In a major victory for the insurance industry, Sharon Degnan, of our Orlando office, obtained a complete reversal in the Second District Court of Appeal in a malicious prosecution case brought against an insurance company and its SIU investigator following a report of possible insurance fraud to the Department of Financial Services (“DIFS”). The appellate court reversed a jury verdict in the plaintiff’s favor and ordered that a final judgment be entered in favor of the insurer and its SIU employee on grounds that they were statutorily immune from the malicious prosecution lawsuit under F.S. 626.989(4).

In the appellate decision, the Second DCA discusses the statutory scheme that requires insurers to establish and maintain an SIU and to report possible fraudulent insurance acts, which provides immunity to them for doing so absent fraud or bad faith. The decision reinforces the immunity provided to insurance companies for investigating and reporting fraud and concludes that the plaintiff’s evidence entirely failed to show fraud or bad faith in connection with the SIU investigation and report for DIFS.