Insurance Company Stalling Your Claim? Here’s What To Know

You call the adjuster and get voicemail again. Your email from last week still has no reply, and the bills keep coming. If your car insurance company is not responding to your claim, you’re not overreacting. A long silence after a crash is frustrating, and sometimes it signals the insurer is stalling. Below, we walk you through why it happens, what to do next, and what Massachusetts rules can do for you when an insurer goes quiet.

Is This Normal, or Is the Insurance Company Stalling?

If you’re asking “Am I overreacting?”, you probably aren’t. Some waiting is normal. Adjusters juggle many files, and they often need medical records, repair estimates, or a statement from their own driver first. A slow claim is one thing. A claim with no calls, no emails, and no updates for weeks is another, and that’s when we start asking questions.

So where’s the line? Massachusetts law gives us a pretty good guide.

How Long Can an Insurer Take To Respond to a Car Accident Claim in MA?

What counts as reasonable also depends on whose insurer you’re dealing with.

If It’s the At-Fault Driver’s Insurance Company

This insurer works for its customer, not for you. Massachusetts doesn’t set one deadline for every claim. It does set a standard. M.G.L. c. 176D, § 3(9)(b) and (e), insurers must “act reasonably promptly” on claim communications and confirm or deny coverage within a reasonable time after proof of loss.

If you keep hearing “we haven’t accepted fault yet,” the insurer is usually waiting on its driver or a police report, checking coverage, or arguing you share the blame.

If It’s Your Own Insurance Company

Here you usually have the most leverage, because you have a contract with the company. Some benefits also come with set timelines:

• PIP: Personal Injury Protection covers up to $8,000 in medical bills, lost wages, and other expenses, regardless of fault. If benefits that are due go unpaid for more than 30 days, they’re considered overdue, and you may be able to take action for payment under M.G.L. c. 90, § 34M.
• Collision: For many vehicle damage claims, the insurer must assign an appraiser within two business days. The appraisal is generally due within five business days after that (212 CMR 2.04).
• Uninsured or underinsured motorist (UM/UIM): These claims have no fixed number of days. Your insurer still has to handle them fairly and reasonably promptly.

Timelines only tell part of the story, though. The clearest warning signs often show up in how the insurer treats you along the way.

Signs Your Claim Is Being Stalled

Any one of these on its own may have an innocent explanation. When several show up together, it’s worth paying attention:

• They keep asking for documents you already sent. Same medical records, same photos, same forms, again and again.
• Your adjuster keeps changing. Every new person “needs time to review the file,” and the clock starts over.
• Nothing comes in writing. You get quick phone updates, but no emails or letters confirming what was said.
• Weeks go by with no answer. Your calls and messages go unreturned, even when you have a simple question.
• “We can’t reach our insured.” The other driver’s insurer gives this as the reason, week after week, with no end date.
• They won’t explain a denial or a low offer. Massachusetts law expects insurers to promptly give a reasonable explanation for a denial or a compromise offer.
• There’s pressure to give a recorded statement or sign broad authorizations before they’ll move forward.
• A lowball offer finally shows up after a long silence, often when you’re most worn down and need the money.

If this list sounds familiar, don’t wait it out. While the phone stays quiet, bills keep coming, rental coverage runs out, and witnesses and video get harder to find. You don’t have to sit and wait, though. There are steps you can start today that put pressure back where it belongs.

What To Do When the Insurance Company Ignores You and Doesn’t Respond

You can’t force an adjuster to pick up the phone. You can make it much harder for your claim to sit at the bottom of the pile. These are the steps we recommend, in order.

Check Your Claim Number and Contact Details

Start with the simple fix. Sometimes both sides believe the other one went silent. The insurer has an old phone number or a typo in your email, and its letters go nowhere. Call or email once to confirm your claim number, the name of your adjuster, and the phone, email, and mailing address they have for you. It takes five minutes and can rule out a surprising number of “lost” claims.

Move Everything Into Writing

Phone calls are quick, but they leave no record. If an adjuster promises something on the phone, there may be nothing to show for it later. An email or letter creates a dated record of what you asked, what you sent, and how long the insurer took to answer.
After every call, send a short follow-up email. Keep it short and factual. If you’re dealing with the other driver’s insurer, stick to the basics. Don’t guess about fault or your injuries in writing.

Keep a Claim Contact Log

A simple log turns “they never call me back” into a clear timeline. That timeline matters if you ever need to escalate. A notebook or spreadsheet works fine for this. Write down every attempt, including voicemails nobody returned.

Send What They Asked For, Once, With Proof

Missing paperwork is one of the easiest excuses for delay, so take it away. Send what the insurer asks for in one package, and add anything else that helps prove your claim:

• Medical records, bills, and repair estimates
• The full police crash report, not just the information slip from the scene (how to get a car accident report in Boston)
• Dashcam or traffic camera video, before it’s recorded over (how to access traffic camera footage in Massachusetts)
• Photos of the damage, the scene, and your injuries
• Witness names and phone numbers, even if the witness isn’t listed on the police report
• Your own crash report, which you must file within five days if someone was hurt or damage is over $1,000. A police report doesn’t decide fault on its own, but it often helps confirm who was involved and what happened.

If you’ve sent everything and the line is still quiet, it’s time to go above your adjuster.

Ask for a Supervisor or a New Adjuster

Can you request a new adjuster? Yes, you can ask. The insurer doesn’t have to say yes, but a polite, written request often gets the file noticed. If your adjuster hasn’t responded in a reasonable time, work up the chain:

1. Your assigned adjuster, with one final written follow-up
2. The adjuster’s supervisor or claims manager
3. The insurer’s customer service or complaint department
4. For your own policy, your local insurance agent, who often has direct contacts inside the company
5. Keep each request in writing and add it to your log.

Ask for the Claim Status and Any Denial Reasons in Writing

You have every right to ask where your claim stands and why. Ask the insurer to confirm in writing whether it is accepting or denying the claim, what it still needs from you, and when you can expect a decision. If it denies your claim or makes a low offer, ask for the reason in writing too.

Once the insurer has to put its position on paper, it’s often clearer what’s holding things up. And if it still won’t respond, Massachusetts law gives you ways to push back.

Can You Sue an Insurance Company for Not Responding?

In some cases, yes. Massachusetts law sets rules for how insurers must handle claims, and lets people enforce them in court. A slow claim alone usually isn’t enough, though. It typically goes in steps:

1. File a complaint with the Division of Insurance. The insurer must respond within 30 days, and the DOI reviews whether it followed the law. The DOI can’t decide fault or order a payment.
2. Send a Chapter 93A demand letter. It must go out at least 30 days before any lawsuit. The insurer then has 30 days to respond and may make an offer.
3. Go to court. A court may award damages and attorney’s fees, and up to triple damages for willful violations or bad-faith refusals to settle. Turning down a reasonable offer can limit what you recover.

Watch the deadlines, too. Most car accident injury claims must be filed within three years. An insurer’s silence doesn’t stop either clock.

When Silence Is a Red Flag To Call a Lawyer

Not every slow claim needs a lawyer. If the delay is short and the insurer answers once you follow up in writing, you may be able to handle it yourself. We’d suggest talking to a lawyer if:

• You were hurt, and your claim has stalled for weeks
  The insurer keeps saying it “can’t reach” its driver
  Your claim was denied with no clear explanation
  A low offer arrived after a long silence
  The insurer wants a recorded statement or a broad medical authorization
  Your own insurer is holding back PIP, UM, or UIM benefits
  The filing deadline is getting closer

A quick conversation doesn’t commit you to anything. It can simply help you see where you stand. If you do decide to bring us in, here’s what changes.

How Our Team Handles an Insurance Company That Goes Quiet

When you work with us, you stop chasing the adjuster. We take over all communication with the insurer, gather the evidence, review every policy that may apply, and escalate with a Chapter 93A demand or a lawsuit when it makes sense for your case.

Our car accident attorneys team has been helping injured people across Massachusetts since 2004, and every case gets a three-person legal team. Under our Stone Cold Guarantee®, we respond to your call within 24 hours and update you on your case every two weeks. A representative is also available 24/7 to speak with you.