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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.

317 questions have been answered on this subject - ask us your question

Comments & Questions

Read on for questions and advice about claiming...

I have a personal injury claim, my personal injury claim is going into court for a hearing. Now my solicitors have instructed me not to attend as it’s not needed but how do I know what I will be awarded by the court? Can my solicitors lie and say nothing was awarded can I keep track of what has been awarded to me? My second question is that the third party has accepted fault now as my partners insurance company wrote and told him. Will my case still need to go to court?

There is no risk that a Solicitor would lie about a court judgement settlement or even an out of court settlement if the defendant were to make an offer on the court steps.

The matter may be going to court in order to agree a settlement value. An admission of liability only indicates that a defendant will accept that they are liable, however, they may still be disputing the extent of your injury or loss and the value of any claim.

I had a serious road accident in July 2018 which was fully the third parties’ fault. They have admitted liability and is at the stage where my insurer has sent them the claim pack stating compensation amounts etc etc to be paid. My insurer admiral law told me they have to respond within 3 weeks. 3 weeks has been and gone, in fact 3 months has been and gone and all i keep getting told is my claim is with litigation and there is a backlog of these cases. I keep chasing admiral for updates but still no response so have no idea what is going on? What can I do in this position?

If you have not yet instructed a specialist personal injury Solicitor to act for you on a No Win No Fee basis, you could now make an instruction and hand the running of your claim to such a specialist. A specialist Solicitor would provide a deadline for the defendant to respond and if this deadline were not met, the Solicitor could then look to instigate court proceedings to force the defendant to cooperate.

in October 2016 I tripped on a broken step and caught my knee which caused a lump the size of a golf ball on the side of my knee, and have had issues since this with popping knee and pain. They denied liability then I had to send photos of the broken steps showing the dates I took the photo. I also took photo September 2017 wen they only just carried out repair. I sent dated photos November 2018. And they have now not replied to the solicitor they messaged me yesterday stating they still haven’t had a response since sending dated photo evidence. Does it normally take this long? I’m not bothered about whether or not they except liability but I’m just curious as it’s first time I’ve done a claim and wondering why my solicitor hasn’t given a final date to comply with, or if this is what they should halve done a year ago?

For them to have not responded to correspondence dated November 2018 some 3-4 months later is not really acceptable. However, it is not uncommon for defendant insurers to be extremely slow and even actively so, during the claims process.

Your Solicitor has issued a final date for them to cooperate and respond. If they fail to make contact in that time frame, the Solicitor will issue court proceedings to compel the defendants to cooperate.

I had an RTA Last summer whereby an Uber driver drove into the rear of my vehicle while I was stationary. Driver admitted liability at the scene insurance details exchanged etc.. all was fine. I suffered soft tissue damage to my neck and upper back as a result and spent ten weeks going to physio therapy sessions arranged by my insurer. Following this my claim was valued in dec and send to the third party who failed to respond in the timeframe. This was the beginning of January since then my solicitors have been trying to serve them with court papers but I have been told they are unable to as the insurer is registered in Gibraltar not the UK? I’ve been told the papers must be served by the end of May but if the other insurers just keep ignoring my solicitors what’s next? How can they even do this? My solicitors aren’t the best they are very slow at responding and do not proactively contact me for anything I have had to chase them throughout. I can’t understand how a straight forward claim is taking so long when the third party has admitted full liability and the injuries/damage etc are all perfectly reasonable how can they just ignore it?

You should make an urgent ‘complaint’ to your Solicitor about your concerns as to the handling of your claim. You should demand, in writing, an explanation of their plan of action should the insurers continue to fail to respond.

Last year I was involved with another car in a road traffic accident at lights at a junction. At the scene the driver of the other car admitted liability and said that she would pay for the damage. I took photos at the scene of both cars. I decided that I should progress the claim through my own insurance company. The other party suddenly decided that they had received whiplash injuries for both herself and her son. There was no son involved in the accident as he was not present at the accident. Whilst I was waiting for a response from my insurance company they increased my cost for renewal when the the new insurance was due. Since then I cannot get any answers from them about compensation. They have told me that the other insurance company can just sit on the claim.

You need to make sure that your Insurers and their legal representatives are immediately made aware of the apparent fraudulent claim for the Son of the lady in the other vehicle.

The insurers will be able to prove whether the Son was present or not and if not, she will have been materially dishonest and have to pay her costs as well as those of yourself.

I had a non-fault RTA and had whiplash which developed to fibromyalgia and also post traumatic stress disorder. I had depression, anxiety & a small tear in my lower back and more.

It has been two years now, but I only got one offer in all this time. My question is why is it taking so long and whats the longest waiting time for settling a claim? I am not getting better and its been 2 years since the accident.

There is no maximum time frame to settle a claim. In many cases, when a claim is taking a long while to settle it is usually because the injuries are serious and the extent of damages to be recovered in settlement will be disputed until the acting Solicitor believes that a fair and reasonable sum has been offered.

I am also getting panic attacks and using strong painkillers like deluxotine for over a year.

I was in a RTA last March. I have been through all of my assessments via the solicitor and I have now instructed my solicitor to pass the claim to the insurance company. They have already admitted liability when my car was written off last year.

How long will it take roughly for them to settle the claim now?

It is hard to answer this question as we don’t know if the insurers have agreed with the medical reports and whether the extent of injuries has been agreed.

Hi, I currently have a claim which the insurer has pulled from the portal asking the full amount of time. This ran out on the 10th Jan and my solicitor has had to send another letter giving a further 2 weeks which again they have not replied…. What happens now? Can i make a claim against the person rather than the business?

Making a claim against an individual rather than a business is possible, but certainly not easy and there is no guarantee that the individual will have the financial cover or insurance in place to enable them to settle any claim. Therefore, the best bet is to pursue a claim against the business.

In the situation you report, your Solicitor is trying to obtain a response from the defendants. It would appear that the defendants are not responsive and whilst this is frustrating and will slow the process of your claim down, your Solicitor will know what to do. In most cases, if deadlines are not met and then further deadlines are not responded to, your Solicitor will issue a court proceeding to force them to respond.

I had a slip in lidl they have admitted liability and my solicitor has emailed them the medical report and an offer of settlement . How long before I hear back if they accept it or not? Tia

In cases where liability is not disputed and the defendant has accepted the claim, the process of reaching an agreed settlement does not usually take too long. If your Solicitor is working on the basis of a medical report and expert opinion for the value of the claim, as long as the defendant does not query the experts report, it is likely that they will make an offer within a short period of time, such as 3 weeks or thereabouts. Of course, this period could be quicker or longer!

I’ve been in the process of a whiplash claim for over a year now, what can i do to hurry it along …. and why would my solicitor need my credit card statements and bank statements and tax return?

Your bank/credit card statements and tax return are most likely needed to provide proof of identity (to satisfy Money Laundering regulations) and the tax return for proof of loss of income.

I had a trip at a bar and the insurance company wrote to me “accepting full liability” They have since made me interim payments( NOT on a WOP basis) for travel and loss of earnings. We were waiting for hospital to give idea of optimum recovery time etc before settlement figure for actual injury agreed. At this point I instructed a solicitor to help with obtaining reports and to ensure compensation for injury was fair. They wrote to the insurance company and then recieved a letter stating they are disputing liabily. There is no new evidence and they made original acceptance following CCTV footage review and a report by their own investigator. Can they just withdraw liability and why would they do this? Causing me great distress.

Yes, they can withdraw an admission of liability, but if they do not have new evidence to present to support this withdrawal or cannot provide detailed reasoning, it is unlikely that a court would find in favour of them should your claim proceed that far.

The other side has accepted liability but there insurer is disputing the amount of compensation to be paid. My solicitor sent over the court proceedings and they haven’t responded within the time frame. What happens now?

In a claim for personal injury compensation, the first important hurdle is to obtain an admission of liability. It is good news for you that this has been achieved as it confirms that you will receive compensation for your injuries and losses. However, the next stage after admission of liability is to reach agreement on the appropriate value for the claim settlement. The value of a personal injury settlement will be reached in two parts. Firstly, you have the element of personal injury settlement that is made in relation to the injuries sustained. The value of this element will be reached on the basis of medical evidence and an expert medical report that will provide a detailed prognosis on severity of injury and recovery of the same. This will then need to be considered by Counsel who will assign an appropriate value range on the basis of the medical report. You then also need to demonstrate your lost income or incurred costs caused by the injuries and accident and this will be the special damages element of the claim. The injury settlement and special damages settlement will form the total value of the compensation claim.

When agreement cannot be reached on settlement (which is not uncommon), the matter will need to be considered by an independent Judge in a court hearing. The hearing will have evidence from both the claimant and defence and then a decision will be made on the level of damages that the defendant will have to pay to settle the claim.

In your case, the defendant has missed the deadline. As such, your Solicitor will likely provide them with a further deadline to meet. If they then fail to meet that deadline, the matter will proceed directly to hearing and will be decided by the Judge – who will take in to consideration the defendants lack of cooperation.

My solicitors have put the report to the 3rd party involved, they didn’t respond within 15 working days, my file has now been passed to another department – what happens now?

Typically, when an insurer misses a deadline, the acting Solicitor will contact them to make a formal request for a response within an agreed reasonable time frame – say 21 working days for example – with the threat of court proceedings if they do not cooperate. If the defendant then fails to meet the agreed revised deadline, the Solicitor will issue court proceedings to seek a judgement to force them to respond and cooperate with the claim.

I have to meet with my solicitor tomorrow to answer some questions which axa insurance have asked for. I have also seen there doctor about 3 weeks ago. My question is: how long will it take axa insurance to make a settlement?

Before you can ask how long it will take the defendant insurer to make an offer of settlement in your claim for compensation, you’ll need to obtain an admission of liability from them. To get to the stage of admission of liability can take anything from a few weeks to 4 or more months. Each claim will be different and this period will be decreased in cases where strong supporting evidence is available.

If liability is admitted, the next stage is for the injuries to be agreed by way of a medical examination with a subsequent written report from a suitable medical expert. The agreement of injuries and prognosis will then enable a settlement to be agreed. From the date of a settlement agreement, claimants should usually expect to receive their settlement somewhere between 15-30 working days.

I fell in a pothole and broke my patella 7 months ago and the defendants have not admitted liability. My solicitor claims she has allowed extra time for them, but how much longer are they legally allowed? Should I change solicitors?

Whilst we can understand your frustration at the length of time it is taking for the defendant insurers to respond, it is not that uncommon for these matters to take sometime. We do not think that there is any need for you to change Solicitors as your Solicitor is acting correctly. It is likely that your Solicitor has given the defendant a deadline to respond. Should the defendant fail to respond by that deadline, your Solicitor would then issue proceedings against them.

I was involved in an accident back in June 2018 whereby the other party drove into the back of me.
It has gone through Solicitors and an offer was made by the third party insurers on 4th September and agreed the following day.
I was advised normally it takes 2-6 weeks for them to receive the money but the Solicitors still haven’t got the money yet and when I asked if there was any maximum time frame they basically said whenever. Surely there must be some kind of timescales that the third party insures need to adhere too?

There is not a prescribed time limit and it is unusual for settlement to take longer than 2-6 weeks to arrive (usually it is around 21 days or so). However, if the defendant insurers fail to make payment as agreed in a reasonable time (3 months), your Solicitor could issue proceedings against them to force payment.

It’s been 9 weeks since settlement figure was agreed and still no further forward. Current solicitors (on a no win no fee) have said they will pass it their Meriut team to try to recover payments. Is 9 weeks classes as a reasonable time? And what options are likely to be avaliable to enforce payment? Am I entitled to change solicitors if it’s on no win no fee or do I have to stick to the current ones which seem to be slow?

I was in a crash where a bus pulled out in front of me. As a result, I was left suffering a broken wrist, broken clavicle, 11 broken ribs and a perforated bowel. The police have said I was going too fast for the road and overtook a car 100 yards before the bus pulled out. Does that mean I can’t claim personal injury compensation?

You have clearly been badly injured in this incident and as such, it would seem reasonable and fair for you to pursue a claim for road traffic accident compensation.

Whilst there is a police report in place that is not particularly helpful to your claim as it states that you were partially responsible, it does not mean that you cannot make a claim for compensation. My initial view is that the best outcome for you would be having to accept a portion of shared liability. What that shared percentage would be cannot be stated at this time, but given the severity of your injuries, it would still be worthwhile pursuing a claim further.

A lady ran me and my daughter over 7 months ago. The police were called and I was taken to hospital so I didn’t get any of her details, but the police did. The lady hasn’t reported it to her insurance company and they asked for the 3 months investigation then 4 months down the line they are waiting on police reports. I’ve damaged my spine and the solicitor is not answering.

On the basis of your description of the road traffic accident, it would appear that you have a valid claim for road traffic accident compensation and you ought to expect this to settle in your favour in due course.

The insurers are within their rights to request a police report and there should be no reason why the evidence within that report does anything other than support your claim.

If you have not already got a specialist Solicitor pursuing this claim for you, then please contact us. We’d be very happy to run this claim for you and have expert specialist road traffic accident compensation Solicitors available to represent you.

Good morning,

Is it normal for a company to take over a year to respond with liability? My personal injury claim started last January 2017, and they still haven’t replied. Apparently they’re still investigating, though never asked for an extension in this case. Threatening letters have been sent to no avail.

Christine

It certainly isn’t normal for a defendant insurer to take a year to investigate a claim. However, it isn’t completely unheard of. However, it is very surprising to hear that they haven’t requested an extension in this case. It is common for an extension to be requested and granted, but not such a long extension.

Do you already have a Solicitor acting for you?