How long does Allstate Insurance have to settle my claim
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How long does Allstate Insurance have to settle my claim
Ified my claim with allstate on
july 21 2017 and up until now it
still had not been resolved and i
have no idea of the status. Nobody
from Allstate will return my calls
or emails and i have done every
single thing they have asked mr to
do. This is almost 4 months now
Asked on October 9, 2017 under Insurance Law, California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
There is no hard-and-fast rule in the law about this, so unless your policy (which is a contract) specifies some time period, they have the subjective and ill-defined "reasonable" amount of time to resolve the matter. At the point at which you believe they have gone too long and are not cooperating or honoring their obligations under the policy, you can sue them for "breach of contract" (again, the policy is a contract) to force them to pay your claim IF they are your insurer (i.e. this is your policy).
If it's someone else's insurer--for example, the insurer of some other driver who hit you--they have no obligation directly to you: you are not in a contract with them, have not paid them for insurance, etc. Rather, their obligation is to their insured. In this case, when you believe that they are not going to offer you a settlement, your recourse would be to sue the other person (not the insurer) and prove they owe you money or compensation due to some negligent (careless) act which injured you or damaged your property. If you can prove this in court, you can get a court judgment (order) requiring payment, at which time the other person and/or their insurer should pay you.
Four months with little contact does, by the way, seem too long: it seems they are not moving on your claim. A lawsuit may be appropriate now.
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