Most people who call Alan Sackrin after accepting an insurance payment assume their case is already closed. In most situations, it is not. The type of check you received matters enormously, and the majority of insurance payments that arrive after an accident do not close your liability claim against the person or business that hurt you.
This is one of the most common and most costly misunderstandings in Florida personal injury law. People receive a payment, assume it settles everything, and walk away from claims worth far more than what they were paid. This article explains which payments close your case and which ones do not, and what you may still be entitled to if you were seriously injured.
- Payments that do not close your liability claim
- What actually closes a claim
- When you still have a contingency case
- What to do now
You received a check and you are not sure whether your case is still open. Alan Sackrin has handled Florida injury cases for over 40 years. Call for a free consultation before walking away from a claim that may still have real value. No fee unless we win.
Payments That Do Not Close Your Liability Claim
The following payments are routinely made after accidents in Florida. None of them settle or close a third-party liability claim against the person or business responsible for your injuries.
PIP payments from your own auto insurer. Florida’s personal injury protection law, Florida Statute 627.736, requires every registered vehicle owner to carry PIP coverage that pays up to $10,000 toward your medical bills and lost wages after a car accident, regardless of fault. When your own insurance company sends you a PIP payment, that is a benefit you paid for as part of your policy premium. It has nothing to do with your right to pursue the driver who caused the accident. Accepting a PIP check leaves your claim against the at-fault party completely open.
Medical payments coverage (MedPay) from your own insurer. Some Florida drivers carry optional MedPay coverage on their auto policy. Like PIP, MedPay pays your medical bills from your own policy regardless of fault. Receiving a MedPay payment does not affect your third-party claim in any way.
Health insurance payments. If Blue Cross, Aetna, Medicare, Medicaid, or any other health insurer paid your medical bills, those are benefit payments you or your employer paid for through premiums. Accepting them does not close your liability claim. It does create a lien or subrogation interest that must be addressed when your case resolves, but your right to pursue the at-fault party is untouched.
Workers compensation payments. If the accident happened on the job and workers comp covered your medical bills and lost wages, that does not close a third-party personal injury claim against a negligent party who is not your employer. A worker hurt by a subcontractor’s negligence, a defective piece of equipment, or a property owner’s failure to maintain safe conditions can pursue a third-party liability case alongside a workers comp case. These are separate claims.
Property damage payments. The insurance company paid to fix or replace your car. That check covers property only. It has no legal effect on your bodily injury claim. Many people assume settling the vehicle damage means the whole accident is settled. It does not.
Advance or good faith payments. Some insurers make small early payments to help with immediate expenses while the claim is being evaluated. If you did not sign a release of claims with that payment, your liability claim remains open. The advance will be deducted from any eventual settlement or verdict, but it does not close your case.
Wage continuation from your employer. If your employer kept paying your salary during your recovery under a disability or sick leave policy, that is employment compensation. It does not affect your right to pursue lost wages and other damages from the at-fault party.
What Actually Closes a Claim
The only thing that closes a Florida personal injury claim against a specific party is a signed release of claims against that party, supported by consideration. A release is a contract. When you sign one, you are agreeing to give up your right to pursue that party for the claims covered in the release in exchange for whatever payment accompanied it.
If you signed a release along with your payment, that is the document that needs to be reviewed. The scope of what you released, whether it covers all claims or only specific ones, and whether the circumstances under which you signed it give any grounds for challenge are all questions that require an attorney reviewing the actual paperwork.
If you accepted a payment but did not sign a release, your claim against the at-fault party is almost certainly still open.
When You Still Have a Contingency Case
If you received any of the payments listed above and never settled your third-party liability claim, you may have a contingency case worth pursuing. The scenarios where Alan takes these cases include the following.
You received PIP benefits but never pursued the at-fault party. This is the most common situation. The person received their $10,000 in PIP benefits, assumed that was all available, and never filed a claim against the driver who caused the crash. If your injuries are serious, your claim against the at-fault driver’s liability insurer is a completely separate matter that PIP did not touch.
Your injuries meet the permanent injury threshold. For car accidents, Florida law requires that a victim show a permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability before they can recover pain and suffering and other non-economic damages from the at-fault driver. If a doctor has told you your injury is permanent, or if you have had surgery, significant scarring, or a condition expected to require ongoing treatment, you likely meet that threshold. PIP does not require permanent injury. Third-party claims do.
The at-fault driver was uninsured or underinsured. If the person who hurt you had no insurance or insufficient insurance to cover your damages, your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM) is a separate claim entirely. Many people receive their PIP benefits, hear that the other driver had no insurance, and assume nothing more can be done. A UM claim against your own policy may be worth far more than PIP.
Medical bills and lost wages exceeded what PIP covered. PIP pays 80% of medical bills and 60% of lost wages up to $10,000. If your treatment costs and income losses went beyond those limits, the difference, including pain and suffering and future damages, may be recoverable in a third-party claim against the at-fault party.
A slip and fall, hotel injury, or other premises liability accident. PIP does not apply to slip and fall cases. If you received payments from your own health insurer after a slip and fall and never pursued the property owner’s liability carrier, your premises liability claim is open. Health insurance payments leave that third-party claim entirely untouched.
What to Do Now
Do not assume the case is closed until you know what you signed. Find every document you received along with any payment and every document you signed. Do not rely on memory. The answer to whether your case is still open lives in those papers.
Get your medical records and understand your injury status. If your treating physician has documented a permanent injury or ongoing impairment, that is the foundation of a third-party claim. If you have not had a recent medical evaluation, get one. Do not evaluate your claim based on how you felt in the weeks right after the accident.
Do not sign anything further without legal advice. If the insurance company sends additional paperwork, a follow-up check with release language, or any document asking you to confirm settlement, do not sign it until you have spoken to an attorney.
Call Alan before walking away. A free consultation takes thirty minutes. What Alan can tell you in that conversation is whether the payments you received closed your claim, whether your injuries qualify for a third-party case, and what that case might be worth. If there is no case, he will tell you that directly. If there is a case, you lose nothing by knowing.
You received a payment after your accident. Before you assume your case is over, find out whether you have a claim worth pursuing. Most payments do not close your liability case. Call Alan Sackrin for a free consultation. No fee unless we win.
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