Exact Answer: 48 Hours – 7 Days
Insurance is a contract wherein a person contracts with an insurance agency for the protection of his assets from unforeseen circumstances. The insurance agency’s job is to provide financial protection or reimburse the losses which are under the ambit of the insurance contract in consideration of the premium which is received at regular intervals from the insurance policyholder.
Insurance is a form of risk management. There are majorly two parties involved in an insurance contract, first is the insurance company i.e the insurer and the other is the insured. Insurance is entered into by any individual to make good the loss (if any) suffered in the future.
How Long Do You Have To File An Insurance Claim?
| Types Of Insurance Claims | Duration |
| Car insurance claim | Approx. 48 – 72 hours |
| Life insurance claim | Approx. 1 – 30 days |
| Medical claims | Approx. 3 – 6 months |
An insurance claim is nothing but a formal request made by a policyholder of an insurance contract to his respective insurance company with whom he has entered into the insurance contract. The request in an insurance claim pertains to reimbursement of losses suffered by the policyholder which are covered under the said insurance contract.
Insurance claims may vary as per the terms and conditions of the insurance contract. Insurance contracts can be of various types like a life insurance policy, general insurance like marine and fire insurance policy, etc. The main intention behind any insurance contract is to mitigate the risk and losses which might be associated with any uncertain events that might happen in the future.
There can be various types of insurance claims such as health insurance claims also known as medical claims, property and casualty claims, life insurance claims, etc. Any insurance claim is sanctioned by the insurance company only after validating the circumstances of each case under which it is demanded.
After validating, if the insurance company approves it, the payment of the insurance claim will be issued to the insured i.e the policyholder who has suffered the loss and thus, requires the insurance claim. However, to claim it, the request should be filed or made to the insurance company within 48 hours from the time of the accident or a longer duration may be allowed depending on one’s insurance policy.
However, as the terms and conditions of every insurance company are different, companies might stipulate a different time limit for filing an insurance claim. Thus, one should check their insurance policy for the same and should adhere to it, to validly comply with all conditions and to finalize the insurance claim without any complications.
Why Do You Have So Long To File An Insurance Claim?
A person might be hesitant to file their insurance claim especially if it is their first one. Such a person might be unaware of the formalities to be fulfilled to apply for a successful insurance claim. However, it must be kept in mind, that different types of claims would have different procedures which could have an influence on the duration within which the insurance claim has to be filed with the insurance company.
Insurance claims can take a significant amount of time to get processed and for the payment to be received by the policyholder as there are many people involved in the process. Also, necessary checks are to be made by the insurance company to assess the validity of the claim made which can further delay the entire claim.
However, if one wants to avail their insurance claim on time and ensure that their claims are processed speedily, it is necessary to communicate with the insurance company thoroughly and as promptly as possible after the accident has taken place regarding which the claim is being made.
Generally, the time limit to file a claim after an accident varies from country to country, type of insurance policy, and also from company to company. Also, the time to file an insurance claim for a bodily-injury claim would be different from a property-damage claim. Thus, the exact duration for filing an insurance claim would depend on the circumstances of each case.
To ensure that the claim is processed quickly after filing, report the claim as soon as possible with all the necessary documents and information like photos of the damage (if applicable), contact information, a description of what happened, type of loss one is reporting, etc.
Conclusion
Insurance contracts are of various types and can be entered with various types of insurance companies and thus can have different time limits for filing an insurance claim.
Generally, it is suggested that one must report the accident to the insurer within a week as if this condition is failed to be complied with, there is a high probability that one’s claim might get rejected. However, there might be some companies who might allow a small window of about 48 hours to report the accident to avail the insurance claim.
Also, if one wants hassle-free and smooth insurance claiming process, it is essential to choose a reputable insurance company with excellent ratings to ensure that all procedures from the company’s end are carried out smoothly and promptly.
References
- https://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/defcon33§ion=21
- https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/palgrave.jors.2600941
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