How to file a car insurance claim

After a crash, an insurance claim is how most people get their car fixed and their bills paid. Who you claim from, what you can ask for and how fast the insurer must answer depend on your state. This guide explains the steps and the rules from our 50 state guides. The free letter below puts your claim in writing.

Which insurer to claim from

In a fault (tort) state, you usually claim from the insurer of the driver who caused the crash. This is a third-party claim. Our guides list 37 fault states. You can also claim under your own collision coverage, if you have it, and let your insurer recover the money from the other side.

In the 9 no-fault states in our guides (Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Dakota and Utah), your own personal injury protection (PIP) pays your first injury costs whoever caused the crash. You can claim from the other driver for injuries only in some cases, such as a serious injury. In District of Columbia, Kentucky, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, drivers choose options that change how injury claims work. Damage to your car follows each state's own rules; your state page explains them. Compare the systems in the no-fault states table.

Start the claim

Call the insurer or use its website or app, and write down the claim number and the adjuster's name. The adjuster works for the insurance company, not for you. Give facts, not guesses, and you don't have to agree to a recorded statement on the first call. Ask what documents the insurer needs and where to send them.

Document your damages

• Your car: one or more repair estimates, photos and, if the car is a total loss, the price of similar cars for sale near you.
• Getting around: rental car or ride receipts. Ask the insurer in writing whether it will pay for a rental.
• Towing and storage: move the car out of a storage lot quickly, because daily fees add up.
• Injuries: medical bills, records, and proof of time missed from work.
• Your belongings: anything damaged in the car, such as a child car seat or a phone.

Some states' insurance regulators address diminished value, the loss in a car's resale value after repairs; see Colorado, Kansas and Virginia.

Put your claim in writing

A short letter makes a record of what you claim and when. Our free claim letter below lists your damages, the documents you enclose, and asks the insurer to acknowledge the claim and answer in writing. It says it is not a release and not an agreement to settle. Send it by certified mail or the insurer's claim email or portal, and keep a copy.

How fast must the insurer act?

State unfair claims practices laws ban insurers from ignoring claims or delaying without reason. In 14 of our 50 state guides, the rules set a day count for acknowledging a claim, for example Alaska (10 working days), Hawaii (15 working days), Iowa (15 days) and Kentucky (15 days). In 14 others, the law sets no fixed number of days and only requires reasonable promptness. When you choose a state, the letter asks for a written answer within that state's day count where our data gives one. Your state page quotes the rule.

Fault can reduce what you get

If you were partly at fault, your state's comparative-fault rule decides how much you can recover. In our guides, 8 states use pure comparative fault, 10 bar you at 50% fault and 25 bar you above 50%. At least 4 states use contributory negligence, where any fault can bar you, including District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia. Try the fault and payout explainer.

If the insurer delays, underpays or denies

• Ask for the reason in writing, and for the estimate or valuation it used.
• Send more proof, such as a second estimate.
• File a complaint with your state's insurance department; each state page links to it.
• For property damage, consider small claims court against the driver, before the deadline to sue.