How Long Does an Auto Insurance Company Have to Investigate a Claim?
The aftermath of an accident is never simple to deal with. When claimants need them the most, you deal with insurance adjusters that strive to prioritize profits. As a result, insurance adjusters will use a variety of strategies to limit your capacity to receive reimbursement when you need it.
If you are hurt in an accident, you need money to pay for things like medical expenses, missed wages, property damage, and more. In any event, you rely on insurance adjusters to provide medical attention when you require it. However, regrettably, they don’t always fulfill their obligation.
Understanding the Claims Process for Insurance
In general, filing a claim based on your own insurance coverage makes the process of filing an insurance claim a little bit simpler. The insurance company will frequently send an adjuster to analyze and evaluate your claim based on their assessment, even though you still need to provide proof of your losses and expenses.
Both the insurance provider and your attorney have the option of conducting a thorough investigation to:
- Find the responsible party
- assemble evidence to demonstrate negligence
- Keep track of your costs and losses resulting from the incident or accident.
- The insurance provider may take several weeks or longer to complete their study and provide an offer. According to Pennsylvania law, they must keep you informed at every stage of this process.
How to Respond If the Insurer Delays Its Claim
Insurance firms cannot impose deadline extensions or unjustifiably withhold your payment for several months. Untrustworthy insurance adjusters may attempt to withhold payment in an effort to pressure you into accepting a less favorable offer. If you think this is occurring to you, the insurance provider may be held financially responsible.
You might be able to take legal action against the insurance company if they are not keeping you updated or fulfilling deadlines. On your behalf, a Pittsburgh personal injury attorney from our group can investigate any pointless delays or contest an arbitrary refusal.
What happens after I file my insurance claim?
You will submit a claim for compensation with the insurance company if you get injuries as a result of someone else’s negligence, which frequently occurs in an automobile accident. You will typically make this claim with your own insurance provider if you reside in a “no-fault” state where PIP insurance is required. You will make this claim with the other motorist’s insurance company if your state mandates that the at-fault driver pay damages to the people they injured.
This starts the procedure for filing an automobile insurance claim.
The insurance provider will look into what transpired after receiving the claim. If it matters who caused the crash, they will search for evidence of that. Viewing the accident scene and the police report is frequently required for this. They will look into the extent of your injuries in both at-fault and no-fault states. Reviewing your medical records and costs for your physical injuries is usually involved in this. They will either accept or reject your insurance claim based on what they discover.
Depending on the state, that investigation must often be completed within 30 days or a reasonable amount of time. But the procedure might be sped up by a car accident lawyer.
You have the right to file an appeal if all or a portion of your claim is rejected. The reason for a denial is typical that the accident is not covered by your insurance policy. However, some rejections are made in poor faith.
The claims adjuster for the insurance will present a first settlement offer if your claim is approved. While this offer will typically pay for your immediate medical expenses and property damage, it will drastically underpay for your losses. Additionally, it won’t pay for your deductible. However, as many claimants are only now starting to realize the full depth of their medical debt, the offer is alluring to them. This is not an error. Insurance providers rely on this financial pressure to reach an agreement. It enables them to initially make lowball offers.
Insurance companies can preserve their profit margins by paying you significantly less than what you are entitled to.
Rarely is the first settlement offer the one that is accepted. It merely begins the bargaining process. You can estimate your compensation using a settlement formula with the assistance of a personal injury attorney. After that, you can present a counterproposal and move closer to a compromise.
You and your personal injury lawyer may decide to launch a lawsuit if no agreement can be reached. Before the appropriate statute of limitations has expired, this must be submitted. The settlement talks will go on even after it has been filed. Most personal injury lawsuits are settled outside of court.
In the absence of a just settlement proposal, the personal injury claim will be tried in court. Following the trial, the judge or jury will render a decision outlining the amount you are due.
The Duty to Act Quickly and Fairly
Insurance providers have an obligation to respond fast and fairly. If they don’t, it severely impairs claimants’ quality of life. They have a responsibility to swiftly investigate claims. Any delay means that claimants miss out on necessary payments.
When dealing with claims, insurance firms want to protect any money they may save. They, therefore, put off filing claims when it is in their best interests, but you are left attempting to manage the financial hardship of a catastrophe without knowing what will happen next.
The Reasons Insurance Adjusters Delay a Claim
Insurance adjusters will present you with a settlement figure during the procedure. Consult your legal team before accepting any settlement. Insurance adjusters are skilled at getting settlements that are significantly less than what you deserve. Remember that insurance adjusters delay claims in part because they are aware that you need money at this vulnerable moment.
They believe that by making a little offer and taking their time to look into your claim further, you’ll be more open to accepting whatever they have to give. However, insurance adjusters can also risk additional legal action if they unjustly delay claims.
Mississippi’s insurance claim time limits
In the Miss. Ann Code. Insurance companies in Mississippi have at least 40 to 50 days to settle a claim and make a payment once the claim is submitted, according to 83-9-5(1)(f)-(h)(1) (2019). The parts of this are as follows:
- Within 15 days, insurance providers in Mississippi are required to acknowledge receiving a claim.
- Insurance companies in Mississippi have 25 to 35 days to make the last payment if the claim is authorized, depending on how the claim was presented.
- However, Mississippi does not establish a separate period of time during which the insurance company must actually approve or reject the claim. Only that it be done in “reasonable time” is required by law.
- Regardless of the circumstance, insurance companies must provide you with a quick resolution and treat you fairly. You might be able to file a “bad faith” lawsuit and get back the whole amount of your claim plus additional damages if you think your auto insurance provider is acting unethically or illegally.
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