Please reference the Terms of Use and the Supplemental Terms for specific information related to your state. Grow Your Legal Practice. Meet the Editors. Any deadline for filing an insurance claim is distinct from and not to be confused with the deadline for filing a lawsuit after a car accident.
Most car insurance companies require you to promptly or within a reasonable time start any claim or report any incident that could trigger coverage. Delay in reporting the accident or starting the claim is usually only an issue if it affects the insurer's ability to investigate the claim, or if the delay comes at a financial cost to the insurer.
Car Insurance Claim Deadlines Versus Lawsuit Deadlines It's important to note here that the insurance claim deadlines we're talking about are distinct from the lawsuit-filing deadlines that might also come into play after a car accident. There's No Universal Deadline for Filing a Car Insurance Claim The precise deadline—or, more accurately, the wording pertaining to when a claim must be filed—will vary depending on your particular car insurance policy.
Did the Delay "Prejudice" Your Claim? That's because: accident evidence will be easier to gather, and investigation will be more effective witness memories will be fresh the details of the accident and the impact of your injuries will be clear in your mind, and the sooner you get the claim process started, the sooner you receive a settlement.
Next Steps If You've Delayed the Car Insurance Claim Process Especially if you've delayed filing a car insurance claim after an accident that caused you significant injuries, it might make sense to discuss your situation with a skilled legal professional. Legal Information. Personal Injury Law. Medical Malpractice Claims. Settling Your Personal Injury Case. Vehicle Accident Cases.
Dog Bites and Related Injuries. Car Accidents Involving Pedestrians. Car Accidents Caused by Negligence. Proving Fault in a Car Accident Case. See All Popular Articles Articles. Talk to a Lawyer Start here to find personal injury lawyers near you. Zip Code. How it Works Briefly tell us about your case Provide your contact information Choose attorneys to contact you. Related Products More. Accident Claim Worksheet. When you are about to file a claim with State Farm, it is important that you have various types of information ready to go.
This includes:. Please understand that you may need to work with a skilled car accident lawyer in California to help you file your claim appropriately. When you are filing a claim, you need to know that insurance carriers are going to do what they can to limit how much money they payout in a settlement. An attorney will understand the tactics used by claims adjusters and be able to ensure that you are treated fairly at every step along the way.
If you need to get ahold of State Farm, you can do so in various ways. First, if State Farm is your insurance carrier, you can log into your account on the Internet or through their app on a smartphone. Its insurance adjusters are, too.
This insurer does not take long to make a settlement offer. You can expect an offer from State Farm within days of sending in a complete demand package, sometimes sooner. It also gets settlement checks out quickly when a case does resolve.
Filing suit often increases their settlement offer. This insurer is far more willing to spend legal costs in civil discovery by taking depositions before increasing their offer substantially. But our Maryland car crash attorneys frequently get a phone call with a last-minute offer just before trial that is far higher than its original valuation. Still, State Farm is the most likely insurance company to go to trial even though it risks receiving a verdict that far exceeds the value of an insurance policy.
How bold this carrier will be depends on what the sticking point in the case is. If the dispute is over liability—who caused the collision—this insurer will often stick to its guns. If the dispute is over how much money the agreed upon injuries are worth, this company will rarely allow the case to go to trial, at least in Maryland. But suing State Farm is sometimes required to get a reasonable settlement offer.
State Farm threatens to go to trial so that attorneys will take a low settlement. Many attorneys only experienced in settling cases will be unwilling to go to trial. This strategy also works because many victims try to handle their claims themselves, without a personal injury attorney. State Farm will usually pay on personal injury claims that exceed the policy limits.
What will happen in an excess verdict situation depends on the facts of that particular case. Here in Maryland, State Farm usually does stand behind its insured if a verdict exceeds their policy limits.
This is a very reasonable policy that helps victims. But is it a "good neighbor" in terms of how much money they offer for an uninsured motorist claim? It is not. You always need a good Maryland personal injury lawyer in any serious injury or wrongful death case. There is too much at stake, and the range of the values is just too great not to have an advocate fighting for you.
In smaller whiplash cases you might not need a lawyer, depending on the case. But with this insurance company, you are probably always better off hiring a lawyer if you want to maximize the value of your case. You can also contact State Farm using their mobile app which is easy enough to download and a good way to get the claim status on property damage claims.
But they will not pay your medical bills directly if you are bringing a claim against their insured or an uninsured motorist claim. State Farm is a "mutual" insurance company which means that it is owned by its insured policyholders and does not have stock or shareholders. This is considerably lower than other insurance companies.
State Farm offers multiple ways to submit an auto accident claim: 1 you can file a claim online using their web-based claim system; 2 you can file a claim using the State Farm mobile app on your smartphone; or 3 you can contact your State Farm insurance agent.
If your vehicle is totaled State Farm will pay the fair market value. If you have a loan on the vehicle, State Farm will pay off the existing balance on that auto loan before paying anything to you. Our lawyers have scattered in a few other settlement stories as well.
Our law firm provides these examples to give you one more weapon in your arsenal to determine the expected settlement payout for your bodily injury claim. But take these with a grain of salt. There is too much additional information not included in these summaries that could be the critical ingredient in the outcome.
There are too many variables that impact the settlement value of cases with State Farm. To get a more complete picture of what to expect, see our page on average settlement payouts by type of injury. Also consider the type of accident and county that has jurisdiction over your case.
If you have been injured in a motor vehicle accident and the at-fault driver is insured by State Farm, or if you are filing an uninsured motorist claim against this insurance carrier and you have a question about your claim, call our State Farm accident attorneys at or go online for a free case evaluation.
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