How Long Can My Car Insurance Company Take to Settle a Claim?

After your car is involved in an accident, it can seem like forever before your claim is finally settled. Sometimes you can be waiting weeks or, if the accident involves multiple cars and injuries, a month or longer.

Generally speaking, however, car insurance companies will settle a claim within 30 days after you file it. Whether your car insurance company will take 30 days, however, will depend on the type of claim you're filing, state laws, and the claim volume your insurer is receiving at the time.

Depending on the incident, you could be waiting a short time -- or a long time

To give you an example of a complicated claim, I'm in the middle of one right now. Recently, my car was parked on a street in Portland and was hit by a reportedly drunk driver (if you've been following my car saga, this is the car I got after my Prius was flooded and two cars after my Kia was totaled in a hit-and-run accident). The car was hit at midnight, some witnesses called the police, and the driver left his information -- everything except his insurance.

The driver hasn't returned my calls, and the Portland Police Department can't give me his insurance information, since I live in Oregon and he lives across the bridge in Washington. My insurance company said it would investigate and find out who is insuring him. The last time I spoke to my adjuster was on June 20, and the day I filed my claim was June 5, over a month ago.

As in my case, car insurance claims often come to standstill simply because there's a breakdown in communication. That breakdown could happen between you and your insurance company, your insurance company and the other parties involved, the other parties' insurance companies and your own, or the other parties' companies among themselves. As you can imagine, the more parties involved, the longer claims can take.

A car accident between two drivers, for example, in which one of the drivers admits fault, would probably take less time than an accident involving four or five drivers where fault was not easy to determine. If car insurance companies have to investigate which driver is at fault, it could slow down the claims process, especially if drivers are not cooperating or have lawyers to back them up.

Some states do offer drivers some protection by giving car insurance companies a strict timeline. For example, in California, car insurance companies must settle claims within 85 days after they're filed, while in Texas, insurers have 35 days. For more information, research your state and see if a strict claims timeline is in place.

What can you do to speed up a claim?

The best way to accelerate an insurance claim is to provide all information upfront, including police reports, photos, and insurance information of other drivers, and to answer adjusters' calls or emails promptly.

If the claims process drags out longer than 30 days, your state may require the insurance company to explain why it's taking so long. Even in states where that's not required, your adjuster or insurance company should give you updates on your claim, as well as reasons for any hiccups.

As far as what you can do before an accident, I would consider getting insurance with companies who are the best at handling claims. While I'm all for a great deal on car insurance, it might not be worth the low cost if the company can't deliver great service when you really need it.