Insurance is designed to be there when you need it most. But what exactly do you do when you experience an incident or loss and need to file an insurance claim?
In this guide, you’ll get clear guidance for the insurance claim process, including:
An insurance claim is an official request made by you (if you’re the insurance policy holder) to your insurance company to pay for a covered incident after you experience a loss or damages.
Let’s dive into the different types of insurance claims you can file.
There are many types of insurance claims, but the most common include:
Fun fact: Benjamin Franklin organized the first official insurance company back in 1752! ( 1 )
From centuries-old policies, such as property insurance and life insurance, to more modern insurance options, like pet and identity theft insurance, the industry has grown and expanded to include a wide variety of coverages and policy types. (There are almost too many to list here!)
But at Clearcover, we’re your car insurance experts. And we have one of the fastest car insurance claims processing times in the industry.
Now that you know what an insurance claim is and the most common types, let’s talk about how claims work and the insurance claims process.
But first, we’ll go over the decisions you make when you purchase an insurance policy (because they have a lot to do with what kinds of claims you’ll be able to file).
When you purchase an insurance policy, you’ll choose coverages and coverage limits that will ultimately determine what protections are included in your policy.
These selections determine what kinds of incidents your insurance company will cover and the maximum amount they’ll pay out for each incident. They also influence the cost of your insurance premiums, and for certain coverages, your deductible.
However, it’s important to understand that not every kind of insurance policy operates in the same way.
For example, while you’ll need to select a deductible for your comprehensive or collision car insurance coverage as well as your health insurance policy, you won’t need to select deductibles for your liability car insurance coverage or life insurance policy.
After you select your coverages and coverage limits and accept all the legal documents, you will officially have insurance coverage!
You’ll also get a copy of your insurance policy. It will outline all the details, including what incidents are covered and what things are considered excluded events.
At this point, you’ve entered into a formal agreement with your insurance company: You pay your premiums, and they commit to paying you for insurance claims for covered losses—according to the details outlined in your policy.
When you experience a loss—for example, you experience a car accident and you need to replace your vehicle—you’ll file an insurance claim with your insurance company.
Then, a claims representative will evaluate your incident to determine if the incident is covered by your policy, as well as how much money (if any) will be paid out by the insurance company. (Keep in mind that even if your insurance policy covers the claim, you’ll need to pay any applicable deductible out of pocket if one applies.)
Once a decision is made, your insurance company will issue a payment to you directly, or to the person or company that payment is due.
With Clearcover, we’ve simplified the car insurance claims process with our award-winning app . Learn how digital car insurance claims work (and how fast Clearcover’s process can be!).
Here are the basics to filing an insurance claim:
Once your insurer accepts your claim, you’ll probably receive some kind of summary of their decision as well as how much money you’ll be receiving (if any) to pay for your losses.
If you filed a car insurance claim, here’s a quick guide to the terminology you might see in that summary:
At Clearcover, we’re on a mission to make car insurance easy to understand. Discover how to switch car insurance today.
Once your insurance claim is completed, depending on the nature of your claim and if you’re due any payout, you’ll receive a payment from your insurer. And then you’re done! Many insurers offer electronic payment options that allow you to receive your funds faster, which can help cut out the time spent waiting for a paper check in the mail.
Because we’re car insurance experts, we’re going to speak to car insurance claims here specifically. If a car insurance claim is made against you, your auto insurance company goes to work on your behalf. Your insurance is designed to be there for you in cases like this.
In the majority of cases, any negotiations or payments that are necessary will be handled by your insurance company representatives. You’ll simply be contacted if additional information is needed.
Again, we’ll speak to car insurance claims specifically here.
Your driving record is taken into account when calculating your insurance premiums. That means after you file an insurance claim (or after an insurance claim is made against you) when it’s time to renew your policy, your premiums may be reevaluated by your insurance company based on an updated driving history.
This doesn’t mean there will always be an increase in your premiums because you’ve filed a claim. However, in cases where you’ve had traffic violations or claims, your insurance company may need to increase premiums based on the additional risk they take on to insure you. Learn more about car insurance rate increases and decreases .
Every insurance company has different practices around policy reevaluation for renewal. At Clearcover, we reevaluate policies every six months for a few reasons—including meeting possible claims costs and to make sure our customers are getting the best rate.
And the good news is that Clearcover offers great car insurance rates, and switching car insurance companies could even save you money . So if you’re not happy with your current insurer, shopping around for the best price in car insurance can be a good idea.
The insurance claims process doesn’t have to be slow and confusing—in fact, it shouldn’t be!
With Clearcover’s Clear Claims™, eligible car insurance claims can be paid out in as little as 30 minutes, and our current record is 7 minutes (yes, you read that right).
