Insurer Delay in Deciding Liability After a Rear-End Crash

Attorney Answer

A week is not yet a delay under California's claim rules, and the missing police report is not what is holding this up. The regulations give the insurer a fixed schedule, your dashcam footage is the fastest way to shorten it, and the fact that the driver did not own the car adds a second place to look rather than a problem.

Fault first. Cal. Veh. Code § 21703 provides: "The driver of a motor vehicle shall not follow another vehicle more closely than is reasonable and prudent, having due regard for the speed of such vehicle and the traffic upon, and the condition of, the roadway." Cal. Civ. Code § 1714(a) makes that driver responsible for an injury occasioned to another by a want of ordinary care in the management of his or her property or person. The driver's own liability is not capped by anything.

The owner is a second target. Cal. Veh. Code § 17150 makes the owner of a vehicle responsible for death or injury to person or property resulting from a negligent or wrongful act or omission in the operation of that vehicle by a person using it with the owner's permission, express or implied. Cal. Veh. Code § 17151(a) caps that particular owner liability at $15,000 for injury to one person, $30,000 for one accident and $5,000 for property damage — figures the Legislature has left alone for decades, and lower than what the owner's policy will usually pay on its own terms. That is very likely why the insurer wants the driver's statement: whether the person driving had permission decides whether the owner's policy responds at all. It is a coverage question, not a sign that anyone is stalling.

Now the schedule. Under Cal. Code Regs. tit. 10, § 2695.5(e), an insurer that receives notice of a claim has fifteen calendar days to acknowledge it, provide the necessary forms, instructions and reasonable assistance, and begin any necessary investigation. Under § 2695.5(b), it owes a complete response within fifteen calendar days to a communication from a claimant that reasonably expects one. Under § 2695.7(b), it has forty calendar days after receiving proof of claim to accept or deny the claim in whole or in part, and an insurer that disputes liability on a third-party claim must do so in writing. Under § 2695.7(c)(1), if it needs more time it must say so in writing inside that window and then every thirty calendar days until it decides. Section 2695.7(d) requires a thorough, fair and objective investigation and forbids persisting in seeking information not reasonably required. None of those clocks depends on a police report.

What you can do

1. Send the dashcam footage in writing today, with a short cover message giving the claim number, the date and what the footage shows, and ask for written confirmation that it was received and added to the file.

2. Ask the insurer in writing for a written liability decision, and for the date it treats as its receipt of your proof of claim. That sets the forty-day period running from a date you both know.

3. Ask it, also in writing, whether it has accepted that the driver had the owner's permission. A delayed liability decision on a borrowed car is usually about that.

4. Report a claim under your own policy in parallel if you carry collision coverage. Cal. Code Regs. tit. 10, § 2695.7(p) requires your insurer to tell you whether it will pursue subrogation, and § 2695.7(q) requires it to include your deductible in its demand and to share recoveries with you proportionately.

5. If those deadlines pass without a decision or a written explanation, file a complaint with the California Department of Insurance. Section 2695.7(b)(3) requires a written denial to disclose that review right and give the department's address and telephone number.

6. Have anyone in the car with symptoms seen by a doctor and keep the records — each person in the car has their own claim, and their own records prove it.

7. Most lawyers offer a brief initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. A claim for injury to a person runs under Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1, which allows two years, and a claim for damage to the car under Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 338(c)(1), which allows three. Each person in the car has a separate claim and a separate clock. When each began depends on your facts, so have a local attorney check the dates against your file before an insurer closes it.