A federal district court in Florida has ruled that federal law preempted an insured's claim for attorneys' fees in the case he filed against his flood insurer seeking to recover for damage to his home caused by Hurricane Irma.
The Case
James Shawn Brown alleged that the home he owned in Marathon, Florida, suffered flood damage from Hurricane Irma in September 2017. He subsequently sued Wright National Flood Insurance Company, which had issued Mr. Brown a standard flood insurance policy (“SFIP”) as a write-your-own (“WYO”) insurance carrier participating in the U.S. government's National Flood Insurance Program (“NFIP”) pursuant to the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (“NFIA”).
Asserting breach of contract, Mr. Brown sought a money judgment against Wright for all damages stemming from the flood. He also sought attorneys' fees and costs pursuant to Florida Statutes Section 627.428.
Wright moved to dismiss Mr. Brown's claims for attorneys' fees and costs.
The District Court's Decision
The district court granted Wright's motion.
In its decision, the district court explained that federal courts had exclusive jurisdiction over lawsuits brought pursuant to policies issued under the NFIA. Moreover, the district court continued, matters pertaining to an SFIP were governed “exclusively” by federal law.
Accordingly, the district court found, an insured's claim for attorneys' fees and costs under state law failed because it was “preempted by federal law.” The district court then dismissed, with prejudice, Mr. Brown's claim for attorneys' fees and costs brought pursuant to Florida Statutes Section 627.428.
FC&S Legal Comment
Other courts hearing SFIP cases also have ruled that state law claims for attorneys' fees and costs were preempted by federal law. See e.g., Woodson v. Allstate Ins. Co., 855 F.3d 628, 631 (4th Cir. 2017) (“federal law exclusively governs claims made on policies issued under the National Flood Insurance Program” and “because the district court's award of attorneys fees to the Woodsons is premised on the same state law that we hold is preempted, the award too must be set aside”); Wright v. Allstate Ins. Co., 415 F.3d 384, 390 (5th Cir. 2005) (“holding that state law tort claims arising from claims handling by a WYO are preempted by federal law. This conclusion is consistent with our holding in West that federal rather than state law governs entitlement to attorney's fees because the NFIP is a 'child of Congress, conceived to achieve policies which are national in scope, and [because] the federal government participates extensively in the program both in a supervisory capacity and financially.'”).
Moreover, a Florida federal district court has dismissed federal claims for attorneys' fees and costs brought pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act (“EAJA”), adding that even if the plaintiff was asserting the claim under state law, it would fail as “preempted by federal law.” Chatman v. Wright National Flood Ins. Co., No. 17-cv-00125 (M.D. Fla. June 21, 2017).
Steven A. Meyerowitz
Steven A. Meyerowitz, a Harvard Law School graduate, is the founder and president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. He may be contacted at [email protected].