What To Do If Your Insurance Claim Is Stalling
smarterclaims teamAn insurance claim that drags on for weeks or months can be almost as frustrating as having it rejected outright. You may find yourself chasing unanswered emails, dealing with different handlers, waiting for reports or being told that your claim is still “under review” without any clear explanation of what happens next.
But you don’t have to simply accept an open-ended delay. By keeping a clear record of communications, understanding how long a claim should actually take, the steps your insurer needs to complete and pushing for firm actions and timescales, you can take back control of a stalling claim.
How a Delay Typically Occurs
Most insurance claims start off well enough. You report the claim to your insurer in line with the instructions in your policy wording and they make positive noises about getting the problem sorted out as quickly as possible.
The problems typically start where further investigation is required, or more than one person on your insurer’s side becomes involved, especially where your claim is outsourced to a loss adjuster. Many people assume that the friendly face of someone visiting you on behalf of your insurer is there to help get your claim paid.
In our experience, however, the primary focus of a loss adjuster is to work out either what the minimum amount is that your insurer can get away with paying you, or whether they can get them out of paying your claim at all! There are a number of gates to get through when managing a claim. It works best if each step is completed before moving on to the next, otherwise things can get messy.
Loss adjusters use this as a common trick. They will often commence each step without finishing the last, usually by a combination of failing to respond properly or at all to update requests and not signing things off properly. A changeover in their head count is also often used in the guise of your claim warranting “someone more senior”.
The end result can be that a number of plates are left spinning without any firm deadline or plan to resolve them. Then, when the whole thing ends up in a mess, your insurer will try to blame you and offer you a low settlement to walk away, having taken several months to do absolutely nothing to help.
What You Can Do to Minimize This
The starting point is to take a tight control on all communications. If your claim drifts for several months on end, it’s unlikely that you will be able to remember what communications you had or with whom – and what they said at the start of the process. If you agree to anything face to face or over the phone, confirm this in a follow-up email immediately after the meeting or call so that you have a contemporaneous record of what was said and agreed. If possible, try to also agree on a timeline for all actions.
Secondly, try to progress each step required to settle your claim in a logical order and to conclude each step before moving onto the next. A favorite loss adjuster trick is to try to value what your claim is worth before actually having any professional input about what is actually required to put you back in your pre-claim position – and then getting quotes or tender returns for what this will actually cost.
Steps You Can Take to Validate Your Claim
These are the distinct steps required to validate a claim and get it paid. Ideally, you should try to get the action complete in each step before moving onto the next one.
| Step | Action | What to Do |
|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | Consider insured risk | Check your policy schedule to see which sections are active, then review your policy wording to ensure the loss was caused by one of the specific perils listed. |
| Step 2 | Verify accurate disclosures | Review the document detailing the information you provided to your insurer. Ensure all details are accurate, as failing to take "reasonable care" allows the insurer to cancel the policy retroactively. |
| Step 3 | Check for policy exclusions | Read both the specific section your claim falls under and the General Exclusions section. If an exclusion might apply, gather independent proof showing why it does not. |
| Step 4 | Verify policy conditions compliance | Check the relevant section and the General Conditions section for requirements you must meet. Gather independent evidence to prove you complied with these conditions. |
| Step 5 | Determine repair requirements | Work out what is needed to fix the issue. For complex claims (e.g., building damage), consider hiring a professional (like a surveyor) to prevent the insurer from disputing the entire claim over a partial issue. |
| Step 6 | Calculate claim costs | Determine the cost only after agreeing on Step 5 with your insurer. This prevents loss adjusters from estimating costs before the full scope of repairs is established. |
| Step 7 | Execute or settle | Stand your ground against low settlement offers caused by insurer delays. Once Steps 1–6 are fully agreed upon, proceed with repairs or accept the final settlement. |
Note: In relation to Steps 5 and 6, it's always best to use an expert who has an arm’s length relationship with you. This is because you will be easy prey from your insurer if the expert recommends doing more than your insurer thinks is required to put you in your pre-claim position, or their quote cost for the cost of your claim is higher than your insurer thinks it should be.
Your insurer, or their loss adjuster, will then just throw the review back at you, suggesting that you have conspired to overvalue what is required. This will cause your claim to tail spin and give your insurer the change to suggest you have been fraudulent. Don’t give them this satisfaction.
Who Is Responsible for Poor Quality Insurance Repairs?
Most policy wordings include claims control language, which allows your insurer to decide unilaterally whether to repair or replace something, or whether to give you a cash settlement in discharge of your claim. Generally, these clauses are enforceable but your insurer must act reasonably when applying them.
Often, but not always, any company that provides services on behalf of your insurer will be a sizable business who has agreed a bulk buy and one-size-fits-all approach to providing their service at a low price. This puts downward pressure on quality.
It’s worth remembering that if your insurer chooses who to use to repair or replace something, then they are responsible for the quality and timeliness of that service – and not you. You will not be responsible for the repairer’s work just because you obtain an estimate for the work or your insurer gave you a list of preferred suppliers for you to choose one from.
Additionally, you will not be responsible if you choose the repairer where the work is subsequently controlled by your insurer, for example if they require the work to be carried out in a particular way.
How Smarterclaims.co.uk Can Help
If you have all or part of an insurance claim refused under a consumer insurance policy, or you are provided with poor or slow service by your insurer, we can help. We’ve catalogued most of the excuses that insurers use to refuse paying claims under the common policy types and matched them against the laws and rules that help you.
If you drag and drop your insurer’s excuse letter and your policy documents into our portal, our AI will explain which arguments you can use and how to present them to best effect. It will also draft a letter for you to send to your insurer embedded with links to the laws and rules that help you.
You can then use this to challenge your insurer by making the right arguments persuasively. We’ll also give you a step-by-step guide telling what to do in the right order, so that you can present your case to the right people as quickly and efficiently as possible. Our service is available for a small fixed fee, but we will refund you if you are not entirely happy with what we provide.
Disclaimer: Smarterclaims is not a law firm or a claims management company and we don’t give advice. We are a digital tool for UK consumer insurance disputes. Using Artificial intelligence, we publish legal information and write letters that you can send yourself to help you overcome an insurance claim refusal. Our database of know-how contains 40 years of expertise drawn from inside both the insurance and legal industry to ensure its high accuracy.
Final Thoughts
When an insurance claim drags on for weeks or months without a clear explanation, it can feel as though there is little you can do except keep chasing for updates. In reality, delays often become worse when actions are left unfinished, responsibilities are unclear, or nobody is being held to a firm timetable.
The best way to regain control is to keep a clear written record of communications, establish exactly what remains outstanding, and ask who is responsible for completing each action and when it will be done. Where possible, try to resolve each stage of the claim in a logical order before moving onto the next.
If your insurer continues to delay matters without good reason, you can make a formal complaint and consider escalating the dispute further if it is not resolved within the relevant timeframe.
The important thing is not to allow your claim to drift indefinitely. Keep the process organised, press for clear actions and deadlines, and make sure unresolved issues are properly documented so that you are in a stronger position if you need to challenge the way your claim is being handled.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my insurance claim taking so long?
Claims can stall when further investigations are required, several parties become involved or individual stages are left unresolved. Ask your insurer exactly what is outstanding, who is responsible for completing it, and when you can expect it to be done.
What should I do if my insurer keeps delaying my claim?
Keep a written record of all communications and ask for clear actions and deadlines. Where possible, complete each stage of validating and valuing the claim before moving to the next so that unresolved issues do not accumulate.
Who is responsible if my insurer’s repairs are delayed or of poor quality?
If your insurer chooses the repairer or controls how the work is carried out, they can remain responsible for the quality and timeliness of that service. Choosing from an insurer’s preferred suppliers, or obtaining an estimate yourself, does not necessarily make you responsible for the repairer’s work.