When contracting insurance, we recommend that the insured be properly advised of the benefits of the policy that he will contract. However, something that you do not question until the moment of having an accident is how long it takes the insurance to fix the car.
For years, both the person responsible for the accident and the victim have had to wait a long time until there was an agreement between the insurers and the corresponding arrangements and payment of invoices were made. This, in the end, ends up leading to extra expenses to solve mobility problems.
If you wonder how long the insurance has to respond and what are the notification deadlines, then you are interested in continuing to read this article.
HOW LONG DOES THE INSURANCE TAKE TO FIX THE CAR?
According to the Insurance Contract Law, the company has up to 40 days to resolve the claim from the notification of the insured. In that period, the insurer must cover even the minimum amount of compensation.
Within these forty days, the insurance company must investigate, assess the damage, determine responsibility, and make the payment or repair. Taking into account these deadlines, it is convenient that you have the replacement car service in your insurance policy. It is also important that you find out if the company with which you are going to contract the insurance is attached to CICOS (Computer Center for Claims Compensation).
If the insurance company does not comply with the repair or payment of the total amount within 3 months from the notification, then it must pay the amount of compensation plus twenty percent per year.
The terms and procedures are dictated by Law 50/1980 on insurance contracts.
FRIENDLY DECLARATION OF ACCIDENTS
The agreement made by the insurance companies by which each insurer is immediately responsible for the repair of the insured’s vehicle is known as the Friendly Declaration of Accidents. This avoids having to wait for the repair while the companies determine the responsibility of the accident to know who bears the expenses.
As you know, car insurance is civil liability insurance that covers damage to third parties. This direct compensation system reduces time and makes the repair process easier for both insured parties. With these agreements, the terms have been reduced to 15 or 20 days from the notification of the claim.
Meanwhile, insurance companies investigate the accident and determine liability. In this way, there is a subsequent compensation process by the insurance company of the person responsible for that of the accident victim.
This change was possible thanks to the creation of a clearinghouse, CICOS (Centro Informático de Compensación de Sinestros).
NOTIFICATION PROCESS
The insured has seven days to notify the insurer of the claim. This must be through a written document with a detailed description of what happened. It is important to give as much information and detail as possible so as not to fall into “fraud or gross negligence”, and as a consequence lose compensation.
After this period, the insurer may not refuse to make the payment or repair but may claim damages, further affecting the victim.
HOW LONG DOES AN INSURER HAVE TO RESPOND?
If the victim of an accident suffers injuries or damages and wants to claim the responsible insurance company, then they must submit a request for a motivated offer of compensation. The insurance in this case has 3 months to respond. This measure is stipulated by Law 35/2015 of September 22.
Any subsequent claim may be made within two years in the case of material damage, or five for claims with physical damage to people.
IF THE INSURER REFUSES
If the insurer refuses to pay compensation or make the relevant arrangements, then you have a period of seven days to notify it from the moment you became aware of the claim. The communication must also be in writing and detail the reasons why it is refused as well as the expert report. From this moment the insured has the right to make a second expert in the following eight days.
