Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Company v. Naze

By: Schyeler S. Gilman

No. 4D2024-0098 (4th DCA 6/4/2025)

(District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District)

On June 4, 2025, the Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed a $47,006.80 jury verdict in favor of the insured, finding the trial court abused its discretion by allowing evidence of claims‑handling in a case pled solely as breach of contract, reinforcing that such evidence is inadmissible absent a bad‑faith claim.

West Naze reported water damage from a dishwasher leak in December 2020 under his homeowner’s insurance policy. Universal requested multiple documents in which Naze responded partially at first and submitted more a few days later. Universal did not follow up until February 2021. Coverage was ultimately denied.

Naze sued Universal for breach of contract only. Universal filed a motion in limine to exclude any claims-handling or bad-faith evidence which was not ruled on prior to trial. At trial, Naze’s counsel repeatedly described Universal’s claim handling conduct in a poor light using terms like “dropped the ball” and “crickets,” and saying the carrier was “flailing around.” The jury awarded over $47,000 to Naze and Universal appealed.

The primary issue was whether the trial court erred in admitting testimony and argument about Universal’s claim-handling practices when the only claim pled was for breach of contract.

The Fourth DCA compared the instant case with Citizens Prop. Ins. Corp. v. Mendoza, 250 So. 3d 716 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018), and reaffirmed that evidence of poor claims handling, and/or adjuster comments and conduct is inadmissible in a breach‑only litigation unless bad faith is properly pled. As such, the Fourth DCA reversed and remanded for a new trial.