Blog
September 27, 2026
by
Andrej Evtimov
What the claim file has to show by day 10, 20 and 30, and how Georgia, Florida and California differ.
A time-limited demand puts the exposure in the calendar, not in the number. This playbook sets out what a claim file has to show by day 10, day 20 and day 30, and how the statutory clock differs between Georgia, Florida and California.
The clock is the exposure, not the number
A time-limited demand sets a deadline. Accept the stated amount, usually the policy limits, within a stated window, or the offer lapses.
The number in the demand is rarely the hard part. The clock is. A demand that is easy to evaluate in 90 days becomes a bad faith exhibit in 30. The file cannot show what the carrier did with the time it had.
That is the shape of the exposure. Bad faith claims are built on the record of the response, not on the size of the offer. So the playbook below is organised by day, not by task.
This is general claims-handling background, not legal advice. Demand statutes vary sharply by state, and coverage counsel decides how any specific demand is answered.
What "time-limited" means depends on where you are
There is no single national rule. Three states show how far the frameworks diverge.
Georgia sets a 30-day floor and lists the material terms
Georgia regulates pre-suit time-limited offers by statute. OCGA 9-11-67.1 applies to personal injury, bodily injury and death claims arising from use of a motor vehicle. It sets the acceptance window at "not less than 30 days from receipt."
The statute also lists what the offer must contain:
- the acceptance period;
- the amount to be paid;
- the parties to be released;
- whether the release is full or limited;
- the claims being released.
Two mechanics matter to an adjuster. The offer must be sent by certified mail or statutory overnight delivery, return receipt requested, and must reference the Code section. And "an attempt to seek reasonable clarification shall be in writing and shall not be deemed a counteroffer."
That second rule is the one adjusters underuse. A written clarification request is a safe move under the statute, and it creates a dated record.
Florida offers a 90-day tender window and a 60-day cure
Florida runs on different arithmetic. Fla. Stat. 624.155(4) was added in 2023. The insurer avoids a bad faith action by tendering "the lesser of the policy limits or the amount demanded by the claimant." That tender must come within 90 days of actual notice of a claim. The notice must be "accompanied by sufficient evidence to support the amount of the claim."
Separately, the statutory civil remedy runs through a notice and cure step. No action lies if the insurer acts within 60 days of the department's notice. In that window "the damages are paid or the circumstances giving rise to the violation are corrected."
Florida states the liability floor directly at 624.155(5)(a): "Mere negligence alone is insufficient to constitute bad faith."
Florida has its own disclosure clock as well. Fla. Stat. 627.4137 requires a sworn statement within 30 days of a claimant's written request. The statement names the insurer, each insured, the liability limits, any coverage defence reasonably believed available, and a copy of the policy.
Missing that disclosure window is an avoidable, self-inflicted exposure. It is a fixed, documented deadline with no evaluation attached to it.
California regulates conduct rather than counting days
California does not attach a statutory clock to a third-party demand. It regulates behaviour. Cal. Ins. Code 790.03(h) lists unfair claims settlement practices. One is "failing to acknowledge and act reasonably promptly upon communications with respect to claims arising under insurance policies." Another is "not attempting in good faith to effectuate prompt, fair, and equitable settlements of claims in which liability has become reasonably clear."
The practical effect is the same. The file has to show prompt, documented action against a demand the carrier knew about.
Day 0 to 10: establish what you are answering
Scale these checkpoints to the actual acceptance window. A 90-day Florida tender and an unclocked California demand hit the same milestones proportionally, not on these exact days.
The first third of the window is administrative. Do none of it late.
Log the demand and start the clock in writing
Record the delivery date, the method of delivery, the stated deadline, and the exact acceptance terms. Diary the deadline and two internal checkpoints before it.
Acknowledge receipt in writing on the day it arrives. In a conduct-standard state, the acknowledgement is itself evidence.
Confirm coverage and move the limits statement
Identify every policy that may respond, including excess and umbrella layers. Where a disclosure statute applies, treat the sworn statement as a deliverable with its own deadline, not as part of the evaluation.
Notify excess carriers immediately when the demand approaches or exceeds the primary limits. Late excess notice is a separate exposure with its own consequences.
Inventory the file, do not read it yet
Build a document map first: what was produced, by which provider, covering which dates, at which pages. Missing records are the single most common reason an evaluation cannot be completed inside the window.
If records are missing, request them on day 1 or day 2, not day 20. In an auto liability claim file, the gap is usually a provider mentioned in a referral line but never produced.
By day 10 you should be able to state three things. What the demand asks for. What coverage may respond. What the file is missing.
Day 11 to 20: value the claim, not the demand
The middle third is the evaluation. It has to be a real one, and it has to be written down.
Test causation against the treatment record
Work the medical record as a date-ordered chronology rather than a stack of documents.
Two questions decide most bodily injury values. Does the treatment record support the mechanism described? And does the record show a pre-existing condition the demand narrative leaves out?
Neither question is answerable from a demand summary. Both are answerable from the underlying records, which is why the inventory came first. Structured claim file review for bodily injury shortens the sorting and coding work here, though an adjuster still makes the evaluation and signs the file.
Separate billed from paid, and specials from general damages
Capture the amount billed, the amount actually paid or adjusted where the record shows it, and any letter of protection or lien in the production. A demand built on billed charges and a file built on paid amounts are answering different questions.
Move the reserve and escalate on schedule
If the evaluation supports a number above the current reserve, move it during this window rather than at the deadline. A reserve that jumps on day 29 tells a story about the file that nobody wants to explain later.
Escalation belongs here too. Some carriers trigger a large loss notice when a reserve threshold is crossed. Automated large loss notice drafting pulls the underlying facts from the file. The adjuster reviews the draft before it is sent.
By day 20 you should have a written evaluation range, a documented liability assessment, and a reserve consistent with both.
Day 21 to 30: decide, document, and answer in writing
The final third is the response. Every path through it produces a document.
Tender, counter, or seek clarification
Three responses are defensible. Tender within the demand terms. Make a documented counter-offer supported by the evaluation. Or seek written clarification where the terms are genuinely ambiguous.
Some statutes treat a written clarification request as something other than a counteroffer. Where that applies, use the statutory framing precisely. Send it early enough for a reply to arrive before the deadline.
One response is not defensible: silence followed by a late partial offer.
Answer the terms, not just the number
Time-limited demands often fail on mechanics rather than money. Release scope, identified parties, lien and subrogation handling, payment method and delivery address are all terms that can defeat an acceptance.
Answer each stated term explicitly. An acceptance that is silent on a required term is an acceptance in dispute.
Leave a file that explains itself
After the response goes out, the file should show the demand, the acknowledgement and the coverage analysis. It should also show the records requested and received, the written evaluation, the reserve history, and the response with proof of delivery.
That sequence is the defence. A correct decision documented three weeks after it was made is worth much less than the same decision documented on the day.
The checkpoint table
- Day 10. Must exist by then: Written acknowledgement, coverage and limits position, excess notice, records request, document inventory. Most common failure: Records requested too late to arrive inside the window.
- Day 20. Must exist by then: Written evaluation range, liability assessment, billed-versus-paid figures, reserve moved, escalation or large loss notice issued. Most common failure: Evaluation deferred pending records nobody chased.
- Day 30. Must exist by then: Tender, documented counter-offer or written clarification request, sent by the required method with proof of delivery. Most common failure: Response addresses the amount but not the release terms.
Where bad faith exposure actually comes from
Exposure rarely comes from declining to pay limits. It comes from the record of how the carrier used the window.
The recurring patterns are consistent across jurisdictions. Nothing happens for the first three weeks. The evaluation is completed after the deadline. The response addresses the number but ignores a material term. Excess carriers learn about the demand late. And the file contains no written reasoning for the position taken.
Each of those is a documentation failure rather than a judgement failure. A carrier that evaluates honestly and answers in writing on time is defending a decision. A carrier that answers late is defending a process.
When the demand is engineered to fail
Some time-limited demands are drafted to be difficult to accept. Short windows, unusual delivery requirements, releases that sweep in parties the carrier does not represent, or conditions that require third-party cooperation inside the window.
The response to an engineered demand is the same as the response to a straightforward one, done faster and in writing. Identify the term that cannot be met, say so in writing before the deadline, and state what the carrier will do instead.
Attempting a partial acceptance without flagging the problem term is the worst available option. It produces a disputed acceptance and a file that looks evasive.
If the deadline is genuinely impossible
Sometimes it is. A demand arrives with 30 days, four providers' records are missing, and two of them are outside the state.
Do three things, all in writing. Request the missing records immediately and copy the demanding party. State what has been evaluated and what has not, with the reason. And confirm what the carrier will do when the outstanding records arrive.
None of that guarantees an extension. It does produce a file showing diligence inside the window, which is the thing the record is later read for. In general liability claims, several parties and several policies often respond to one loss. That written trail is usually the only account of who knew what, and when.
Key takeaways
- Bad faith exposure on a time-limited demand is built on the record of the response, not on the size of the offer. A late evaluation is harder to defend than a declined one.
- There is no national rule. Georgia sets a 30-day minimum acceptance window by statute, Florida gives a 90-day tender window plus a 60-day cure period, and California regulates conduct rather than counting days.
- By day 10 the file needs a written acknowledgement, a coverage and limits position, excess notice, and a records request. Missing records requested on day 20 will not arrive in time.
- By day 20 the file needs a written evaluation range, a liability assessment, billed-versus-paid figures, and a reserve that matches them. A reserve that jumps on day 29 is itself a problem.
- By day 30 the response must answer every stated term, not just the amount. Release scope, identified parties, liens, payment method and delivery all defeat acceptances.
- Scale the checkpoints to the actual window. A 90-day tender hits the same milestones proportionally, not on these exact days.
