Per Florida Statute 627.4265, a copy of which is pasted below, an insurance company has 20 days to pay a personal injury settlement. The payment may be conditioned on the signing of a release, which is commonly what insurance companies do (meaning: a condition of most personal injury settlements is the signing of a release). It is also important to note that this statute applies to all injury settlement that are IN WRITING. The good news is that if you resolve the case IN WRITING and sign their release, then the insurance company has 20 days to pay the settlement amount AND if they do not, then they will owe you interest. The interest is no insubstantial as it is at 12 percent per year and as of the day of this blog entry that is a very high interest amount. Thus, the penalty for the insurance company not timely making payment is substantial. So generally speaking if a case is settled in writing the insurance company generally has 20 days per this statute to pay the settlement; otherwise, it will owe high interest on the settlement amount.
If you have been in a car accident, please call Drucker Law Offices at 561-483-9199 (Boca Raton Main office) or 954-755-2120 (Coral Springs satellite office) or 561-967-3840 (Lake Worth satellite office) or 305-981-1561 (Miami satellite office) for a free consultation. The law firm only charges fees and costs if it recovers money for you.
Every case is different and must be judged on its merits. It is a good start to get a complementary consultation regarding an accident case in case this happens to you. The advise contained in this blog is intended to be of general matter and not as to a specific situation, so please call a licensed Florida attorney, like the lawyer at Drucker Law Offices, to determine if and how Florida law applies to your case.
627.4265 Payment of settlement.—In any case in which a person and an insurer have agreed in writing to the settlement of a claim, the insurer shall tender payment according to the terms of the agreement no later than 20 days after such settlement is reached. The tender of payment may be conditioned upon execution by such person of a release mutually agreeable to the insurer and the claimant, but if the payment is not tendered within 20 days, or such other date as the agreement may provide, it shall bear interest at a rate of 12 percent per year from the date of the agreement; however, if the tender of payment is conditioned upon the execution of a release, the interest shall not begin to accrue until the executed release is tendered to the insurer.
History.—s. 12, ch. 83-288; s. 3, ch. 84-94; s. 114, ch. 92-318.
