Marissa Hayes is a technical editor and contributing writer. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in history, and she was the editor of the literary magazine, The Bluestone Review.

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Dan Walker graduated with a BS in Administrative Management in 2005 and has been working in his family’s insurance agency, FCI Agency, for 15 years. He is licensed as an agent to write property and casualty insurance, including home, auto, umbrella, and dwelling fire insurance. He’s also been featured on sites like Reviews.com.

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Reviewed by Daniel Walker
Licensed Car Insurance Agent

UPDATED: Apr 1, 2021

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What are the options if my car insurance does not pay claims?

Filed under auto insurance claims questions.

If your claim has been denied, you have 5 options:

  1. You can ask them to give you a letter informing you of the denial formally
  2. You can use this letter to complain to the insurance company’s dispute center. All insurance companies have this kind of department that handles denied claims and other issues. It is all still an internal process between you and your insurance provider. There are no hidden fees or additional charges if you go through this process.
  3. If the in-house process does not work to your complete satisfaction, you have the right to bring your case to a general insurance monitoring agency or the equivalent of the supervisory board for insurance companies. Attach all your relevant documents including the results of the in-house decision
  4. If this doesn’t work, you can always file a lawsuit against the insurance company but this can take a while to resolve and will cost you in legal and court fees
  5. You can accept the decision of the insurance company and their reasons for the denial and move on. When the time for renewal comes up, you can switch to another company

Keep in mind that there is usually a time limit on contesting decisions made by insurance companies.

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