Responding to a Claimant Attorney's Demand for Insurance Information

Attorney Answer

Do not answer that letter yourself. Give it to your insurance company and let them respond. Almost every auto policy requires you to notify the insurer promptly about a claim and to cooperate with it, and once you do, the insurer — not you — deals with the claimant's lawyer, at its expense.

What the letter means is that someone is making a negligence claim against you. The rule behind that claim is Cal. Civ. Code § 1714(a): "Everyone is responsible, not only for the result of his or her willful acts, but also for an injury occasioned to another by his or her want of ordinary care or skill in the management of his or her property or person, except so far as the latter has, willfully or by want of ordinary care, brought the injury upon himself or herself." A letter is not a finding. It is the opening move, and the claimant still has to prove that you were careless and that the carelessness caused the harm.

Whether you are required to hand your insurance information directly to the other side's lawyer, in what form, and on what timetable, is not something this page can resolve. That is a good reason to route the request rather than answer it: your insurer answers requests like this every day, and if there is an obligation, meeting it through the insurer satisfies it without you saying anything else.

That last part matters. A collision that injured someone can carry criminal as well as civil exposure, especially if there is any question about leaving the scene or about whether you were insured. Do not write out your own account of what happened, and do not give a statement — recorded or informal — to the claimant, their lawyer or their insurer. If any of those questions could touch you, speak with a local criminal-defense attorney before you talk to police or to the other side.

What you can do

1. Report the claim to your own insurer right away, and ask them to confirm in writing that a claim is open and that they are handling the correspondence.

2. Send your insurer a copy of the letter and the envelope, and keep the originals.

3. Preserve records that already exist — photographs, any information exchanged at the time, repair estimates, texts or emails. Do not create a new written narrative for anyone but a lawyer representing you.

4. Do not sign anything, do not give a recorded statement, and do not reply to the claimant's lawyer directly.

5. If your insurer tells you the claim is not covered, or if you had no policy in force, speak with a local attorney immediately. Personal exposure is a different problem and it does not wait.

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

⏱ Time limits apply. Under Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1 a claim for injury or death generally must be brought within two years, and Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 338(c)(1) allows three years for damage to a vehicle. Those periods run against the person claiming against you, and where they stand depends on the actual dates and on circumstances a page cannot see — Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 352(a), for instance, suspends the clock while an injured person is a minor. Have a local attorney review the dates; do not treat silence from the other side as the end of it.