How To File A Civil Remedy Notice In Florida — Step-By-Step, With Cure-Window Timeline

1.0 How To File A Civil Remedy Notice In Florida: What To Expect

 

You've decided your insurer isn't handling your claim fairly. Before you can sue for bad faith in Florida, the law requires one specific document, filed one specific way, through one specific website. Get any part of it wrong, and a judge can throw out your case before it starts — no matter how badly your insurer behaved.

 

This guide covers exactly how to file a Civil Remedy Notice in Florida: what to click, what to type, and what to double-check on the Department of Financial Services (DFS) Civil Remedy Notice (CRN) portal, plus the statutory math behind the 60-day cure window that starts running the moment you file.

 

2.0 Table Of Contents

📑Table of Contents

1. What Florida Statute §624.155 Requires
2. Before You File: What You'll Need
3. Step-by-Step: Filing on the DFS Portal
4. The Specific-Violation Requirement: Stating It "With Specificity"
5. What a Defective CRN Looks Like
6. 60-Day Cure Math: When the Clock Starts and Stops
7. What Happens After: Cure vs. No Cure
8. Sample Language for the Facts and Circumstances Field
9. Frequently Asked Questions

 

3.0 What Florida Statute §624.155 Requires

 

Under Florida Statute §624.155, an insurer commits bad faith when it fails to settle a claim fairly and honestly, in circumstances where it could and should have. But you can't walk into court and say that. The statute treats the CRN as a condition precedent — a mandatory step you take *before* a bad faith lawsuit, not alongside one.

 

The Florida DFS explains that the notice must be filed at least 60 days before you bring an action against the insurer, giving the company a chance to fix the problem first. Skip this step, file it late, or file it with missing information, and the insurer gets an easy motion to dismiss.

 

• Why This Matters to You: The CRN isn't paperwork you file after deciding to sue. It's the thing that has to happen first, and the clock on your eventual lawsuit doesn't start until you get it right.

 

4.0 Before You File: What You'll Need

 

Gathering everything below before you open the portal matters more than it sounds — the filing form can't be saved as a draft and resumed indefinitely, so arriving prepared saves you from a rushed, error-filled first attempt.

 

What You'll Need	Why It Matters	Where to Find It
Your exact policy number	Courts have treated the policy number as a required field because the DFS form asks for it.	Declarations page of your policy.
The specific statute(s) allegedly violated, with exact language	A citation to "624.155" alone isn't enough — you need the actual statutory text.	The statute itself, cited word-for-word.
Names of adjusters or representatives involved	Listing "Unknown" when an adjuster signed your correspondence weakens the notice.	Emails, letters, and claim portal correspondence.
Specific policy sections at issue	"The entire policy" is treated as a fatal defect, not a strong claim.	Your policy's table of contents.
A factual timeline (who, what, when)	Vague allegations don't meet the "state with specificity" standard.	Your own claim file and correspondence log.

 

Draft your narrative — the facts, the statute language, and your policy citations — in a separate document first. You'll paste it into the portal rather than composing it live, which matters once you see how the filing screen behaves in the next section.

 

5.0 Step-By-Step: Filing On The DFS Portal

 

The DFS Civil Remedy system is the only place this notice can be filed. Florida's administrative rules require the CRN to be submitted electronically on Form DFS-10-363 — a paper copy mailed to the department doesn't count as a valid filing.

 

5.10 Creating Your Account

 

You'll need a User ID to file, respond to, or comment on a notice (searching existing filings doesn't require an account). Go to the login screen, click Create User Account, and enter your email, first name, and last name. Your email becomes your username, and your temporary password arrives by email.

 

When you set your own password, DFS requires it to be at least six characters, case-sensitive, and to include two of three character types — uppercase, lowercase, number — plus a non-alphanumeric symbol like % or *. "CRN999%" is the kind of password that clears the bar; "civilremedy" on its own won't.

 

5.20 Completing The Filing

 

Once logged in, click Create Filing, read the affirmation at the top, and check the box confirming the notice is filed under Section 624.155. Every field marked with a red asterisk is required — treat that asterisk as a floor, not a ceiling, since courts have read "required" more broadly than the form's red marks alone suggest.

 

In the Reason for Notice section, you can select more than one violation type and cite more than one statutory provision, using the Add link next to each. Resist the urge to add every provision that might loosely apply. As explained in the next section, over-citing has its own consequences.

 

Paste your prepared Facts and Circumstances narrative rather than typing it live in the browser — that's the whole reason you drafted it offline in Step 2. Long-form web forms can lose unsaved work to a session timeout or an accidental navigation click, and there's no upside to testing that risk with your only chance to file this notice correctly the first time.

 

5.30 Submitting And Confirming

Click Continue to review. Any incomplete field shows in red at the top — fix those before moving on, since the review screen won't let you submit around them. Click Submit to file, or Edit Filing to make changes. Your filing number appears immediately, and you can save a PDF copy by clicking Print Filing.

 

The notice is transmitted electronically to your insurer's designated contact the moment you submit. There's no "final review before it goes out" step after this point, which is exactly why the preparation in the previous sections matters as much as it does.

 

• Practical Takeaway for Policyholders: Anything you want to count as part of the official Civil Remedy record has to go through the portal's own filing or comment fields. Documents you mail or fax to DFS separately are not added to the record and can't later support your notice in court.

 

6.0 The Specific-Violation Requirement

 

Florida courts read the phrase "state with specificity" literally, and a growing body of case law shows what that means in practice.

 

In Mathurin v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., a federal court in Florida treated the policy number as a mandatory element of a valid CRN. The court's reasoning was straightforward: since the state's own form asks for a field, that field belongs to what the statute demands, not to what's merely convenient to include. That's a useful test to apply to your own draft: if the form asks for it, treat it as mandatory, not optional.

 

Demase v. State Farm Florida Insurance Co. reinforced the same standard from the other direction. The appellate court affirmed dismissal of a bad faith claim because the underlying CRN "lacked the requisite level of specificity" — vague references weren't enough to put the insurer on notice of exactly what it needed to fix.

 

Two practical habits follow from these rulings: name the individual adjuster or representative instead of writing "Unknown" if that person appears anywhere in your correspondence, and cite the exact section of your policy — "Section I, Conditions, Loss Settlement," not "my homeowner's policy" as a whole.

 

7.0  What A Defective CRN Looks Like

 

A notice doesn't have to be fraudulent or dishonest to fail — most defective CRNs fail on specificity, not intent. Courts have consistently rejected notices that swing too far in either direction: too vague, or so broad they defeat the purpose of narrowing the issue.

 

Common Defect	Why Courts Reject It	How To Fix It
Citing "the entire policy"	Gives the insurer no way to know which specific policy provision it must cure.	Cite the exact policy section and page number.
Listing 20+ statutory provisions	Reads as a failure to identify a genuine, curable statutory violation.	Cite only the statutory provisions that are genuinely at issue.
Writing "Unknown" for adjuster names	Looks evasive if the adjuster is identified in your own claim records.	Name the specific adjuster or representative involved.
Missing the complainant's email	Email is a required field on Form DFS-10-363.	Verify every required field is completed before submitting.
Naming the wrong entity	Parent companies and underwriting carriers are legally distinct entities.	Confirm the exact insurer name shown on your declarations page.

 

Julien v. United Property & Casualty Insurance Co. illustrates the over-citation problem directly: the notice cited nearly all of the applicable statutory provisions, and the court found that approach failed to give the insurer ameaningful opportunity to cure anything specific. Listing more statutes doesn't make a stronger notice — it makes a vaguer one.

 

One point worth correcting here, since it circulates in some CRN guidance: Florida courts have not required a specific dollar "cure amount" as part of a valid notice. In Hunt v. State Farm Florida Insurance Co., the Second District Court of Appeal held that the statute does not require a specificcure amount — the notice only has to state the facts and circumstances with specificity. Many attorneys still include a clear dollar figure as a strategic choice, since it gives the insurer a concrete target, but it isn't a statutory requirement.

 

8.0 60-Day Cure Math

 

The 60-day window is the practical heart of the CRN process — it determines when you're actually free to file suit.

Day	What Happens
Day 1	You submit the Civil Remedy Notice (CRN) through the Florida DFS portal, and it is transmitted to the insurer immediately.
Days 2–59	The insurer's 60-day cure period is underway. During this time, it may pay the underlying damages or otherwise correct the alleged violation.
Day 60	Final day for the insurer to cure the alleged statutory violation.
Day 61+	If the violation has not been cured, the statutory condition precedent is generally satisfied, and a bad faith action may proceed, subject to applicable law.

 

If your insurer pays the contractual damages within the 60 days, the bad faith action is barred — a timely cure closes the door on the extra-contractual claim, even if you're unhappy it took a CRN to get the payment. The statute of limitations for your bad faith claim is also tolled for 60 days once the notice is filed, so the cure period doesn't eat into your separate filing deadlines.

 

**Residential property claims carry one extra rule.** A CRN can't be filed within 60 days of any party invoking appraisal. This exists so the appraisal process — a separate way of resolving a dollar dispute over the loss — isn't rushed or overridden by a simultaneous bad faith clock. If appraisal is already underway on your claim, confirm the invocation date before you file.

 

9.0 What Happens After: Cure vs. No Cure

 

• If the insurer cures: Payment of the contractual damages within 60 days bars the bad faith action. You keep your underlying claim payment, but the door to extra-contractual damages — the amounts that can exceed your policy limits — closes for this particular violation.

 

• If the insurer doesn't cure — and you have a property claim: Filing a valid CRN and waiting out the 60 days is necessary, but for property insurance claims, it isn't sufficient on its own anymore. Under Florida Statute §624.1551, enacted as part of the 2022–2023 tort reform package, a property policyholder also needs an "adverse adjudication" — a court ruling that the insurer breached the contract — and a final judgment, before a bad faith action can proceed.

 

• That means for property claims, accepting an appraisal award or a settlement offer doesn't get you there. Section 624.1551 statesdirectly that "the payment of an appraisal award does not constitute an adverse action" for purposes of clearing this threshold. In practice, many property policyholders now need to win a breach-of-contract judgment first, and only then pursue the separate bad faith claim the CRN made possible.

 

• Why This Matters to You: A properly filed CRN protects your right to eventually pursue a bad faith claim — it doesn't, by itself, guarantee you can file that claim immediately after the 60 days run. Confirm which track applies to your claim type before assuming the door is open.

 

10.0 Sample Language For The Facts And Circumstances Field

 

Example (illustrative only — replace every detail with your own facts, dates, and policy language before using anything like this in a real filing):

 

 On [date], I reported water damage to my property under Policy No. [XXXXXXX]. On [date], adjuster [Name] inspected the property and estimated the loss at $[amount], omitting damage to [specific area] documented in the attached photographs dated [date]. Despite providing a supplemental estimate on [date], no revised payment has been issued as of [date], a period of [X] days. This conduct violates Section [X], Loss Settlement, which requires [quote the exact policy language], and Florida Statute §624.155(1)(b)1, which prohibits failing to attempt in good faith to settle claims when the insurer could and should have done so.

 

Notice what this example does: it names a person, cites a dated timeline, quotes specific policy language instead of referencing "the policy" generally, and ties the facts to the statute — the same elements the case law above treats as the difference between a valid and a defective notice.

10.10 Before You File

 

Knowing how to file a Civil Remedy Notice in Florida comes down to preparation: review your prepared statute citations, adjuster names, and policy sections one more time against the table in [Before You File](#before-you-file-what-youll-need). 

Confirm your policy number matches your declarations page exactly, and confirm you're naming the specific underwriting carrier, not a parent company. A properly filed CRN doesn't guarantee your eventual bad faith claim succeeds, but a defective one can close that door before you get the chance to find out. 

For advice tailored to your specific claim and timeline, a Florida attorney familiar with first-party bad faith practice can review your draft before you submit it.

• Editorial Disclaimer: This article is provided for educational and informational purposes only. It is not legal, financial, insurance, or tax advice. Insurance laws, policy terms, and claim outcomes vary based on individual circumstances and jurisdiction. Readers should review their own insurance policies and consult qualified professionals for advice specific to their situation.

 

11.0 Frequently Asked Questions

1. How Do I Search Existing Florida CRN Filings?

Use the Search Filings menu on the DFS Civil Remedy site. You can search by DFS file number or by date range without needing an account — anyone can view CRN records, since they're public.

2. How Long Does The Florida CRN Process Take?

Filing itself takes as long as it takes you to complete the form. After that, the insurer has a full 60 days to cure before you can move forward with a bad faith action, so plan on at least two months between filing and your next step.

3. Can I File A CRN Myself Without An Attorney?

Yes — nothing in the statute requires an attorney to file. The specificity standards discussed above apply equally either way, so a self-filed notice needs the same precision as an attorney-drafted one to hold up if challenged.

4. What Happens If My Insurer Doesn't Respond To The CRN?

The insurer isn't required to respond to you directly, but it is required to report the disposition of the alleged violation to DFS. If the 60 days pass without a cure, that silence itself satisfies the condition precedent for moving forward.

5. How Much Does It Cost To File A Florida CRN?

There's no DFS filing fee to submit a Civil Remedy Notice. Costs come later, if you hire an attorney or pursue litigation — the CRN itself is a free filing.