If my car was stolen and recovered after it was wrecked 4 weeks ago, How long does the insurance company have before they are guilty of “claim delay”?
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If my car was stolen and recovered after it was wrecked 4 weeks ago, How long does the insurance company have before they are guilty of “claim delay”?
My auto insurance claim manager still has not approved the repairs stating he is still investigating. Also, we had provided them a copy of our neighbors surveillance footage to show when the car was stolen and to show the car was in good working condition. Now they are demanding all bank and phone records for my husband and I because the footage to don’t show my husband leaving the house because the sidewalk he used was too far away for the motions sensor on the neighbors camera to trigger. We have nothing to hide be feel like we are not being treated with dignity. How should I proceed?
Asked on April 27, 2015 under Accident Law, Washington
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
There is no hard and fast rule for how long they have to investigate a claim. If you feel that they are violating their obligations to you under the terms of the policy and the facts of this situation, you could sue them for breach of contract (since an insurance policy is a contract) and/or for breach of the covenant of good faitha and fair dealing (the obligation, added by law to all contracts, that the parties to a contract treat each other fairly and honestly). Since a lawsuit can be expensive, you should not jump into this, but wait to see if they to pay. Also bear in mind that they are allowed to conduct an investigation if they believe in godo faith that there may be fraud or something else irregular about the claim, so a delay due to an investigation is not actionable.
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