How Long Can You Wait to Make an Insurance Claim?
While most insurance policies don't provide a strict deadline regarding how long you can wait to file a claim, it's important to understand all of the factors that should go into your decision. Visit https://www.answerfinancial.com/ and experience the smart way to compare, buy and save on car insurance.
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In this video, we're going to answer the question: is it ever too late to file a claim with your auto or home insurance provider?
The answer may surprise you.
In most cases with property and casualty insurance, which includes auto insurance and home insurance, it's technically never too late to file an insurance claim.
First off, we like to make one thing very clear. We strongly recommend that whenever possible, you file a claim. Or, at the very least, contact your insurance company as soon as possible after an incident.
There's almost no downside to quickly filing a claim. Whether you've been in a car accident, have suffered damage to your home, or have had some other mishap.
When it comes to medical problems as a result of an accident, it is actually quite common to wait weeks, if not months, before filing a claim as symptoms may not emerge from an injury until time has passed.
For personal injury protection claims, there is usually a 2 or 3-year limit to file. And medical payments have a similar time limit of 3-years. This is state-specific, so check with your state's current policy.
So what are the possible downsides of not filing your claim as soon as possible? Let's take a look at a couple of examples:
Let's say you suffered damages to your home, and you wait a long time to file a claim. If you do wait, understand that you need to take precautions to mitigate more damage to your home. For example, if you had a window blown out in a storm, you would need to cover up the area with plastic or plywood to protect the inside of your home because your home insurance won't cover subsequent damage if you don't take those precautionary steps.
Another negative example might be if you get into a car accident and you don't have a police report on file. If there's no police report, and you wait a while before filing a claim, then your insurance company may have a harder time tracking down the other people involved in the accident for interviews or for other research related to your claim.
So while it's usually within your right to procrastinate, we don't recommend that you do when it comes to filing your insurance claims.
If you have questions about your insurance policy or would like us to help you find a better, more affordable option, visit us at https://www.answerfinancial.com/ or give us a call at 1-866-635-7777.
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