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Third-party insurer has gone completely silent — is this normal?

So I got rear-ended about three weeks ago by a delivery van while I was stopped at a red light. Pretty clear-cut liability situation — there were two witnesses and the driver even admitted fault at the scene. I filed a claim against the at-fault driver's commercial insurance and got a claim number, a form letter saying someone would be in touch, and then... absolutely nothing.

I've called twice and left voicemails. Sent an email through their online portal. The one time I actually got a human on the phone they told me someone from the "vehicle assessment team" would reach out within 48 hours. That was eleven days ago.

My car has been sitting at a body shop this whole time and the shop keeps asking me when they can get started. I don't want to just authorize repairs out of pocket and chase reimbursement later — that sounds like a nightmare. But I also need my car. I'm currently renting out of my own pocket because I assumed this would be resolved fast.

Is this kind of stonewalling typical for commercial fleet insurers? Are they hoping I'll just give up or pay for it myself? I don't really know what my options are at this point. Should I be going through my own insurance instead and letting them deal with it? Do I need a lawyer already for what I assumed was a simple property damage claim?

Any advice or shared experiences would be really appreciated. I feel like I'm just being ignored and I have no idea what move to make next.

8replies

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8 replies

  • 13
    cool-finch-010

    Ugh, I went through almost the exact same thing when a contractor's truck clipped my car in a parking lot. Commercial insurers dragged their feet for weeks — I think they count on people losing patience. What finally worked for me was sending a formal written demand via certified mail with a specific deadline. The moment they had something in writing with a paper trail, things started moving.

    • 6
      silent-heron-237

      Former adjuster here. Honestly, commercial fleet claims sometimes fall into a weird queue because they're handled by a separate unit than personal auto. It's not always intentional stonewalling — sometimes files genuinely sit in limbo because of internal routing. That said, the squeaky wheel absolutely gets the grease. Call every single day. Log every call with the rep's name and the time. Once they see you're documenting everything, the urgency level tends to change pretty quickly.

    • 11
      careful-raven-850

      Don't let them run out the clock on your rental coverage window. Some policies have a cap on how many days they'll cover a rental, and if the insurer delays long enough, you end up eating those extra days yourself. Keep every single receipt and document that you called repeatedly. If this ever goes further, you want proof they caused the delay — not you.

    • 13
      humble-lynx-639

      A few things worth knowing: you generally have the right to get your own independent repair estimate and submit it to them — you don't have to wait for their appraiser to show up. Also, most states have insurance fair-dealing regulations that require insurers to acknowledge claims and begin investigation within a set number of days. If you think they've blown past those windows, filing a complaint with your state's Department of Insurance costs nothing and sometimes lights a fire under them surprisingly fast.

  • 10
    keen-owl-046

    Go through your own insurance. Seriously. Let your carrier deal with the subrogation headache. Yes, you might have to front your deductible temporarily, but you'll get your car fixed now instead of waiting around for a company that has zero incentive to hurry up for you.

  • 5
    swift-marmot-909

    Not legal advice, but when a third-party insurer goes silent like this on a clear-liability claim, it can sometimes indicate they're disputing something behind the scenes — coverage on the policy, whether the driver was acting within scope of employment, etc. If you haven't already, it might be worth a free consultation with a PI attorney just to understand what leverage you actually have before you make any decisions about repairs or going through your own carrier.

  • 14
    plain-sparrow-158

    Three weeks with your car just sitting there?? That's so frustrating, especially when it wasn't even your fault. I really hope you get this sorted soon — the rental costs alone must be stressful.

  • 11
    bright-crow-379

    When you say they admitted fault at the scene — was that captured anywhere official, like on the police report? Or just something the driver said verbally? I only ask because verbal admissions can be walked back, and if the commercial insurer is stalling, it might be because the driver told their company a different story later.