Filing the Claim

Report the accident as soon as you safely can — ideally the same day, and almost always within 24 to 48 hours. That single action does more to protect your claim than anything else you do afterward. Everything below explains why, and how to do it right even when the accident wasn’t your fault.

Why insurers ask for prompt notice

Every auto policy includes a duty to notify your insurer of an accident “promptly” or “as soon as reasonably possible.” This isn’t bureaucratic filler. It exists because insurance claims are built on evidence, and evidence degrades fast.

Skid marks fade. Debris gets swept away. Traffic camera footage, where it exists, is often overwritten on a short cycle — sometimes just days. Witnesses move on with their lives and their memories blur. The other driver’s story can shift once they’ve had time to think about fault, talk to a lawyer, or realize their own insurance rates are on the line.

Your insurer’s adjuster is trying to reconstruct what happened as accurately as possible, and their ability to do that is strongest in the first hours and days. A prompt report lets them:

• Send an adjuster to inspect the vehicles and scene before damage is repaired or cars are scrapped.
• Pull and preserve any available surveillance or dashcam footage before it’s deleted.
• Contact witnesses while their memory of events is fresh.
• Start coordinating with the other driver’s insurer before positions harden.

There’s also a contractual dimension. Insurance policies are agreements, and “notify us promptly” is one of the conditions you agreed to when you bought the policy. Insurers generally use delay as one factor among several when they evaluate how a claim should be handled — not as an automatic disqualifier, but as something that can complicate the process and invite closer scrutiny. The exact language and consequences vary by policy and by state, so this is worth reading in your own declarations page or policy booklet rather than assuming.

What counts as reporting

Reporting an accident means giving your insurer actual notice that something happened — not just thinking about it, not just exchanging information with the other driver, and not just filing a police report. Those are related steps, but they aren’t the same thing as notifying your insurer.

A report typically includes:

• When and where the accident happened.
• Who was involved — your vehicle, the other vehicle(s), and any passengers.
• A basic description of what happened, in your own words. You don’t need to argue fault or build a case. Just describe what occurred as you understood it.
• Photos, if you have them, of vehicle damage, the scene, and any visible road conditions or signage relevant to what happened.
• Police report number, if law enforcement responded and generated one.
• Contact information for the other driver and any witnesses.

You can report through several channels, depending on your insurer:

• The insurer’s mobile app, which usually walks you through the same information step by step.
• Their claims phone line, which is often staffed 24/7 for exactly this reason.
• Their website’s claim-filing portal.
• Occasionally, through an agent — though if you have an independent agent rather than dealing with the insurer directly, understand that notifying your agent may or may not satisfy the notice requirement in your policy. Check, and when in doubt, report directly to the insurer as well.

One detail trips people up: reporting is not the same as filing a claim for payment. You can report an accident and tell the insurer you don’t think you’ll need to file a claim on your own policy — for instance, if the other driver is clearly at fault and their insurer is handling it. The report still matters. It puts your insurer on notice and creates a record, even if money never moves through your policy.

What happens if you wait

Delaying your report doesn’t automatically kill a claim, but it stacks disadvantages, and they compound.

Evidence disappears. The longer you wait, the more likely it is that the physical scene has changed, footage has been overwritten, and witnesses are harder to reach or less certain of details. An adjuster working from thin evidence has less to work with, which slows everything down and can affect how confidently they can support your account.

The other side’s story sets first. If the other driver reports promptly and you don’t, their insurer’s version of events becomes the working narrative by default. You’re not accused of anything by staying quiet — you’re just absent from the conversation while it happens without you.

Repairs and treatment get harder to connect to the accident. If you wait weeks to report and your car has already been repaired elsewhere, or if you’ve already had a mechanic look at it, it becomes harder for the insurer to independently verify what damage came from this specific incident versus prior wear or an unrelated issue. The cleaner the timeline between accident and report, the easier this is for everyone.

Insurers may treat late notice as a red flag. Fair or not, a long delay before reporting can prompt an adjuster to ask more questions, request more documentation, or take longer to reach a decision. It’s not that they assume dishonesty — it’s that a gap in time is itself a gap in the record, and their job is to fill gaps before they pay a claim.

State reporting rules may apply on top of your policy. Many states require drivers to report accidents involving injury, death, or damage above a certain threshold to a state agency or law enforcement, separate and apart from anything your insurer requires. These rules and thresholds vary by state and change over time, so check your state’s department of motor vehicles or equivalent agency for the current requirement rather than relying on what a neighboring state does or what used to be true.

Delay can affect more than this one claim. A pattern of late reporting, across multiple incidents over time, is something insurers may factor into how they view your account at renewal. One late report after a confusing, stressful accident is very different from a pattern — but it’s one more reason to build the habit of reporting quickly every time.

How to report even when you’re not at fault

A common mistake: assuming that if the other driver was clearly at fault, you don’t need to tell your own insurer anything. Report it anyway. Here’s why, and how to do it cleanly.

Report to your own insurer first, even if their insurer will ultimately pay. Fault determinations aren’t always simple, and they aren’t always made quickly. The other driver’s insurer may dispute fault, delay contact, or simply be slower than you’d like. Having your own insurer already in the loop means you have someone actively working on your behalf from day one, rather than starting from zero if the other side stalls.

Keep your account factual and simple. You don’t need to narrate blame, argue percentages, or speculate about what the other driver was thinking. State what you observed: the sequence of events, the road conditions, the point of impact, anything you noticed about signals, signage, or speed. Let the adjusters and, if needed, the police report do the work of sorting out fault.

Gather the other driver’s information at the scene if you can do so safely. Name, insurance company, policy number, license plate, and contact information. If you’re too shaken or the scene is unsafe to do this thoroughly, that’s fine — the police report and any witnesses can often fill gaps later. Prompt reporting to your insurer still matters even if this piece is incomplete.

Understand that your insurer may pursue reimbursement from the other insurer. This process happens between the two insurance companies, largely without needing your day-to-day involvement, once you’ve reported and provided your account. Reporting promptly is what starts this process moving instead of leaving it sitting idle.

Don’t skip reporting because you’re worried about your own rates. A lot of drivers hesitate to call their insurer after an accident that wasn’t their fault because they associate any claim with a rate increase. Being the not-at-fault party is exactly the kind of detail an insurer records and considers, and it’s a different situation from being found at fault. If you have specific questions about how a report might affect your policy, ask your insurer directly rather than guessing — the answer depends on your policy, your state, and the specifics of the incident, not on general assumptions.

If you’re unsure whether something counts as reportable, report it anyway. A minor parking lot scrape, a low-speed bump, a piece of debris that dented your bumper — you don’t have to be certain it will turn into a claim to tell your insurer it happened. A quick report costs you a few minutes. Silence, if it turns out you needed that report later, costs you the exact evidence and cooperation you’d want on your side.

Once you’ve reported an accident or loss, the claim doesn’t resolve in a single phone call. It moves through a sequence of stages, each with its own timeline and its own paperwork. Knowing what’s coming next won’t speed anything up, but it will keep you from feeling like the process has stalled when it’s actually just moving to its next step.

Confirming Coverage and Opening the Claim

The first thing that happens after you report an incident is quiet and administrative: your insurer checks that your policy was active on the date of the loss and that the type of damage you’re describing is something your policy covers. This is the step where collision, comprehensive, liability, and any add-on coverages get sorted out. If you’re not sure which of these apply to your situation, this is also the point where a claims representative can walk you through it step by step.

To open the claim, you’ll typically need to provide:

• The date, time, and location of the incident
• A brief, factual description of what happened
• Names and contact information for anyone else involved
• A police report number, if one was filed
• Photos of the damage, if you have them

Once this information is logged, you’ll receive a claim number. Write it down somewhere you won’t lose it — you’ll use it every time you call, email, or upload a document from here forward. This is also when your insurer will tell you, in general terms, what your policy covers for this type of loss, including whether a deductible applies and roughly what that amount is. If a rental car benefit is part of your coverage, this is the moment to ask about it, since some policies require you to arrange it before repairs begin rather than after.

None of this locks in a settlement number yet. Confirming coverage just establishes that a claim exists and which parts of your policy are in play. The financial specifics come later, once the damage has actually been assessed.

Assigning an Adjuster

After the claim is opened, it gets assigned to an adjuster — the person who will evaluate the damage, review the facts of the incident, and recommend a settlement amount. Depending on your insurer and the size of the claim, this might be an employee of the company, an independent adjuster contracted for the job, or in some cases a claims team rather than a single individual.

You should expect to hear from your adjuster within a business day or two of the claim being opened, though this can vary depending on how many claims the company is handling at once — after a large regional storm, for instance, response times across the industry tend to slow down simply due to volume. If it’s been longer than that and no one has reached out, calling back with your claim number is a reasonable next step.

The adjuster’s job in this phase is mostly to gather information. They may ask you to:

• Recount what happened, in your own words
• Provide any documentation you haven’t already submitted
• Clarify details from the police report or the other driver’s account
• Identify where the vehicle is currently located

It’s worth keeping your own notes during this stage — who you spoke with, what date, and what was discussed. Claims can involve multiple people over several weeks, and a simple log saves you from having to reconstruct the timeline later if a detail needs to be revisited.

If more than one vehicle or party is involved, your adjuster may also be coordinating with the other driver’s insurance company. This doesn’t mean fault has been decided yet — it usually just means both companies are collecting the same set of facts independently before anyone draws conclusions.

Inspection or Estimate

With the basic facts gathered, the claim moves into assessing the actual damage. How this happens depends on the size and nature of the loss.

For many vehicle claims, you’ll be directed to one of a few paths:

• An in-person inspection, where an adjuster or a staff appraiser looks at the vehicle directly, often at a drive-in claims center, a body shop, or wherever the car is currently located.
• A photo-based estimate, where you submit pictures through an app or online portal and an estimate is generated remotely. This has become common for more straightforward damage.
• A network repair shop estimate, where you take the vehicle to a shop your insurer works with, and their estimator handles the assessment as part of arranging the repair.

Whichever path applies, the goal is the same: to arrive at a documented estimate of what it will cost to repair the vehicle, or to determine that the cost of repair exceeds the vehicle’s value, in which case the claim shifts toward a total-loss evaluation instead.

If your car is declared a total loss, the process changes shape. Instead of a repair estimate, the insurer will research the vehicle’s value based on its age, mileage, condition, and comparable sales in your area. You’ll usually be given a chance to review that valuation and provide additional information — service records, recent upgrades, or comparable listings — if you think something relevant was missed.

This stage is often where things feel slowest, because it involves waiting: for an appointment, for a shop’s schedule to open up, for parts availability to be checked. It’s reasonable to ask your adjuster for a rough timeframe once the inspection or estimate is complete, even if it’s just a general window rather than an exact date.

If Another Driver Is Involved

When a claim involves more than one vehicle, the inspection stage sometimes runs in parallel with a review of fault. Both insurers may be assessing damage to their respective policyholder’s vehicle while also comparing accounts of how the incident occurred. This can add time to the process, since a settlement often can’t be finalized until the fault determination and the damage estimate are both in hand. If your claim is moving through this dual-track process, your adjuster should be able to tell you which piece is still outstanding.

Settlement and Payment

Once the estimate is finalized — whether that’s a repair cost or a total-loss valuation — the claim moves to settlement. This is where the insurer presents a specific dollar figure tied to your claim and outlines how payment will be handled.

For repairable damage, payment structures generally fall into one of these patterns:

• Direct payment to a repair shop, especially if you used a shop in the insurer’s network. In this case, you typically pay only your deductible, and the insurer settles the rest directly with the shop once the work is done.
• Payment to you, if you’re using a shop outside the insurer’s network or handling the repair yourself. The check or deposit may come in stages — an initial amount, followed by a supplement if the shop discovers additional damage once the repair is underway.

Supplemental estimates are common and not a sign that anything went wrong. Hidden damage — behind a bumper, under a panel — often isn’t visible until a repair is partially completed. When this happens, the shop documents the additional damage, submits it to the insurer, and the settlement amount is adjusted accordingly.

For a total loss, settlement works differently. The insurer pays out the agreed value of the vehicle, minus your deductible, and in most cases takes ownership of the vehicle’s remains (called the salvage). If you still owe money on an auto loan or lease, the payment is usually directed first to the lender, with any remaining balance coming to you. If the settlement amount is less than what you owe, that gap is something to discuss with your insurer and lender directly, since some policies include coverage specifically designed to help with this kind of shortfall.

Once payment is issued, most insurers consider the claim closed, though it’s common for a claim to stay technically open for a short window afterward in case a supplement or a late-discovered issue comes up. If you receive a check and then notice something was missed — a damaged part the shop didn’t catch, for instance — contacting your adjuster promptly is the right move, since claims are easier to reopen soon after settlement than months later.

Keeping the Process Moving

There’s no way to skip stages, but there are a few habits that keep things from stalling unnecessarily:

• Respond to requests for documents or information as soon as you’re able to.
• Keep your claim number handy and reference it in every conversation.
• Ask each person you speak with what the next step is and roughly when to expect it.
• Keep a simple written log of calls, dates, and what was discussed.

A claim rarely moves in a perfectly straight line — some steps happen out of order, some overlap, and timelines shift depending on how busy your insurer is or how complex the damage turns out to be. But the shape of the process is consistent: confirm coverage, assign an adjuster, assess the damage, and settle. Knowing that sequence in advance makes each phone call and each form make a little more sense, even on a day when very little else does.

After a collision, you usually have a choice about where to send the claim. You can file it with your own insurance company, or you can file it with the other driver’s company, often called a third-party claim. Sometimes you don’t get to choose, because fault or coverage limits push you toward one path. But when you do have a choice, the decision changes more than just paperwork. It changes who investigates, how fast things move, and how much control you have while you wait.

Neither path is automatically better. They’re just different processes with different tradeoffs. Understanding those differences before you pick up the phone can save you a lot of frustration.

How each path starts

Filing on your own policy starts with a call or an app submission to your own insurer. You report the incident using your policy number, they open a claim file, and they assign an adjuster from their own staff. Because you’re their customer, the intake process tends to be quick and familiar. You already have their contact information, you may already have an account set up online, and the person you speak with works for the company you’ve been paying premiums to.

This path typically comes into play when you have collision coverage on your own policy, when fault is unclear, or when the other driver is uninsured or underinsured. It’s also the more common route when you simply want your car repaired quickly and want to sort out fault later.

Filing with the other driver’s insurer works differently. You’re not their customer, so you don’t have an existing account or relationship. You’ll need the other driver’s insurance information, usually gathered at the scene or through a police report, then you contact their insurer directly to open what’s called a third-party claim. Some companies make this easy with a claims phone line or online portal open to non-customers. Others are noticeably slower to engage with someone who isn’t already in their system.

This route generally comes up when the other driver is clearly at fault and you’d rather not involve your own policy, particularly if you’re trying to avoid a deductible or a potential effect on your own claims history.

Who controls the investigation

This is where the two paths really diverge.

When you file with your own insurer, you’re dealing with a company that has a contractual duty to you. Their adjuster investigates the incident, but they’re doing so as part of a relationship that includes obligations spelled out in your policy. If there’s a dispute about what happened, your insurer is working from your side of the file, even while they’re also trying to figure out the facts objectively. You’ll typically get more consistent communication, because keeping you informed is part of how they operate as your insurer.

When you file with the other driver’s insurer, the adjuster you’re speaking with doesn’t have that same relationship with you. They represent their policyholder, not you. That doesn’t mean the process is adversarial by default, most claims of this kind are handled routinely and without conflict, but it does mean the investigation is being run by a company whose primary duty is to a different driver. They’ll gather evidence, review the police report if there is one, may inspect vehicle damage, and could reach out to witnesses. But the pace and thoroughness of that outreach is entirely under their control, not yours, and you may find it harder to get timely updates simply because you’re not their customer.

In both cases, the adjuster’s job is to determine what happened and what it’s worth to fix or replace what was damaged. The difference is where their loyalty sits during that process, and how much visibility you get into the file while it’s moving.

How timing differs

Filing on your own policy tends to move faster, at least in the early stages. Because you already have a relationship with the company, and because many insurers want to get your vehicle back in service quickly, initial contact and repair authorization can happen within days rather than weeks. Some insurers offer expedited paths for straightforward claims, direct repair programs, or rental car coordination that kicks in almost immediately.

A common tradeoff is your deductible. You’ll usually pay it upfront, and depending on how fault gets sorted out afterward, your insurer may or may not recover that amount from the other driver’s insurer later through a subrogation process. That process happens behind the scenes and isn’t something you generally need to manage yourself, but it does mean your deductible is often the price of speed.

Filing with the other driver’s insurer usually takes longer to get moving. There’s no existing account to speed up intake, and the company has to first confirm that their policyholder is actually at fault before they’ll agree to pay for anything. That confirmation step can take time, especially if fault isn’t obvious, if there’s a disagreement between drivers about what happened, or if the police report is delayed. Once fault is accepted, the process can move reasonably quickly, but that initial waiting period is often the most frustrating part for people who choose this route.

There’s also a practical timing consideration: if the other driver’s insurer is slow, or if fault is contested, you may not want your car sitting damaged for that entire stretch. That’s part of why many drivers with collision coverage choose to file with their own insurer first, even in a clear-fault situation, simply to get repairs started sooner. If your insurer later recovers costs from the other driver’s insurer, that’s handled between the companies.

What stays the same either way

Regardless of which path you take, some things don’t change.

• You’ll need the same basic information. Names, contact details, insurance information for everyone involved, the date, time, and location of the incident, and a description of what happened. Gathering this at the scene, if you’re able to safely, makes either path smoother later.
• Documentation matters the same amount. Photos of vehicle damage, the surrounding area, and any visible road conditions are useful no matter who’s investigating. A police report, when one is available, is generally treated as a helpful reference point by both your insurer and the other driver’s insurer.
• An adjuster will assess the damage. Whether that person works for your company or the other driver’s, the basic mechanics are similar: they’ll look at repair estimates, may inspect the vehicle in person or review photos, and will use that assessment to determine what the claim is worth.
• You can generally choose your own repair shop. Insurers often recommend shops they work with regularly, sometimes called preferred or network shops, but in most cases you’re not required to use one. This holds true whether you’re filing on your own policy or the other driver’s.
• Settlement still depends on the facts, not the path. Filing with one company instead of the other doesn’t change what actually happened or what the damage is worth. It changes the process for getting there, not the underlying facts an adjuster is working from.

Choosing between the two, when you have a choice

If fault is clear and undisputed, and you’re comfortable waiting a bit longer for the other insurer to confirm and authorize things, filing a third-party claim can mean skipping your deductible entirely. That’s often the appeal of this route.

If you want repairs started quickly, if fault is uncertain, or if you’re worried about how responsive the other driver’s insurer will be, filing on your own policy is usually the more predictable choice, especially if you already carry collision or comprehensive coverage. You’ll likely pay your deductible upfront, but you’ll have a company that answers your calls promptly and has clear obligations to you throughout the process.

Some drivers file with both, starting a claim on their own policy to keep things moving while a third-party claim is evaluated in parallel. Whether that’s practical depends on your specific policy and the details of the incident, so if you’re unsure, it’s worth asking your own insurer directly what they recommend for your situation before you decide.

Before you need this information

If you’re reading this ahead of any incident, the most useful thing you can do now is know your own policy: what coverage you carry, what your deductible is, and how to reach your insurer’s claims line. That single piece of preparation makes either path faster when you actually need it. And if you’re currently dealing with a fresh claim, know that the differences between these two paths are about process and pace, not about whether your situation will be handled fairly. Both routes lead to the same basic goal: getting an accurate assessment of what happened and what it will cost to make things right.

The phone rings a day or two after your accident, and the voice on the other end says they’re an insurance adjuster calling about your claim. Your stomach tightens. You don’t know what they’re going to ask, whether you’re supposed to have answers ready, or whether saying the wrong thing could hurt you. That reaction is normal. Here’s what’s actually happening on that call, and how to walk into it steady instead of scrambled.

Why They’re Calling Now

An adjuster’s job is to figure out what happened, who was involved, and what it’s going to cost to make it right. That’s it. The call isn’t a test, and it isn’t a trap by default — it’s information gathering, the same way a nurse asks you questions before a doctor sees you.

The timing tends to follow a pattern. If you reported the claim yourself, the adjuster is usually calling within a business day or two, before details fade and before repairs or medical visits complicate the picture. If the other driver’s insurer is calling you, they’re doing the same thing from their side — trying to understand the accident before they set aside money for it or decide how liability might be shared.

Either way, the call exists because a claim file has to have a story in it, in the policyholder’s or claimant’s own words, recorded close to the event. That story becomes the anchor for everything that happens later: the repair estimate, the rental car approval, any discussion of who was at fault. Getting it down early, while your memory is fresh, actually works in your favor — it’s much harder to reconstruct details three weeks out.

Two Different Adjusters, Two Different Roles

If more than one insurance company is involved, you may hear from more than one adjuster. Your own insurer’s adjuster is handling your claim under your policy — your damage, your medical payments coverage if you have it, your rental car benefit. The other driver’s insurer’s adjuster is evaluating a claim against their policyholder, which means their questions may probe a bit differently, especially around fault. Knowing which one you’re talking to helps you understand why the conversation feels the way it does.

The Questions They Typically Ask

Most adjuster calls follow a fairly predictable shape. Expect questions like these:

• When and where did it happen? Date, time, intersection or highway marker, weather and road conditions.
• What were you doing right before impact? Direction of travel, speed in general terms, whether you were stopped, turning, merging.
• What happened in the moment of the collision? This is the part people find hardest to describe cleanly, and that’s fine — describe it as you remember it, not as you think it should sound.
• Who else was involved? Other drivers, passengers, pedestrians, and whether a police report was filed.
• Was anyone hurt? You don’t need to diagnose anything here. If you or anyone else saw a medical provider or plans to, say so plainly and let the medical side stay with the medical providers.
• What damage do you see on the vehicles? A general description is enough — you’re not expected to estimate repair costs.
• Do you have photos, a police report number, or witness information? If you do, this is when it helps to have it in front of you.

Some calls also include questions about your vehicle’s condition before the accident, whether it’s still drivable, and how you’re getting around in the meantime. These aren’t trick questions. They’re the practical follow-ups that determine what gets approved next — a rental car, a tow, a body shop referral.

What They’re Not Asking You to Do

An adjuster is not asking you to argue your case, assign blame in dramatic terms, or guess at numbers. If you don’t know something — the exact speed, the exact distance, whether a light was fully red or just turning — it is completely fine to say “I’m not sure” rather than fill in a guess that sounds confident. A calm, honest “I don’t know” is a better answer than a confident wrong one, because the file is more useful when it’s accurate than when it’s polished.

What to Have Ready Before You Pick Up

You don’t need to over-prepare for this call, but a little organization makes it go faster and reduces the chance you’ll misremember something under pressure.

• Your policy number and the other driver’s basic information, if you have it — name, insurer, plate number.
• The police report number, if an officer responded to the scene.
• Photos of the vehicles, the scene, and any visible damage, if you took them. You don’t have to describe every photo verbally; just knowing you have them ready to send later is enough for now.
• A rough written timeline jotted down beforehand — even five bullet points on your phone’s notes app helps you stay consistent and reduces the stress of recalling everything live.
• Names of anyone else in the car, and whether they’ve sought any medical attention.
• A quiet few minutes. If the call comes at a bad moment — you’re driving, at work, distracted — it is entirely reasonable to ask to schedule a callback. Adjusters take these calls all day; a rescheduled call is routine for them, even if it feels like an imposition to you.

One more thing worth having ready: patience with yourself. You were just in a collision. It’s normal for details to feel jumbled. Adjusters are used to talking with people who are shaken up, and a good one will slow down and ask questions one at a time rather than rushing you.

Recorded Statements

Sometimes the call includes a recorded statement, sometimes it’s just notes taken on the adjuster’s end. If you’re asked whether the call is being recorded, you’re entitled to a straight answer about that — and it’s reasonable to ask, if it isn’t offered upfront. If you’re not comfortable giving a recorded statement in that moment, you can ask to do it at a scheduled time instead, once you’ve had a chance to gather your thoughts. There’s no rule that says the first phone call has to be the one where every detail gets locked in.

What Comes After the Call

Once the initial call is done, the claim moves into its next phase, and what that looks like depends on the type of claim.

For vehicle damage: the adjuster or an appraiser typically arranges to inspect the car, either in person, at a shop, or sometimes through photos you submit. From there, you’ll usually get a repair estimate, and if the car is a total loss, a valuation conversation instead. This is also when a rental car benefit, if your policy includes one, usually gets confirmed.

For anything involving injury, the claim tends to move more slowly and carefully, because it depends on medical treatment and records that take time to come together. Don’t expect — or push for — a fast resolution on that side. It genuinely takes as long as it takes.

For fault and liability, the adjuster may tell you a determination is pending while they gather statements from everyone involved, review the police report, and sometimes consult photos or even traffic camera footage if it exists. It’s common for this part of the process to take longer than people expect. A pending determination isn’t a bad sign — it’s just how the process works when more than one party is involved.

Throughout this stage, you’ll typically be assigned a claim number, if you don’t have one already, and given a direct line or email for follow-up questions. Save that information somewhere you won’t lose it — a note in your phone, a photo of it, whatever sticks. You’ll likely need it more than once over the coming weeks.

Staying in the Loop Without Overdoing It

It’s reasonable to check in periodically if you haven’t heard anything in a while, especially if repairs are stalled or a rental car benefit is about to run out. A simple, factual check-in call — “just following up on claim number X, wondering what the current status is” — is normal and expected. You don’t need to apologize for asking, and you don’t need to escalate your tone to get a response; most delays are just processing time, not a sign of a problem.

If your policy or the other driver’s coverage is unclear to you — what it covers, what it doesn’t, or how a deductible applies to your specific situation — that’s worth asking directly rather than guessing. Adjusters expect these questions and would generally rather answer them than have you assume something incorrect.

The Short Version

The adjuster’s call is a fact-finding conversation, not a negotiation you have to win in the moment. Answer what you know clearly, say “I’m not sure” when you’re not, have your basic documentation nearby, and don’t be afraid to reschedule if the timing is bad. The rest of the process — inspection, estimate, fault review — unfolds afterward, usually on its own timeline. Staying organized and steady through that first call makes everything that follows a little easier to manage.