Law360, New York ( April 6, 2017, 2:37 PM EDT) -- The Florida standard jury instruction regarding insurers' bad faith states: "Bad faith on the part of an insurance company is failing to settle a claim when, under all the circumstances, it could and should have done so, had it acted fairly and honestly towards its insured and with due regard for its interests." Fla. Std. Jury Instr. (Civ.) 404.4. However, this standard is rarely so clear cut in practice. Developments in case law have made this area of insurance law increasingly complex. As an inevitable result, the door has been opened for an expanding amount of bad faith claims against insurers. In fact, an insurer's failure to effectively guard against potential claims for bad faith may expose the insurer to such claims even if its actions would not necessarily constitute bad faith, in the traditional meaning of the term. The flip side of that, is that an understanding and working knowledge of the intricacies of this area may help insurers from falling prey to unwarranted bad faith claims by taking the necessary steps to protect itself from such claims being brought in the first place or by mounting a favorable defense....