While accepting an insurance offer might resolve your case and give you access to the compensation you need quickly, it’s sometimes better to reject the initial offer. Insurance companies don’t always offer an amount to fully compensate you for your losses. But what happens when you reject an insurance settlement offer?
Rejecting an offer could lead to multiple next steps, including continued negotiations, mediation, or filing a lawsuit to recover the compensation you deserve. Before rejecting any offer made by an insurance company, speak to an attorney about your options.
What Is an Insurance Settlement Offer?
An insurance settlement offer is a sum of money the insurance company is willing to pay to compensate you for the losses you’re owed for your insurance claim. For example, after a car accident, the insurance settlement offer will likely include compensation for your vehicle repairs, medical bills, and other associated costs.
The insurance offer aims to resolve the claim without the injured person needing to file a lawsuit to sue the at-fault party and their insurance company. However, insurance companies often use these settlement offers to lowball victims by offering an amount lower than the actual value of their claim.
The insurance adjusters are not on your side despite what the insurance adjusters tell you. Their job is to save the insurance company money by offering and getting you to accept as little as possible.
How Long Do You Have to Accept a Settlement Offer?
There is no universal deadline in Florida for accepting an insurance settlement offer. Instead, offers usually come with an expiration date that may or may not be negotiable, depending on the nature of the claim and the insurance company.
You should accept or reject an offer in a timely manner, but only after you take the time to fully consider it and talk it over with your attorney. Once you know how you want to proceed, don’t wait to inform the insurance company, as the offer may not last long.
Something else to consider is that the deadline for filing a lawsuit for personal injury in Florida is typically two years after the accident date. If you wait too long to reject an unfavorable insurance settlement offer, it could leave you with little time to file a lawsuit seeking compensation for your injuries. If the deadline for filing a lawsuit expires before you decide how to proceed, you could be out of legal options for seeking the money you need.
How Many Offers Do Insurance Companies Make?
Insurance companies often make multiple settlement offers if you reject their initial offer during the claims process. They’re trying to balance paying you as little as possible with avoiding the costly litigation that could result if you decide to sue. Achieving this balance may result in at least a few rounds of negotiations.
The number of offers and the amount of money in each depends on various factors, including the nature of your claim, supporting evidence, persistence, and the insurance policy’s limits.
If your injuries are severe and you have plenty of supporting evidence, the insurance company may make a fair offer from the outset and not budge from that initial amount. In other cases, the insurance company may start with a low offer and gradually increase the amount as you and your attorney continue to pressure them.
However, it’s important to remember that policy limits cap settlement offers. If the at-fault party’s auto insurance policy has a $50,000 bodily injury limit, their insurer won’t offer you more than $50,000 for bodily injury after a car accident, even if you reject their initial offer. Remember that Florida doesn’t require registered vehicle owners to carry bodily injury insurance. The only requirements are $10,000 in personal injury protection (PIP) coverage and $10,000 in property damage liability (PDL) coverage.
Can An Insurance Company Rescind a Settlement Offer?
Insurance companies can rescind settlement offers anytime but usually remain open for the entire period stated in the offer document. If an insurance company rescinds an offer, it could mean that they discovered new evidence. If you have concerns about an insurance company rescinding an offer, speak to an attorney.
Steps After Rejecting an Insurance Settlement Offer
After you reject an insurance settlement offer, there are a few paths your case could take:
- Continuing Negotiations – In most cases, you or your attorney and the insurance company will continue negotiating. These further negotiations may result in a better offer from the insurance company, or they could end in the insurance company standing by its initial offer. For the best negotiation outcome, you should have an experienced attorney on your side.
- Mediation or Arbitration – If negotiations stall, mediation or arbitration may be the next step, as they’re more cost-effective than a lawsuit. In mediation, both parties meet with a neutral mediator who facilitates further negotiation and discussion to reach an agreement that isn’t binding unless it’s memorialized in a contract. In arbitration, the parties meet with a neutral arbitrator who makes a legally binding decision on the case.
- Lawsuit and Going to Trial – The third option is to file a lawsuit seeking the compensation you deserve. Lawsuits are formal legal proceedings that involve a discovery phase, potentially more negotiations, and an eventual trial in court. Litigation can be a lengthy and expensive process. Still, it may be necessary if the insurance company refuses to offer a fair settlement or the insurance policy limits are insufficient to cover your losses.
Contact a Tampa, Florida, Personal Injury Attorney
If you filed an insurance claim in Tampa, Florida, and you’re thinking about rejecting the insurance company’s settlement offer, you need the assistance of an experienced personal injury attorney. A Florida personal injury attorney can help you determine if the settlement offer is fair for your injuries and can represent you in further settlement negotiations with the insurance company.
Call Jurewitz Law Group Injury & Accident Lawyers at (619) 233-5020 or contact us online for a free consultation with a member of our legal team. We proudly service Tampa, Florida, and San Diego, Mission Valley, and Carlsbad, CA. During your consultation, we’ll review your case, provide an initial estimate of what it may be worth, and explain your legal options for recovering the compensation you deserve.
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