{"id":463,"date":"2022-12-27T17:32:58","date_gmt":"2022-12-27T21:32:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/insurancelaw\/?p=463"},"modified":"2022-12-27T17:32:58","modified_gmt":"2022-12-27T21:32:58","slug":"clock-is-ticking-new-law-restricts-time-limited-policy-limit-settlement-demands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/insurancelaw\/2022\/12\/27\/clock-is-ticking-new-law-restricts-time-limited-policy-limit-settlement-demands\/","title":{"rendered":"Clock is Ticking: New Law Restricts Time-Limited Policy Limit Settlement Demands"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: Dominica Anderson<\/a> and Daniel B. Heidtke<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Certain time-limited settlement demands delivered on or after January 1, 2023 will be subject to additional restrictions as California Code of Civil Procedure (\u201cCCP\u201d) Sections 999-999.5 take effect in the New Year.\u00a0 In the past, policyholder counsel have issued policy-limit demand letters, with little detail, and little time to respond; threats and concerns over acting in \u201cbad faith\u201d abound.\u00a0 In enacting CCP \u00a7\u00a0999-999.5, the California Legislature set about to establish restrictions and, importantly, clearer guidelines\u2014for both policyholders and insurers.<\/p>\n

Pursuant to CCP \u00a7 999(b)(2), a \u201ctime-limited demand\u201d is defined as:<\/p>\n

\u201can offer prior to the filing of the complaint or demand for arbitration to settle any cause of action or a claim for personal injury, property damage, bodily injury, or wrongful death made by or on behalf of a claimant to a tortfeasor with a liability insurance policy for purposes of settling the claim against the tortfeasor within the insurer\u2019s limit of liability insurance, which by its terms must be accepted within a specified period of time.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thus, the new statutory requirements apply only to pre-litigation settlement demands and further only to limited causes of action and claims under automobile, homeowner, motor vehicle, or commercial premises liability insurance policies for property damage, personal or bodily injury and wrongful death claims.\u00a0 (CCP \u00a7\u00a0999.5(a).)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A \u201ctime-limited demand\u201d must be in writing, and labeled as a time-limited demand or reference \u00a7\u00a0999.1.\u00a0 It also must contain \u201cmaterial terms,\u201d which include the following:<\/p>\n

(1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The time period within which the demand must be accepted, which shall not be fewer than 30 days (if sent by e-mail, fax, or certified mail), or not fewer than 33 days (if sent by mail);<\/p>\n

(2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A clear and unequivocal offer to settle all claims, within policy limits;<\/p>\n

(3)\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 An offer for a complete release, from all present and future liability for the occurrence;<\/p>\n

(4)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The date and location of the loss;<\/p>\n

(5)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the claim number, if known;<\/p>\n

(6)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A description of all known injuries sustained by the claimant;<\/p>\n

(7)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Reasonable proof, which may include, if applicable, medical records or bills sufficient to support the claim.<\/p>\n

(CCP \u00a7\u00a0999.1(a)-(g).)\u00a0 A \u201ctime-limited demand that does not substantially comply\u201d with CCP \u00a7\u00a0999 et seq.<\/em> \u201cshall not be considered to be a reasonable offer to settle the claims against the tortfeasor for an amount within the insurance policy limits for purposes of any lawsuit alleging extracontractual damages against the tortfeasor\u2019s liability insurer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The law also establishes important guidelines for responding to time-limited demands, including a requirement that the insurer expressly reject the demand (should it choose to reject the demand).\u00a0 (See <\/em>CCP \u00a7\u00a0999.3.)\u00a0 For example, an attempt to seek clarification or additional information, or a request for an extension, \u201cshall not, in and of itself, be deemed a counteroffer or rejection of the demand.\u201d\u00a0 (CCP \u00a7\u00a0999.3(b).)\u00a0 In addition, \u201c[i]f, for any reason, an insurer does not accept a time-limited demand, the insurer shall notify the claimant, in writing, of is decision and the basis for its decision.\u201d\u00a0 This notification must be sent prior to the expiration of the time-limited demand, \u201cand shall be relevant in any lawsuit alleging extracontractual damages against the tortfeasor\u2019s liability insurer.\u201d\u00a0 (CCP \u00a7\u00a0999.3(c).)<\/p>\n

In the past, time-limited, policy limit demands provided opportunity for the unscrupulous to improperly attempt to manufacture bad faith litigation.\u00a0 But, in all, CCP \u00a7\u00a7 999-999.5 appear to provide additional guidance and requirements to time-limited, policy limit demands that should help rein in any such conduct.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Dominica Anderson and Daniel B. Heidtke Certain time-limited settlement demands delivered on or after January 1, 2023 will be subject to additional restrictions as California Code of Civil Procedure (\u201cCCP\u201d) Sections 999-999.5 take effect in the New Year.\u00a0 In the past, policyholder counsel have issued policy-limit demand letters, with little detail, and little time … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Clock is Ticking: New Law Restricts Time-Limited Policy Limit Settlement Demands”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":243,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[39,18,42,308,230,19],"ppma_author":[431,428],"class_list":["post-463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-bad-faith","tag-california","tag-coverage","tag-daniel-heidtke","tag-dominica-anderson","tag-insurance-coverage"],"authors":[{"term_id":431,"user_id":243,"is_guest":0,"slug":"dbheidtke","display_name":"Daniel B. Heidtke","avatar_url":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/insurancelaw\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/10\/Danny-Heidtke-LinkedIn-6249-e1729870422263-100x100.jpg","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""},{"term_id":428,"user_id":49,"is_guest":0,"slug":"dcanderson","display_name":"Dominica C. Anderson","avatar_url":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/insurancelaw\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2016\/08\/andersondominica-125x150.jpg","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/insurancelaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/insurancelaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/insurancelaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/insurancelaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/243"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/insurancelaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/insurancelaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/insurancelaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/insurancelaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/insurancelaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=463"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/insurancelaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}