Short answer: According to Fla. Stat. 624.155, a Civil Remedy Notice is the statutory prerequisite to a first-party bad-faith lawsuit in Florida: it is filed with the Department of Financial Services and gives the carrier 60 days to cure by paying the amount owed or correcting the violation. It is not a lawsuit and not a guarantee of recovery. Ocean Point drafts, files, and tracks the CRN, then coordinates with counsel if the matter proceeds.
What a CRN is and isn't
A Civil Remedy Notice is a statutory prerequisite to a first-party bad-faith lawsuit under Fla. Stat. 624.155. It is:
- A formal notice filed with the FL Department of Financial Services
- Served on the carrier (DFS forwards automatically)
- A 60-day clock for the carrier to cure the cited violations
- Preservable: if the carrier doesn't cure, the notice supports later bad-faith litigation
A CRN is not:
- A lawsuit
- A guarantee of recovery
- A tool for routine scope disputes (use appraisal or mediation for those)
- Appropriate when the carrier is actively and reasonably handling the claim
When CRN is the right tool
- The carrier has missed Fla. Stat. 627.70131 response deadlines (7-day ack, 30-day inspection, 60-day pay/deny)
- The carrier has denied a clearly covered claim on pretextual grounds
- The carrier has materially underpaid and refused to engage on documented scope gaps
- The carrier has engaged in specific unfair claim-handling practices enumerated in Fla. Stat. 626.9541
The 60-day cure window
Once filed, the carrier has 60 days to:
- Pay the full amount owed under the policy, or
- Correct the circumstances giving rise to the violation
If they do either within 60 days, the cure is complete and bad-faith damages aren't available. If they don't, the notice becomes a prerequisite-satisfied basis for a first-party bad-faith action.
In practice, CRN filing frequently produces settlement within the 60-day window on claims that had been stalled for months.
What a well-drafted CRN includes
- Policy identification (carrier, policy number, insured, loss date)
- Specific statutory violations cited from Fla. Stat. 626.9541
- Facts supporting each violation (dates, correspondence, actions/inactions)
- Damages alleged (amount owed, interest, fees, consequential damages)
- Cure demanded (specific actions the carrier must take)
How Ocean Point prepares a CRN
- Review the claim file, carrier correspondence, and policy.
- Identify the specific statutory violations supported by the record.
- Draft the CRN with fact-by-fact support for each violation.
- File with DFS and serve the carrier.
- Track the 60-day clock and document the cure (or failure to cure).
- Coordinate with the policyholder's attorney if the matter proceeds.
Cost structure
Ocean Point prepares and files CRNs on the same contingency basis as our public adjusting service: no up-front fees, no recovery no fee, fee caps per Fla. Stat. 626.854.
When to engage counsel
A CRN is an administrative filing: Ocean Point, as a licensed public adjuster, may prepare and file it. But if the matter proceeds to bad-faith litigation after the 60-day window, a Florida attorney must be retained. We maintain relationships with Florida first-party-insurance litigators and coordinate handoffs when appropriate.
A documented result
- $0 the carrier closed the claim as below-deductible
- $270,000 what Ocean Point recovered after challenging the finding