An auto insurance claim is a claim that you can ask towards your insurance company, so they will give you compensation on the damages you sustained during a car accident. In other cases, you can also ask your insurance company to become a representative or be the one to intervene on your behalf if ever you were the one liable for the damages during a car accident.
The big question now is should you file one? Also, you have to take note until when you could file. The specific deadline or time limit for filing an auto insurance claim would generally vary on terms and conditions of the policyholder’s auto insurance coverage.
A majority of policies do not really specify a deadline. In general, however, policyholders are encouraged to file a claim within a reasonable amount of time.
What is the Deadline for Filing My Car Insurance Claim?
Let us say that your state and your insurance policy do not have a strict deadline for filing insurance claims. While your insurance provider is legally obligated to cover qualified loses, as the policyholder, you are also legally obligated to help your provider verify the damages you are claiming and sort out main issues such as fault for your auto accident.
Even if you report your claim longer than usually expected, vehicle insurance providers in Cicero, Illinois noted that as long as the delay does not cause your provider to rush or do a bad job of investigating your insurance claim, then all is well.
Timing is NOT Everything, but it Does Matter
To illustrate, let us say that your bumper fell off and your hood got badly damaged in the parking lot of the restaurant you were eating in. Upon seeing the damage to your car, you took lots of photos and secured a time-stamped surveillance tape form the restaurant that clearly showed another driver, who happens to be an employee of the restaurant, crashing into your car and driving off.
For some reason, however, you waited to file your insurance claim, and only decided to report the incident some months later.
What You Do After Your Auto Accident is Crucial
Same as the example above, your timing is not exactly great and your insurance provider would probably deny your claim and argue that their ability to investigate your claim and check the liable party was compromised because you waited too long to inform them about the accident.
But if you submitted all the photos you took and surveillance video that clearly demonstrates what happened and who was at fault for the accident, your insurance provider would be hard-pressed to deny your auto insurance claim.
Even if you have all the time in the world to file your auto insurance claim, you should not wait too long to actually file it just to be on the safe side. Put simply, it is best that you start the claims process as early on as possible. Otherwise, you would just be giving your insurance provider reason to question the veracity of your claim and reason to ultimately deny it.
