, Insurer contends that the Civil Remedy Notice should be deemed deficient due to its failure to comply with Florida Statute §624.155 and Florida case law, and regardless of the deficiencies, Insurer denies all allegations contained in the Civil Remedy Notice and submit there are no violations. Insurer's investigation of this claim found covered damages to the Property that have been accounted for with proper payments being made to the Insured. INSURER ACTED IN GOOD FAITH In the event that the Notice is not considered legally deficient for the reasons stated above, Insurer denies it has acted in bad faith. To the contrary, Insurer has acted in good faith and with due consideration of their Insured's interests. Insurer adjusted the Insured's claim as expeditiously as possible, and in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Policy and Florida law. Moreover, the facts of this claim establish that the Insurer acted in good faith while investigating and adjusting this claim. The Notice is merely a contention that Insurer acted in "bad faith" because they did not pay what the Insured believed they were owed. This is not "bad faith," and is out of step with the governing law and purpose of Civil Remedy Notice practice. See 316, Inc., 625 F. Supp. 2d at 1194. The Insured filed this claim as damage to the property as a result Hurricane Ian that allegedly occurred on September 28, 2022. Insurer assigned Sedgwick Delegated Authority ("the TPA") who adjusted the claim under claim number SDA22038150. The TPA assigned the field adjuster ("FA") who inspected the property with the Insurer's Engineer and Building Contractor present. Insurer adjusted the claim diligently, promptly, and properly. Specifically, Insurer has not violated statutes 624.155(1)(b)(1), 624.155(1)(b)(3), 626.9541(1)(i)(2), 626.9541(1)(i)(3)(a), 626.9541(1)(i)(3)(b), nor 626.9541(1)(i)(4) as alleged in the Notice because Insurer promptly sent an adjuster to the Property in order to investigate the claim and to determine whether the Property sustained any covered damages associated with the claim. Additionally, Insurer promptly communicated with the Insured and their representatives throughout the entire investigation of the subject claim. Insurer specifically denies that it acted in bad faith simply because they have not paid the Insured what the Insured believes it is owed in this claim. To the contrary, Insurer respectfully submits that it adjusted this claim in accordance with the applicable Policy provisions and the laws of Florida; and have acted in good faith throughout the investigation of this claim. Insurer argues that had the Insured's counsel not filed the frivolous motion challenging the unambiguous arbitration provision of the policy, the parties would have already progressed into arbitration with discovery and depositions likely to have already taken place. Instead, the Insurer had to remove the case to federal court and on November 29, 2023, the Insurer had to file a motion to compel arbitration and stay proceedings while the motion was pending. This motion was not granted by the Court until January Foundation Church October 25, 2024 Page 5 4, 2024 with no progression made on the claim in the interim as Counsel for the Insured did not believe that Insurer's motion would be granted. It was not until April of 2024 that counsel for the Insured reached out to discuss arbitration in this matter as the court ordered. For these reasons, Insurer respectfully emphasizes that it has done nothing other than act in good faith. Insurer vehemently denies that it has acted in bad faith and denies that it has violated any Florida Statutes or Administrative Codes (which again are inapplicable in this dispute), or any provisions of the subject policy of insurance. Very truly yours, WOOD, SMITH, HENNING & BERMAN LLP By: ___Drew Newman DREW M NEWMAN RICHARD M. SINGER
Acknowledgement
* The submitter hereby states that this notice is given in order to perfect the rights of the person(s) damaged to pursue civil remedies authorized by Section 624.155, Florida Statutes.

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DFS-10-363
Rev. 10/14/2008