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How long does an insurer have to reply to a compensation claim?

By Ian Morris | Updated September 14th, 2023

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Settling a claim as quickly as possible is hugely important to all our claimants, especially those suffering the stress of losing income whilst they can’t work. It’s less important to the defendant insurers who have to pay the settlement, and who are trying to minimise the amount paid. This often means claimants feel the insurer is stalling and taking longer than necessary to reply.

Insurer response times – ‘pre-action protocols’

It will not surprise you to learn that insurers are not always great at acting quickly and often drag their feet at every stage of the claims process. Of course, it is their job to minimise any settlements and pay out as little as possible, and it is our job, and that of our solicitors, to ensure that claims are settled quickly and to their maximum value.

The good news for claimants is that there are legal protocols in place designed to make sure that claims are processed in an expedient manner and help defendant insurers to investigate and settle claims quickly. These timeframes are called ‘pre-action protocols’ and they set a deadline for defendant insurers to respond to claims and carry out their investigations into allegations made against their insured.

The pre-action protocols allow maximum response times for defendant insurers. The times and guidelines can vary depending on the claim type. For example, road accident claims have different protocols to other personal injury claims.

Personal injury protocols

Time limits for personal injury claims allow a maximum response time that is effectively 3 months and 21 days from the date that a claimant’s solicitor has submitted a letter of claim. This usually plays out as follows:

Claimant solicitor submits a letter of claim to the third party outlining the specifics of the claim and why they are being held responsible.
A response to this must be provided to the claimant solicitor within 21 days.
At this point a defendant insurer has a period of 3 months to properly investigate the allegations made in the claim and then respond to the claimant solicitor.
After the 3 month period, the insurer’s reply has to state whether or not they admit liability. If there is a denial of liability, the response has to state disclosure evidence that details why they have not admitted liability and what their defence is.

In the rare case where an insurer fails to provide a response within the time allowed, a solicitor will go to the courts to progress the claim.

Road traffic accident protocols

Time limits for road traffic accident claim protocols allow a maximum response time of 15 working days. Such claims are run via the claims portal and work using this method:

Claimant solicitor submits a Claim Notification Form (CNF) to the insurers defending the claim. This notification has to provide all of the details and information that a defendant insurer will need to be able to fully investigate the claim and decide upon their view.

When a defendant insurer fails to respond within the 15 working day limit, the claim will then continue via the pre-action personal injury protocol, stated previously.

How long does it take to get compensation?

Every claimant wants to settle their claim as quickly as possible and move on from their injury. But to get to the point where a compensation claim can be settled involves evidence, expert opinions and investigations from insurers. It also requires clear communication between insurers, solicitors, claimants and occasionally the courts. All of this can take time.

Some claim types are known to settle more quickly than others. In cases where negligence is obvious and injuries and losses are not in dispute., and a defendant insurer has no reasonable option other than to make an admission of liability, a claim will settle more quickly.

Conversely, in a matter relating to a more complex claim where negligence isn’t so easily obvious, a claimant solicitor will have to make a strong argument to succeed and achieve an admission of liability. Here a claim will take longer to settle and could mean it takes a few years to receive compensation.

As you would expect with two opposing parties, there are many issues that can arise to slow things down. As each case is different, there is no way of knowing exactly how long it can take to receive compensation. However, what we can do is ensure our claimants aren’t waiting on us for their case to progress.

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Comments & Questions

Read on for questions and advice about claiming...

Hi Ian,

Thanks for your reply. They have said they have sent them two letters that state they will take the matter to court if they do not pay. The second letter was sent in march, I’m planning on calling them this week to see if they have any information but not sure what to say if they say nothing has changed.

I would anticipate that if there is no active response to the 2nd Solicitors letter, the Solicitor will be minded to launch court proceedings.

Hi,
I received a letter on the 14/1/2021 to say my claim had been settled and to expect the funds in 3-4 weeks. Its almost been 15 weeks* and the third party insurance has not released the funds. Is there anything that can be done about this? Or is it a case of continuing to wait?

There would appear to be no reasonable excuse for such a delay in releasing settlement. Has your Solicitor been chasing the settlement?

If a insurer fails to make a reasonable offer does that mean they deny liability?

A failure to make a reasonable or acceptable settlement offer is different to a denial of liability. If settlement is offered, but you/your Solicitor do not agree that it is a reasonable or fair settlement, liability is probably admitted already and it is just a case of negotiating to reach an agreed settlement. If an agreement cannot be reached, the matter would be placed before a court to make an award of damages.

My claim has been acknowledged by the 3rd party back in December and requested further information to support my claim, I still haven’t heard anything from anyone since then and don’t know what to do?

As the defendant has acknowledged the claim and required further information, it is likely that they would require 90 working days to then ‘investigate’ the claim on receipt of the additional information. As such, you would anticipate that a response would now be due.

I accepted a very low offer due to financial strain at the time, it was acknowledged and I was given a 30day time frame in which I would receive the cheque. It has almost been 3 months since then and I still haven’t heard anything. All my solicitor says is that he cannot get through to them and it is unacceptable!!! Is there anything I can do to chase this up myself and because of the huge delay, is there any possibility of revoking my acceptance due to the financial stress this whole situation Has caused. Surely they have breached part of the contract by taking so long.

I would strongly advise that you speak with your Solicitor about this and see whether the acceptance can be revoked and the matter put before a Judge.

Hello,
I had an accident in December 2018 where i was hit in the motorway by a drunk driver, the impact on my vehicle traveling at 70mph crashed the 5 door hatchback upto the back of the drivers seat.

Now more than 2 years down the line my solicitor has passed the final details onto the insurance company but after 21 days they haven’t replied.
My issue is my solicitor seems reluctant to now begin court proceeding and has suggested we wait a further 28 days.

Do you think they are following guide lines or are my Solicitors hindering my claim?

Although your frustrations are completely justified and understandable, your Solicitor is acting correctly in affording the insurers an extension. This is most likely to be the quickest and best way to resolve this issue as the defendants are likely to return with an offer within that timescale. However, if they do not return in the extension period, it would then be reasonable to issue proceedings against them to compel them to cooperate.

My solicitor seems very dodgy! After having a ‘mix up’ I ran out of the 21 days to accept or decline my offer as I recieved the offer on day 20, without even knowing it was day 20, assuming it was day 2 from the letter date.

Now after a long process of her being conveniently ‘out of Office’ when I needed her the most to try and accept the offer quickly and see if i was going to recieve all these charges that was stated in my offer if I didn’t accept, I was very concerned and worried!

Anyway, now a cheque is being made to me, but is going directly to the solicitor for them to then pay me via bank transfer, is this the normal procedure? Thanks

In terms of the settlement, yes, the standard procedure is for settlement to be paid to a Solicitor and then banked in their client account before funds are passed to the claimant. The client account should prevent the Solicitors from using the funds for their own purposes.

With regards to the conduct of your Solicitor and your concerns as to their handling of your claim, you can make a formal complaint about that and if that does not reach a satisfactory outcome, you can escalate the complaint to the legal ombudsman.

I have had an accident on 23rd Oct 2020. It resulted in my Vehicle being damaged. The insurer has tried contacting the Driver for a response to the allegations and have had no response. The 90 days period has now expired in which the Driver could have responded. Today I have recieved an email from the insurer that they will send another 14 days final notice to the Driver before being able to settle the claim. However today is 15th Feb 2021 when the 90 days period expired on 26th January. I did not agree to any further extensions. Has the insurance Co the right to do this without my agreement? And what are my rights at this point in terms of complaints for so much inconvenience and stress during the customer journey. There is no injury claim

The insurers and their legal team are acting correctly. Whilst the deadline has passed, it is normally expected by the courts that a claimant will offer an extension and be seen to have given every (and ample) opportunity for the 3rd party to cooperate and respond. Therefore, this deadline appears to be the correct course of action. However, we can understand that this is frustrating from a claimants point of view.

The exact thing happens to me. But it has been 6 months.. is that legal?

It is not illegal, but it is unreasonable and your Solicitor should be seeking court action to compel the other side to cooperate with you.

Hi I was involved in a rta the third party accepted liability i finished my physiotherapy and my solicitors have made a offer on my behalf but 21 days have passed and my solicitor is now issuing court proceedings why would third party solicitors do this if liability has been accepted and what would the process be from here thanks

Perhaps the defendant Solicitors disagree with the amount of compensation being claimed or do not consider that the impact that happened is consistent with the injuries being claimed for. Alternatively, if the defendant Solicitor is not cooperating or responding, your Solicitor will issue proceedings to compel the defendant to cooperate.

Hi I fell 18 foot off a ladder what another guy put up it was on his land and he has admitted full liability because he put ladder up how long do you thing this will take to process? Connor

Hi I made a claim to the mib on the 27 of may 2017 and is know the 22 of January and Iv still not hear anything I had to get my solicitor medical records. How long do the mib take to payout. Thanks

There is no specific timeframe for any claim, but one would usually expect a claim with the MIB to take somewhere between 12-24 months to settle.

Can i do anything to make settle now. Iv been interviewed by mib. Iv been Examined 3 times for my injuries. Can I have my say in any of the discussion.

You can ask your Solicitor to settle the claim at the earliest opportunity.

Injuries sustained in falls from height from a ladder can be serious and the length of time a claim will take will depend on the severity of the injuries and whether or not surgery is needed or if a full recovery is made. Generally speaking, a claim will take a minimum of 12 months to process, often longer in cases where the injuries or losses are more extreme.

Yes, I’ve had two major operations and was in hospital for 7 weeks. He has told his insurers it was his fault and I’ve told my insurers the same too. It’s been going on since October.

Are you dealing with the insurers yourself or do you have a Solicitor acting for you? The timescale you mention would not be something I would be concerned about as making a claim – especially in your situation with such serious injuries. I would imagine that your claim would take quite a long time to process to completion, as in a good couple of years. The reason for this is that you need to see how much recovery you make and what long term impact the injuries will have on you and your ability to work and be active in the future.

Our specialist Solicitors would be more than happy to take over the claim for you on a No Win No Fee basis and this would mean that you could focus on your own recovery whilst allowing a dedicated specialist personal injury Solicitor to ensure that your legal rights were being upheld and that the appropriate medical evidence and experts reports could be in place to ensure that your compensation settlement fully accounted for the severity of your injuries and also your loss of income and costs. Another benefit of having a specialist Solicitor acting for you would be that they could also seek to obtain an interim payment as soon as liability had been admitted. This may help with immediate living costs or financial difficulties you are in due to the injuries and enforced period away from work. Further, the Solicitor could seek to obtain specialist rehabilitation therapy to help you maximise your recovery at the earliest opportunity – all at the expense of the defendant insurers.

Hi, I started up a personal injury claim around 3-4 months ago, I have read that the defendant has 3 months and 21 days to respond, last time I heard from my solicitor was over a month ago, I’m wondering when I will be updated on what’s going on, also if the defendant doesn’t respond does that automatically mean he accepts liability for the incident, thanks Dan.

A lack of response is not an admission of liability. If the defendant fails to respond to your Solicitor within the time period, the Solicitor is likely to provide an extended deadline in the hope that the defendant will begin to cooperate. However, if the extended deadline is missed, the Solicitor may be forced to issue court proceedings to compel the defendant to cooperate with the claim.

Given the timescale you mention, you should expect some correspondence from your Solicitor fairly soon.

Hi myself my wife and 2 sons were involved in a head on car accident 2 years ago, the other car veered on to our side of the road and hit us head on sadly the driver of the other car passed away in hospital that evening and her insurance company have yet to admit liability, how long should this take?

I would have expected an admission on liability by now as so much time has passed. Do you have a Solicitor acting on this matter for you? If not, contact us for further help.

Yes I have a solicitor acting for us but to be honest they are useless and they don’t fill me with confidence, they sent us to see the medical people earlier this year2020 but they had sent us the messages from the time we saw them in 2019 so a waste of our time

Make sure you complain to your Solicitor via their complaints policy. If they do not resolve your concerns, you can then escalate the complaint to the regulatory authorities and ombudsman and seek to switch to a new Solicitor.

My solicitor obtained a court order, re a personal injury claim, for the defendant to make disclosure information available. The defendant gave the disclosure information but did respond regard liability. My solicitor keeps chasing for a liability response which is not forth coming. It is 2 months since the court ordered disclosure. How would you advise to proceed?

I would imagine that your Solicitor is monitoring the defendants timescales and if needs be will chase them and potentially return the matter to court to compel them to provide a response on liability.

How long after a CNF is submitted will you get a response?

A claimant can expect a response within 30 working days or if not, within 3 months.

Hi, I hope you can give me some much needed advice ? On the 10th of June this year myself and my son were involved in a Road traffic accident involving an HGV vehicle slamming into the rear of our vehicle in which I was the driver and my son front passenger , our was obviously a total write off , I recieved back and kidney injuries and was told by the Doctor that he expects my back injury to take around 8 months to recover fully so my claim has been placed on hold until Feruary . However my 18 year old son that received whiplash injuries has not heard anything since seeing the claim Doctor , I cant see why his claim hasn’t been settled, he has explained to the Doctor and the solicitor that his neck was ok after about 3 weeks . However the solicitor is totally ignoring any messages regarding my son’s claim and the length of time that the claim settlement is taking . What if anything can I do about the lack of contact from the solicitor? Thank you in advance, Kevin.

As a starting point, you should write to the Solicitor (and request a written response) as to their perspective on the claim and why they do not feel able to conclude the matter at this point.

It could be that your Son’s injuries are deemed insufficient – unlikely, but possible. In normal circumstances, a recovery period of less than 4 weeks may well see a claimant ruled out of pursuit of personal injury compensation. Severity of injury is certainly a consideration.

Perhaps more relevant is the short (in terms of the claims process) period of time between the accident date and now. Typically, even the more straightforward personal injury matters – such as this would appear to be – do not settle within 12 months of the incident. This is not because Solicitors are trying to inflate fees (they work on a fixed cost basis – as would be explained within the CFA you signed to instruct them to act) but because of the protocols and timescales set out for the handling of such claims – both on the claimant and defendant side.

If you believe that your Solicitor is not acting correctly, it is important that you raise a complaint with the firm. The firm should have a complaints policy available on their website and can help you get to the bottom of what is going on if you doubt what you are being told (or not being told!) by the Solicitor handling the claim.

Hi I had a accident at home due to a leak that the council didnt fix even though I complained about it..I slipped on the water and my knee has a torn ligament and I’m waiting for an op.i put in a claim over a year ago and my solicitors is waiting for the defendants to admit liability, and is chasing them for an answer but it is taken forever. Can you tell me how long It will take to get a decision?

Unfortunately, this is a ‘how long is a piece of string’ question and there is no definitive answer. I assume that the defendant has denied liability initially and your Solicitor is fighting them on that. As such, it is impossible to say as it will depend on the other sides responses. However, given that a year has passed, we would hope that you are close to the stage where they will have to admit liability.

Thank you for your reply and your help. They didn’t deny liability. They were taking a long time to do their investigations and inquiries and asked for a longer time to complete them.I also submitted more pictures as the leak is still in the kitchen. My solicitors gave them a extension in june ,they then said they completed them. The councils insurers said they are waiting for their position on liability that was in june and they have been chasing both been chasing them for a decision ever since .my solicitor said they were going to make a court application, they said thought it not best. So I suppose I just have to wait. Do the council usually take this long?

I understand your frustrations and it is disappointing that the other side appear to be taking so long. However, it should be possible for this to be resolved.

Your Solicitor is clearly considering court action – but is right in that it may be prudent to wait. The courts are way behind, so a court hearing itself could be some time away.

Hi
I submitted a personal injury claim on behalf of my daughter on 14th October. My solicitor said the other party have 21 days to make an offer but it’s now been 58 and still no update from the solicitor. I have contacted the solicitor who said they haven’t received an offer yet.
What do we do now? Is there a time limit for response from the other party?

This a quirk of the current system (portal) that Solicitors must use when pursuing claims for personal injury compensation. When a claim is submitted, the defendants have 30 working days or if needed (you won’t be surprised to hear, they all need longer), a period of 3 months to investigate the claim before they must respond.

My daughter was involved in an RTA in June 2020. Her insurer wrote off her car and payed us for this. The insurer stated my daughter was not at fault for the accident, but the other party has started a personal injury claim. At the RTA, my daughter was trapped in the car and had to be freed by the fire service, and checked by a paramedic, whereas the other party was not required to be checked by the paramedic.

We are still waiting for the personal injury claim to be decided. We can get no information via our insurer, except that they have stated they have been waiting since June to hear details from the other party’s solicitor. They also state that the other party has 3 years to defend the claim.

1. Is this correct (3 years)?
2. Can we instruct a solicitor to investigate the personal injury claim?
3. Can my daughter get insurance while we wait to hear?

We can certainly help your daughter make a claim for personal injury compensation on a No Win No Fee basis. We have expert specialist Solicitors able to make sure that your daughters case is handled properly and ensure that the defendants attempts at pursuit of a claim will be thrown out.

In terms of making a claim, any person has a right to make a claim if they are the non-fault party and they can do so within 3 years of the date of the accident – or within 3 years from the date of their 18th Birthday if the accident happens before they become 18.

Hi I was involved in a collision in October when someone reversed into me. They accepted fault straight away and my car was wrote off. Received cheque for car but haven’t heard anything about my passengers whiplash claims. Does this take longer? Thanks

Claims for personal injury compensation take far longer than a claim for vehicle damage or loss. Your passengers are unlikely to see their claims settle within the first 12 months.

I was in an accident end of September 2019, I was waiting at a junction when the other drive cut the corner slightly and clipped the front of my car with the back end of his. This was all caught on dashcam and submitted to my insurers the day after. I haven’t claimed any injuries, but the other drive claimed 4 passengers (although dashcam shows he did not have 4 passengers and this was reviewed by an independent fraud investigation). The fraud investigators reviewed my evidence during October or November 2019 I can’t quite remember, but I’m yet to have my claim settled / resolved. Should I be worried that it’s 13 months past the incident? Every time I chase my insurers they tell me they’re still waiting for the third party insurers to respond to all our evidence, but surely they’ve had long enough now?? I had to pay £750 excess and I currently feel like I won’t see a penny of that back.

Although it is most likely that this will be resolved in your favour, the timescale is clearly frustrating. Have you spoken with the Insurance Ombudsman service regarding this matter?