Almost 2 years and the other driver's insurer still hasn't paid me out — is this legal??

Oh wow, this is almost exactly what happened to me a couple years back. Someone hit my parked car while I was at work and their insurance kept giving me the runaround for months. What finally moved things along for me was sending a formal written demand letter — not just calling. The phone calls meant nothing. Once something was in writing with a deadline, they suddenly got a lot more responsive. I don't know if it'll work for you but it's worth a shot before you go nuclear.

That "we're still trying to reach our insured" line is one of the oldest stall tactics in the book. They know exactly where their customer is — they just use it as an excuse to delay paying out. Don't let them run the clock on you. Every week you wait is a week they're earning interest on the money they owe you.

I used to work on the claims side and I'll be honest — multi-vehicle losses like yours get complicated internally because they're trying to figure out how to divide liability payouts across all the claimants without overexposing themselves. It's not necessarily malicious but it absolutely disadvantages you as a third-party claimant. You have less leverage than their own policyholder does. A lot of people in your position end up going through their own collision coverage first just to get a car, and then their insurer goes after the at-fault carrier for reimbursement. Not ideal if you have to pay a deductible upfront, but it gets you moving again.

The "three years" thing they're quoting is probably a reference to the statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit in your state — meaning YOU have roughly three years to sue if needed. They may be misrepresenting that as permission to drag the claim out that long, which is not the same thing at all. That said, statutes vary by state and I'd double-check what yours actually says. What you should also look into is whether your state has any regulations around timely claim handling — a lot of states require insurers to acknowledge, investigate, and make a coverage decision within specific timeframes. If they're violating those, you can file a complaint with your state's department of insurance. That complaint costs you nothing and sometimes lights a fire.

Not legal advice, but this kind of third-party claim delay is pretty common and there are a few pressure points available to you. A complaint with your state insurance commissioner is one. A demand letter with a firm deadline is another. And if the value of your loss is significant, a consultation with a PI attorney is worth doing — many work on contingency so there's no upfront cost. The threat of litigation alone sometimes unsticks a stalled claim. The three-year framing they gave you concerns me — that sounds like they may be mischaracterizing the statute of limitations as their own timeline, which it isn't.

File a complaint with your state's department of insurance TODAY. It takes like 20 minutes online and costs nothing. Insurance companies hate those complaints because they have to formally respond. Also, stop calling and start emailing or sending certified letters — you need a paper trail if this ever goes further.

Did you ever go through your own insurer at all? And do you have uninsured/underinsured coverage? I'm also curious — did the at-fault driver actually have active coverage at the time of the accident or is there any question about that? Sometimes the delay isn't a stall tactic, it's because there's a coverage dispute on their end. Not saying that's the case here, just wondering if there's more to the story.