Untimely Insurance Settlement Offer Becomes $8.5M Payout

Bad news for one insurance company.

After failing for nearly 400 days to tender its policy limit of $250,000 in coverage, according to plaintiff counsel, an insurance company took an $8.5 million hit to its bottom line to settle a lawsuit involving a catastrophic injury after a wild series of events.

‘The insurance companies need to make sure to keep their policyholders first and act in good faith, which they are required to do under Florida law,’ said Pedro Echarte, a partner at the Haggard Law Firm in Coral Gables who represented plaintiff, Abraham Valdez, who was run over in a hit-and-run crash. ‘They can’t put themselves first to protect their own interests.’

Benjamin Esco, a partner at Cole, Scott & Kissane in Miami, represented defendant, Luis Iraheta, who rented the Lamborghini Urus from defendant, GoExotics LLC.


Esco said Iraheta has expressed remorse for the incident that ‘went from the best night of his life to the worst night of his life in the span of five minutes.’

Michelle O’Brien, a partner at Quinarios, Prieto, Wood & Boyer, who represented GoExotics, did not respond to a request for comment. The names of the insurance companies are confidential per the terms of the settlement.