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Senate adopts changes allowing brief rescission period for unrepresented injury settlements
Summary
The Senate adopted Senate Substitute 1 for SB 189 with an amendment clarifying notice and payment-tracking requirements, and added a 15-day rescission window for unrepresented personal-injury settlement approvals, after sponsor remarks and a floor exchange with a trade witness.
The Delaware Senate on May 12 passed Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 189, a statutory change the sponsor described as strengthening consumer protections for people offered settlement payouts after motor-vehicle accidents.
Sponsor Senator Fore told colleagues the substitute "allows an unrepresented individual to rescind approval of a personal injury settlement within 15 days of signature or receipt of a settlement payout." He framed the change as protecting people who may accept quick offers before fully understanding injuries or seeing a doctor.
Senate Amendment 1 clarified procedural safeguards: returned notices of rescission and settlement proceeds must be confirmed by a traceable method such as certified mail, a certificate of mailing, an ACH tracking number, or another recognized fund-tracking method; the amendment also stated an individual must have signed a release within 30 days of the motor-vehicle accident to be eligible for the rescission period.
James Donovan, appearing as a witness for the Delaware Bridal Association, answered questions about the bill’s references to “motor vehicle” and coverage of horse-and-buggy collisions. Donovan said the relevant statutory provisions in question concern automobile insurance liability and that "if someone in a horse and buggy was struck by a motor vehicle, they would ... be covered under this the same way they'd be covered under the rest of the statute that has to deal with liability insurance." Senators pressed whether coverage differed when the buggy or horse caused the accident and whether uninsured-motorist rules would apply; witnesses and counsel said coverage would depend on the insured status of the vehicle at fault and that underinsured or uninsured motorist coverage could be implicated.
After sponsor remarks and a roll call, the Senate recorded 21 yes votes and declared Senate Substitute 1 for SB 189, as amended, passed by the Senate.
Next steps: The substitute with Amendment 1 was passed by recorded vote; any further legislative steps will follow standard processing.
