After a personal injury accident, California law protects victims when dealing with insurance companies.
California’s Insurance Code (INS) requires insurers to act promptly, to represent their options correctly, and to compensate victims fairly.
The following are hereby defined as unfair methods of competition and unfair and deceptive acts or practices in the business of insurance.
(a) Making, issuing, circulating, or causing to be made, issued or circulated, any estimate, illustration, circular, or statement misrepresenting the terms of any policy issued or to be issued or the benefits or advantages promised thereby or the dividends or share of the surplus to be received thereon, or making any false or misleading statement as to the dividends or share of surplus previously paid on similar policies, or making any misleading representation or any misrepresentation as to the financial condition of any insurer, or as to the legal reserve system upon which any life insurer operates, or using any name or title of any policy or class of policies misrepresenting the true nature thereof, or making any misrepresentation to any policyholder insured in any company for the purpose of inducing or tending to induce the policyholder to lapse, forfeit, or surrender his or her insurance.
The Rights of Car Accident Victims When Dealing with Insurers
All personal injury victims are protected by California statutes when they must deal with profit-hungry insurance companies. These companies represent those at fault, and they have tried-and-true tactics to try to limit what victims receive after something like a slip-and-fall or a car crash.
The insurance code deals with how victims should be treated and the attention they should receive.
The language of INS 790.03 attempts to stop these and other unfair practices:
- Misrepresenting policy terms to reject a car accident claim.
- Needlessly delaying a response, investigation, and decisions on claims.
- Not awarding settlement money when the fault in the accident has been made reasonably clear.
- Not awarding enough in settlement money to cover all of a victim’s damages.
- Directly advising claimants not to speak to a car accident lawyer.
- Misrepresenting the deadlines for claims.
- Failing to provide an explanation for denials.
The protections start before drivers sign up for coverage. Insurers cannot misrepresent the coverage terms while motorists are considering purchasing coverage. The terms must be made clear and not misrepresented in confusing advertising.
How Long Can Insurance Companies Delay Accident Victims?
The California Insurance Code also addresses how long insurance companies can ignore a victim’s claim, and how long they have to decide on coverage.
The California Department of Insurance (CDI) also lays out how long victims should be made to wait, and how victims can report bad faith insurance behavior.
- An insurance company must acknowledge receiving an accident claim within 15 days.
- The insurance company has 40 days to inform of a denial or acceptance of the claim.
- Once a settlement is accepted, insurers have up to 30 days to provide a check.
See: Additional information about time limits for insurance companies.
When You Might Need a Lawyer for Your Car Accident Case
If your accident involves a serious injury and a careless driver caused your accident, it’s a good signal that you could earn more with a lawyer’s help.
When recoveries will take longer and build up more hospital bills, insurers work even harder to limit what victims receive and pull out even more unfair tactics. A lawyer can fight back for victims and make sure the blame stays on the right driver.
Maison Law of California offers a free, no-obligation case consultation for all injured California accident victims. If you do need our help, there are no upfront charges. In fact, we aren’t paid unless we win your case for you. Then our fee comes out of the check the insurance company must write for you.
