Q: Personal injury
Formal letter sent to adjustor 30 days ago, she has not provided information requested.
If a lawyer filed suit, and the insurer lawyer is not able to present the insured. Would a default judgement occur? And would the insurer be responsible because they didnt respond to the letter? Within the statue
Or would this be pointless?
Last plot twist would be is a possible defense that they could have settled for policy limits earlier?
A: So keep in mind that many lawyers in the state of Florida do not file lawsuit. Lawsuits require real work and deadlines and confrontation with opposing counsel, and spending money out of pocket to fight the case in court. Most lawyers choose to just try to attempt to settle the case with the adjuster, and if that fails they just drop it flat. If you’re going to retain counsel get a written promise that they will file a lawsuit if settlement negotiations break down otherwise you’ll just be wasting your time.
A: I need a bit more information to respond to your post. Is the formal letter you are referencing a request for the Insured's policy information? If so, my answer is in two parts. First - yes, insurance companies are mandated by law to provide that information within 30-days of a written request. However, the law does not specify the consequence for failing to do so and that issue has been handled differently by various courts throughout the State of Florida. Feel free to let me know if your question is in regard to another issue.
A:
A default judgment could conceivably materialize in the hypothetical scenario you describe, but in reality, it would be very unlikely for the insurance company's counsel to fail to appear. I've never seen it happen.
For the other hypothetical scenario you describe about a previous settlement, that would also be unlikely without your knowledge. Claimants are generally asked to sign a release to confirm formal settlement of their claim.
In terms of a formal letter, the description here does not outline what information was requested. One option here could be to consider a consult with a personal injury attorney in the Tampa area. Most attorneys who practice in this field offer free initial consults. Good luck
Tim Akpinar
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