Transcript:
Did you know that a 2023 tort reform has
resulted in significant reductions for
defendants in auto case accidents well
here to explain more in depth about
these changes we are happy to welcome
back Katherine Stone from injury Florida
law Catherine welcome back I mean so
many changes we’re definitely seeing now
you’ve seen them on the daily uh let’s
dive into this first one though I know
you want to talk about you know
something that’s really affecting a lot
of people and maybe at the end result of
the case right so you know this is kind
of a continuation of there were a lot of
changes in 2023 that really significantly impact
the injured party as in an auto accident
claim a slip and fall claim any kind of
claim that involves negligence um and so
basically one of those ways was prior to
filing suit you would normally present
the insurance company with a demand
package that demand package includes you
know the history of the case how the
accident took place if there’s an
accident report that gets included if
there’s photographs that gets included
medical records and medical bills get
included okay and typ prior to the
change they had 30 days to respond to
that demand package okay typically that
demand package needed to be sent prior
to filing a civil complaint if depending on the policy
limits as to whatever the case was they
had a had a an obligation to Tender
policy limits or negotiate in good faith
within that time frame they changed that
to extend it from 30 days to now 90 days
so as a practitioner you’ve got to make
sure now that that statute of
limitations is two years you’ve got to
make sure that you get all of your
documents everything you need well in
advance of that 2-year Mark make sure
you have 3 months now
of your demand package submitted and
allow them to review it for that 90 days
so it’s really forced everybody to
really ACT
proactively versus where we were prior
to 2023 had time I don’t want to say
time on your side but you had longer to
work had much longer so now within those
90 days if they still continue to you
know they still have an obligation to
act in good faith but if they refuse to
do so then they’re not obligated to pay
bad faith attorneys fees so in other
words if they refuse to um negotiate in
good faith or they don’t tender the
policy limits and something that they
clearly should have it took away the
ability to be able to get additional
attorney’s fees and costs which was
essentially a penalty against them and
so everything has kind of transpired to
remove that additional penalty from them
so what do you tell your clients I mean
I feel like there’s been so many things
with the time frames and now this too
that directly affects them definitely
within my own office we have to
communicate with the clients more often
we have to know what’s going on with
them more often we have to educate them
on you have to be more proactive in
making sure that you know you you can’t
let lapses and medical treatment happen
if you’re still needing the treatment
and still going to the doctor they’re
just everything has to move a lot
quicker like our our calendars now
just have to move a lot quicker and we
have to stay on top of things to make
sure that we don’t miss any deadlines
and again you know we’ve only got a few
seconds left but it just seems too that
30 days to 90 days Gap I feel like you
know people who are filing that have to
be a little more prepared well and now
you know you’re not going to get a
response to your demand as quick as you
may have yes which of course affects the
bigger picture down the road which
prolongs the injured worker getting
potentially financial recovery this is
why we are glad Catherine stone is here
a part of our team injury Florida law
firm.com if you’ve got questions she can
help you out she can guide you and again
we’re so happy to have these
conversations on our show here
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From Injury Florida Law Firm, P.A.
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