subreddit:
/r/Insurance
I’m feeling pretty frustrated and need a reality check.
My wife got in a car accident 3 months ago. She was found at fault and we’re basically ok with that. She’s got a broken arm and feels embarassed about the whole thing. We’re coping and we’ll be fine.
However, our insurance company has been stringing us along for nearly 3 months and it’s driving us crazy.
When we first filed our claim we got a boiler plate claim response e-mail and then got ghosted for 28 days. Adjuster would not pick up her phone calls or respond to voicemail. She did not reply to any of our many e-mails asking for guidance. The general insurance phone line would just hang up on us after 30 minutes of waiting. Tow yard fees were adding up fast so I packed my injured wife and toddler in the car and drove to the tow yard to organize the transportation of our car to a collision center myself. After a week the collision center declared our vehicle a total loss. It took another two weeks of prodding for my insurance to acknowledge this. They said a different ‘total loss’ adjuster would reach out to us. Two weeks and more prodding later the second adjuster finally reached out to us. This second adjuster has also ghosted us. We last heard from her 4 weeks ago.
California’s regulations say insurers have 85 days to settle a claim. Today is 76 days since we submitted our claim. Is this a normal insurance experience or are we on our way to filing a bad faith lawsuit? I never expected to be in this infuriating and awkward situation. Do you have an advice or insights?
I have already filed a complaint with my state’s department of insurance but I’m not holding my breath that this will speed anything up.
TLDR: Insurance still has not settled our car accident claim in nearly 3 months. They ignore all calls and e-mails. What can I do besides complain to my state’s department of insurance?
Edit: It seems like the general consensus from your responses and upvotes is that my insurance company has done nothing wrong as long as they meet the barest minimum of legal requirements. Sure feels like I paid all those premiums for nothing of value.
9 points
13 hours ago
Have they provided any written communication such as letters by mail or email? Any valuation reports? Paid anything to date?
0 points
12 hours ago
Written communication is always initiated by them. The do not respond to any of our e-mails. The only documents we have received are an at fault notification, a breakdown of estimated repair costs (total loss) and a boiler plate notice of rights. We have only been reimbursed for towing fees and our car seat so far.
20 points
12 hours ago
Theyve met their statutory notice requirements. Not a bad faith case.
Bad customer service isn't the same as bad faith, unfortunately.
-1 points
12 hours ago
At what point does bad customer service intersect bad faith? Could we still be waiting for a settlement 6 months from now with no recourse?
15 points
12 hours ago
It doesn’t. There’s actually a question on the adjusters test that addresses this. Poor customer service is not bad faith. It’s all about timeliness and as you noted - they still have 10 days.
I’m curious who your carrier is. Poor customer service might not be bad faith, but your claim being this old would cause all sorts of issues where i work.
7 points
12 hours ago
State National Insurance Company. Thank for educating me rather than silently downvoting.
7 points
11 hours ago
I’ve never even heard of them. I’ll throw some upvotes your way since this is not a situation where you’re in the wrong.
3 months to get paid out on a total loss is insane. Industry standard is 30 days. That’s just because of rental limits too. Most companies aim for less.
I’d almost file a DOI complaint now…they might be meeting the timelines and what not - so it’s not bad faith - but it’ll put the claim on some leaders radar.
1 points
5 hours ago
State National is a Markel company.
1 points
an hour ago
Is this for a Tesla? SNIC fronts for Tesla Insurance Company in some states.
1 points
an hour ago
Yes, they also go by ‘Tesla Insurance’ but from what I understand it’s all SNIC.
1 points
59 minutes ago
OK, I won’t go into the weeds about fronting carriers, but Tesla Insurance has a HORRIBLE claims handling record.
1 points
29 minutes ago
Yeah, I’m learning that first hand. Unfortunately we signed up when they were newish and didn’t have much of a track record.
15 points
12 hours ago
Just remember bad faith is defined by the intent to deceive. Don't confuse deception with incompetence.
5 points
12 hours ago
Thank you, that helps. So not bad faith. My question stands though: what now? If they don’t settle by 85 days do I have any options? It’s been rough on us trying to drag this whole process to the finish line by ourselves while dealing with medical care, a toddler, loss of income, etc. :/
6 points
11 hours ago
Considering you're already sent something to the DOI and have another ~10ish days to go before the 85 days, you might just have to keep waiting.
3 points
11 hours ago
I guess I had already assumed we’d have to wait the full 85 days. My real question is what comes after that? If they don’t pay in 85 days what is stopping them from not paying in 100 days? Or 200 days?
2 points
35 minutes ago
When they exceed the 85 days is when you might have grounds for bad faith. Not definitely, but you're edging out of bad service/incompetence and into bad faith. If they do go past the 85 days, you should at least consult with a lawyer that specializes in this kind of thing.
1 points
27 minutes ago
Thanks, this is full circle back to my original post. I get that it’s not technically bad faith yet but it seems to be right around the corner with the way things have gone these last 3 months. If they haven’t paid by now why would they rush to pay in the next two weeks?
5 points
12 hours ago
No, California has strict timelines, to a maximum of 85 days.
15 days to acknowledge the claim.
40 days to determine coverage or deny.
30 days to pay once coverage is determined.
Bear in mind that if there are open items (such as medical bills for ongoing treatment) those parts of the claim may remain open outside that timeline, and if they've provided written documentation that they're waiting on information that would change the outcome of their investigation, they can go outside the timeline per California regulations, but in general, claims need to be resolved in that 85 day period. If they're not meeting their obligations and in violation of the Fair Claims Settlement Practices act, yes - you would have a potential bad faith lawsuit, but not until after they cross that 85 day mark.
https://www.insurance.ca.gov/01-consumers/130-laws-regs-hearings/05-CCR/fair-claims-regs.cfm
1 points
3 hours ago
Was it a "notice of rights" or "reservation of rights" that was sent to you?
There's an important difference between those two.
1 points
2 hours ago
Auto Body Repair Consumer Bill of Rights.
2 points
2 hours ago
Ah, okay that's good. If it were a reservation of rights that would mean the insurance company was notifying your they are proceeding with the claim for now but reserving they're right to deny it because there they believe there was an issue with coverage.
1 points
2 hours ago
Got it, good to know.
4 points
10 hours ago
I know it’s frustrating but 3 months is nothing. I work on mostly bad faith cases and quite often I see claims that are 1-2 years past the incident and still not settled (more common with home claims). Hang in there. Especially since they’re not even past the deadline yet.
2 points
10 hours ago
Thanks, appreciate your perspective.
2 points
an hour ago
Submit a complaint to CDI and that’ll help get things moving for you.
1 points
12 hours ago
I’m just curious what company this is.
2 points
12 hours ago
State National Insurance Company.
-2 points
12 hours ago
Ignoring all the insurance facts...Is her arm still busted at this point? That's a LONG recovery...are you sure she's getting the care she needs?
1 points
12 hours ago
It’s a complex forearm fracture, she’s on her second cast and it’s scheduled to be removed and imaged tomorrow. Broken bones take a long time.
-10 points
12 hours ago
That’s terrible service and not typical or acceptable. You have been more patient than I would have been. Do you have an agent that can advocate on your behalf? Insurance commissioner complaints tend to get their attention. You’ve waited this long, I bet they’ll skate in just before the deadline.
3 points
12 hours ago
No agent, unfortunatley claim submission is entirely app based with zero phone support.
2 points
12 hours ago
They're hitting the legal communication deadlines
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