Car Insurance Company Won’t Pay After a Crash? | Tampa, Florida

You did everything right after your car accident. You reported the claim, you got treatment, you waited. Now the insurance company is dragging its feet, lowballing you, or flat-out refusing to pay, and you’re still in pain with bills piling up. Here’s exactly what you can do about it before you accept a penny less than your claim is worth.

TL;DR — QUICK SUMMARY

• If a Florida insurer refuses a fair payout, you generally have two real options: reject the bad offer and negotiate, or file a lawsuit. Accepting a lowball offer is almost never the right move.
• Insurance adjusters are trained and paid to keep payouts low. A delay, denial, or insulting offer is a business tactic, not the final word on your case.
• When an insurer refuses to pay what it owes, Florida law lets you file a Civil Remedy Notice under Florida Statute § 624.155, which gives the company 60 days to fix the problem before a bad faith claim can move forward.
• You have two years from the date of your crash to file a personal injury lawsuit in Florida under Florida Statute § 95.11(3)(a). Waiting too long can cost you the right to recover anything.
• Under Florida’s no-fault system, your own PIP coverage pays first up to $10,000, but serious injuries can open the door to a claim against the at-fault driver and their insurer.

Why won’t my car insurance company pay after a car accident?

An insurance company refuses to pay because paying less is how it protects its bottom line, not because your injuries aren’t real. Whether it’s your own insurer or the at-fault driver’s, the adjuster handling your file is one of dozens of people whose job is to close claims for as little money as possible.

You are one of hundreds of files on that adjuster’s desk. Some are reasonable. Others delay, deny, and dispute everything, hoping you’ll get frustrated and take whatever they offer. None of that changes what your claim is actually worth, and none of it is the final answer.

Common reasons an insurer gives for not paying include disputing who was at fault, claiming your injuries existed before the crash, arguing your treatment wasn’t necessary, or simply making an offer so low it doesn’t begin to cover your medical bills and lost wages. Each of those positions can be challenged with the right evidence.

What does it mean when a car insurance company acts in bad faith in Florida?

Bad faith means an insurance company has failed to settle a claim fairly and honestly when it had the chance to do so. Florida law requires insurers to act in good faith toward the people they cover and toward injured claimants, and when they don’t, you may have a separate legal claim against the company itself.

Under Florida Statute § 624.155, an insurer can be held liable for not attempting in good faith to settle a claim when it could and should have. Examples include ignoring clear evidence, refusing to explain a denial, or sitting on a reasonable demand without responding.

Bad faith is not the same as a low offer you simply disagree with. It involves conduct that crosses the line from hard negotiation into a refusal to do what the law and the policy require. A Tampa personal injury attorney can tell you whether what you’re experiencing rises to that level.

⚠️ 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, no matter how strong your case is. Don’t let an insurer run out the clock on you.

Watch: What to do when your insurance company won’t pay in Tampa

In this short video, Tampa personal injury attorney Edward Reyes explains your options when an insurer makes a bad offer or refuses to move on your claim.

If an adjuster has already given you a number that doesn’t feel right, The Reyes Firm offers free consultations to review the offer before you sign anything.

What is a Civil Remedy Notice and how does it pressure the insurer?

A Civil Remedy Notice is a formal filing that tells Florida’s Department of Financial Services in Tallahassee that an insurance company is acting in bad faith. It is one of the strongest tools available when an insurer should have paid and hasn’t.

Under Fla. Stat. § 624.155, once a Civil Remedy Notice is filed, the insurance company has 60 days to cure the violation, meaning it can pay what it owes and avoid a bad faith lawsuit. The notice gets the file in front of a supervisor and puts the company on official record.

If the 60 days pass and nothing changes, the next step is usually filing a lawsuit. That decision is never automatic. We walk you through exactly what litigation involves before you commit to it, including the discovery questions both sides have to answer.

💡 Did You Know? Florida is a no-fault insurance state. Under Florida Statute § 627.736, your own Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage pays up to $10,000 in medical bills and lost wages regardless of who caused the crash. But PIP rarely covers a serious injury in full, and that gap is often where insurance disputes begin.

Should I accept a low settlement offer or file a lawsuit?

You should almost never accept a low offer when your injuries are serious and the number doesn’t cover your losses. Once you sign a release, you give up the right to ask for anything more, even if your condition gets worse or new medical bills appear.

When an insurer makes a bad offer and refuses to move, there are realistically two paths. The first is to keep negotiating with the leverage of a Civil Remedy Notice and solid evidence behind you. The second is to file a lawsuit and let the litigation process force the issue.

Filing a lawsuit asks more of both sides. It takes more time and involves discovery, where you answer questions under oath and the insurance company must do the same. The upside is that it removes the insurer’s ability to simply ignore you. For many seriously injured clients, that pressure is what finally produces a fair result.

🛡️ 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 entirely if you are found more than 50% responsible for the crash. Insurers use this rule to shift blame onto you. An experienced Tampa car accident lawyer works to keep your percentage of fault as low as the evidence allows.

What are the steps to take when your car insurance company won’t pay?

These five steps protect both your health and your claim. The order matters.

1. Keep treating and keep every record. Continue the care your doctors recommend and save every bill, report, and receipt. Gaps in treatment are the first thing an adjuster uses to argue your injuries aren’t serious.
2. Get the denial or offer in writing. Ask the insurer to put its position and its reasoning in writing. A written denial is far easier to challenge than a phone call, and it creates a record of how the company handled your claim.
3. Do not give a recorded statement before talking to a lawyer. Adjusters are trained to get you to say things that reduce your payout. You are not required to give a recorded statement before speaking with an attorney.
4. Don’t sign a release or cash a settlement check yet. Signing a release or depositing a settlement check can permanently close your claim. Have any offer reviewed before you accept it.
5. Call The Reyes Firm before you respond. A Tampa car accident lawyer can file a Civil Remedy Notice, push back on an unfair denial, and prepare a lawsuit if needed. Call 833-4 BAD DAY for a free consultation.

How The Reyes Firm handles your insurance dispute

When you’re seriously hurt and the insurance company still won’t pay, life has already split into before and after. The company has adjusters and lawyers protecting its money. We make sure you have someone protecting yours.

When we take on a claim an insurer is refusing to pay fairly, we typically:

• Build the evidence the adjuster says is missing, gathering medical records, the crash report, photos, and expert opinions to document the full value of your injuries
• Take over all communication with the insurer, so you stop fielding pressure calls and recorded-statement requests designed to chip away at your claim
• File a Civil Remedy Notice when the facts support it, putting the company on official record with Florida regulators and starting the 60-day clock to pay or face a bad faith claim
• Calculate your full damages, covering past and future medical care, lost wages, diminished earning capacity, and the real impact the crash has had on your daily life
• Prepare every case as if it will go to trial, because insurers settle fairly far more often when they know we are ready to file suit and see it through

No lawyer can promise a specific outcome. What we can promise is that we treat your case as a serious fight against a company that’s counting on you to give up, not as a routine file to be closed. We explain every step in plain language and keep you in the loop.

Frequently asked questions about when a car insurance company won’t pay

Can I sue an insurance company for refusing to pay my claim in Florida?

Yes. If an insurer refuses to pay what it owes, you can pursue your claim through a lawsuit, and in some cases through a separate bad faith claim under Fla. Stat. § 624.155. The right path depends on whether the dispute is about the value of your injuries, the question of fault, or the insurer’s conduct itself.

How long do I have to take legal action after a car accident in Florida?

Under Florida Statute § 95.11(3)(a), you generally have two years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit. The longer you wait, the harder it is to preserve evidence, so it’s best to talk to a lawyer early.

What is a Civil Remedy Notice and do I need a lawyer to file one?

A Civil Remedy Notice is a formal filing with Florida’s Department of Financial Services that puts an insurer on notice of bad faith and gives it 60 days to cure. You can technically file one yourself, but the notice has to be drafted correctly to be effective, which is why most people have an attorney handle it.

Should I accept the first settlement offer from the insurance company?

Usually not. First offers are frequently low because the adjuster is testing whether you’ll accept less than your claim is worth. Once you sign a release, you can’t ask for more, so it’s worth having any offer reviewed before you respond.

What if the insurance company says the accident was partly my fault?

Under Fla. Stat. § 768.81, your recovery is reduced by your share of fault, and you recover nothing if you’re found more than 50% at fault. Insurers often exaggerate your role to pay less, and that blame can be challenged with the right evidence.

Does Florida’s no-fault PIP coverage apply if my insurer won’t pay?

Your own PIP coverage pays up to $10,000 in medical bills and lost wages regardless of fault under Fla. Stat. § 627.736. If a PIP insurer wrongly denies or delays those benefits, that can itself be grounds for a claim, and serious injuries may also let you step outside no-fault to pursue the at-fault driver.

How much does it cost to hire The Reyes Firm to fight my insurance company?

The Reyes Firm works on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay nothing up front and nothing at all unless we recover compensation for you. Consultations are free, so there’s no cost to find out where you stand.

What if the at-fault driver’s insurance company won’t respond at all?

An insurer that ignores a reasonable demand may be exposing itself to a bad faith claim. We document every attempt to resolve the claim, and if the company keeps stonewalling, filing suit removes its ability to simply not respond.

About the Attorney

Edward Reyes, Esq.

Edward Reyes, Esq. is a Florida Bar-admitted personal injury attorney and the founder of The Reyes Firm in Tampa, Florida. His practice focuses on serious injury and wrongful death cases arising from commercial vehicle crashes, including delivery truck accidents involving FedEx, UPS, Amazon, and other carriers. Edward Reyes, Esq. represents injured Floridians in Tampa and throughout Hillsborough County on a contingency fee basis, meaning clients pay nothing unless the firm recovers compensation for them.
Read more about Edward Reyes.