December 6, 2019

You were rear-ended on your way through Tampa, you did everything right, and you filed your claim. Now the days are passing with no answer, the medical bills are arriving, and you’re starting to wonder whether the insurance company is ever going to call back. Here’s exactly how long they have to respond after a Florida car accident, and what you can do when they drag their feet. TL;DR — QUICK SUMMARY Your own PIP insurer must pay or deny your claim within 30 days of receiving written notice under Florida Statute 627.736(4)(b). Insurers are expected to acknowledge a new claim promptly, generally within about 14 days, even though the full investigation takes longer. Once you and the insurer agree on a settlement, they have 20 days to pay it under Florida Statute 627.4265, or interest starts to accrue. A claim against the at-fault driver’s insurer has no fixed response deadline, which is why those claims can stall for months. You have two years from the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit under Florida Statute 95.11(3)(a), so an insurer’s delay should never push you past that line. The Reyes Firm Is the Insurance Company Ignoring You? Get clear answers about your Tampa car accident claim. Had a bad day? Contact Us Now 30 Days For your insurer to pay or deny PIP Fla. Stat. 627.736(4)(b) 20 Days To pay an agreed settlement Fla. Stat. 627.4265 14 Days To seek treatment for PIP eligibility Fla. Stat. 627.736 2 Years To file an injury lawsuit Fla. Stat. 95.11(3)(a) How many days does an insurance company have to respond after a car accident in Florida? It depends on the type of claim, but the short answer is that your own no-fault insurer must pay or deny a Personal Injury Protection (PIP) claim within 30 days, while a claim against the other driver’s insurer has no fixed deadline at all. Florida law also expects any insurer to acknowledge a new claim promptly, generally within about 14 days, even though the full investigation takes longer than that. That gap between a quick acknowledgment and a slow resolution is where most of the frustration lives. An insurer can confirm it received your claim, then take weeks or months to actually decide what it will pay. Knowing which deadline applies to your situation tells you whether the delay you’re experiencing is normal or a warning sign. How long does your own PIP insurer have to pay or deny your claim? Your own PIP insurer has 30 days to pay or deny your claim after it receives written notice of the loss. This deadline comes from Florida Statute § 627.736(4)(b), and Florida applies a “mailbox rule,” meaning the insurer complies as long as the payment is postmarked by the 30th day. There is a catch that falls on you first. To qualify for PIP benefits at all, you must seek medical treatment within 14 days of the crash. Miss that window and your insurer can deny PIP coverage entirely, no matter how serious your injuries turn out to be. If you submit your bills in pieces, the insurer gets a fresh 30 days to pay each portion as it comes in, and if it denies part of your claim over a clerical mistake, you generally have 15 days to fix and resubmit it. 💡 Did You Know? Under Florida’s no-fault law, your PIP insurer must pay or deny your claim within 30 days of receiving written notice, and the payment only needs to be postmarked by day 30 to count. Florida also requires you to seek medical treatment within 14 days of the crash to keep your PIP benefits at all. Source: Fla. Stat. § 627.736, leg.state.fl.us. What about a claim against the other driver’s insurance company? A claim against the at-fault driver’s insurer works very differently, because there is no statutory deadline forcing a third-party liability insurer to respond by a set date. Instead, the insurer only has to investigate and decide within a “reasonable” period, which gives it far more room to take its time than your own PIP carrier has. This is the kind of claim that can stretch on for months, especially when injuries are serious, fault is disputed, or a commercial policy is involved, such as in a truck or commercial vehicle crash. The lack of a hard deadline does not mean the insurer can stall forever, and it does not stop your own clock from running. Whatever the other side does, you still have a firm deadline to protect your right to sue. ⚠️ Deadline Warning: Under Florida Statute § 95.11(3)(a), you have two years from the date of your crash to file a personal injury lawsuit. Missing this deadline almost always means losing your right to recover anything. Don’t wait to call a lawyer. Watch: What to do when an insurance company delays your car accident claim This short video explains the warning signs that an insurer is stalling and the first moves that keep your claim on track. If your claim is stuck, The Reyes Firm offers free consultations and can tell you where you stand at no cost. Why do insurance companies delay responding after a car accident? Insurers delay because slowing a claim down often costs them less. The longer a claim drags, the more likely an injured person grows anxious about mounting bills and accepts a quick, low settlement just to make the waiting stop. Common tactics include requesting the same documents more than once, questioning whether your injuries really came from the crash, disputing who was at fault, and simply going quiet for long stretches. Florida follows a comparative fault rule, so one of the most common moves is trying to pin part of the blame on you in order to shrink what the insurer owes. 🛡️ Your Rights Under Florida Law: Under Florida Statute § 768.81, your compensation is reduced by your share of fault, and you may be barred from recovery if