Can an insurance company wait 30 days to settle a claim?
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Can an insurance company wait 30 days to settle a claim?
I was in an auto accident last Thursday the other driver was at fault. I’ve called the insurance company a lot. I’ve asked for a rental vehicle and they told me they couldn’t give me a rental until either I gave them the police report or they got a statement from the other driver. I gave them the police report and now they’re saying they have to wait for the statement from the guy that hit me to determine liability. The police report states he was liable he was cited failure to yield and she said just because someone was cited doesn’t mean they’re liable? That’s a new one to me and she said he has up to 30 days to give her a statement is this true? Is there anything that I can do?
Asked on June 28, 2017 under Accident Law, Ohio
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
No, being cited does not by itself mean that they were liable: 1) the criminal (e.g. citations, tickets, summons) and civil (e.g. compensation for car damage) legal systems are separate; and 2) the police citation is not even a court determination or finding--it's just the police indicating that they *think* he was at fault, but no judge (e.g. a municipal court judge) has determined this.
However, it is evidence of his fault, even if it is not a determination; and your insurer is not legally obligated to wait for his statement (since if they did, anyone could derail or obstruct an insurance claim indefinitely just by not giving a statement); they can process your claim without it. It is not unreasonable for them to spend some time trying to get it, since the law does not require that the claim be processed within any set period (e.g. there is no requirement to do it within 30 days), but if they take unreasonably long or refuse to process it, they may be violating their contractual obligation (an insurance policy is a contract) to pay out when the facts and terms of your policy indicate they should. If and when you believe they are simply stonewalling and are not processing your claim, you could sue them for breach of contract (for violating their policy obligations) to force them to do so. If a court finds that they should pay, they would be ordered to do so.
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