Florida Insurance Agent Standard of Care
A Florida insurance agent has the following standard of care: An insurance agent
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owes a duty 1) to use
reasonable skill and care to procure insurance that the insured specifically requests or to timely notify the insured
if such coverage is unavailable, 2) when providing insurance-related advice, to do so in a non-negligent manner,
3) to obtain insurance coverage which is clearly warranted by the insured’s expressed needs, and 4) as a
fiduciary, to inform and explain the coverage secured at the insured’s direction and to make no unilateral
changes without advising the insured. In addition, a recent decision from a federal court has articulated a duty
to advise where the agent and insured share a “special relationship.” An insurance agent may also owe a
standard of care to the insurer to act within the scope of authority granted by the insurer.
I. LANDMARK DECISIONS: THE STANDARD OF CARE TO THE INSURED
Seascape of Hickory v. Associated Insurance Services
The court in Seascape of Hickory Point Condo. Ass’n, Inc., Phase III v. Associated Ins. Serv., Inc., 443 So. 2d 488
(1984) first expanded the duty of an insurance agent beyond the “order-taker” standard.
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The insured
condominium had for years purchased all of its insurance through an agency that marketed itself as, “providing
professional insurance planning.” On several occasions, the insured asked the agency for seawall coverage and,
on each occasion, was told that seawall coverage was not available. Later, the uninsured seawall was destroyed
in a storm. After the loss, the insured learned that seawall coverage was widely available. The insured sued the
agency alleging that, but for the agency’s negligent advice, it would have had coverage. Relying on decisions
from other jurisdictions, the appellate court held that under certain circumstances an agent may have a duty to
volunteer advice. The court found that the relationship between the agency and the insured was “not
materially different from that which exists when an injured person seeks advice from a lawyer with respect to
whether or not he has a cause of action for damages”, holding that the insured sufficiently alleged a relationship
that created a duty to use reasonable care in rendering insurance advice.
Seascape fundamentally expanded the Florida agent’s standard of care by creating a duty to render accurate
advice. Seascape held that the scope of the agent’s duty would be dependent upon the relationship between the
parties. While the court did not elaborate specific criteria for the requisite relationship to exist, it emphasized
the long-standing relationship with the agent and the agent’s marketing of “professional” services.
Warehouse Foods, Inc. v. Corporate Risk Management Services, Inc.
The court in Warehouse Foods, Inc. v. Corporate Risk Management Services, Inc., 530 So. 2d 442 (Fla. 1st DCA
1988) held that an agent may be liable for a negligent failure to obtain coverage which is specifically requested
or clearly warranted by the insured’s expressed needs. The insured alleged that it had relied upon the agent’s
expertise and that the agent had advised that it was “fully covered … and did not need any other coverage.”
Nonetheless, the insured suffered uncovered damages from a power failure during a hurricane because the
policy only provided coverage in conjunction with physical damage to buildings, which did not occur. In
finding a duty, the court noted that the insured had expressed a desire to be “fully insured” and specifically
asked about acts of God, and the agent repeatedly advised that the insurance contained all the coverages they
needed, which representation the insured relied upon. Expanding on Seascape, the court held that when an
insured reasonably relies upon an agent’s claimed expertise and advice, liability may be based upon the agent’s
negligent failure to properly advise the insured. The Warehouse Foods decision created, under certain
circumstances, a duty to procure coverage “clearly warranted by the insured’s expressed needs.”
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Although there are distinctions under Florida law between an insurance agent and an insurance broker, this article will use the
term “agent” universally. This article will also use the term “insured” universally to include “client.”
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Under the “order taker” standard, an agent was only liable to an insured if the agent failed to procure insurance specifically
requested by the insured or failed to notify the insured that such insurance was unavailable. Cat ‘N Fiddle, Inc. v. Century Ins. Co.,
200 So. 2d 208, 210-211 (Fla. 3d 1967).