Car Repair Taking Too Long After an Insurance Claim? What You Can Do

When a repair drags on for weeks or months, the delay itself is usually not something your insurer controls, and it is not something your own policy pays you for beyond the rental coverage you bought. The Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner says auto repair delays have risen because of parts and staffing shortages, that it may take as long as six months to repair damaged vehicles, and that these supply and availability issues are beyond your insurance company's control, so the regulator cannot force a shop to speed up. What you can do is find out exactly what is stalling the repair, keep a rental going for as long as the rules allow, press the at-fault driver's insurer if you were not at fault, and make sure storage fees do not pile up while you wait.

First, find out who is holding things up

A long repair usually has one of four causes, and each has a different fix.

• Parts on backorder: the shop is waiting on a component. Your insurer cannot fix a supply problem, but you can ask the shop for the order date and expected arrival in writing, and ask the adjuster whether an alternative part is acceptable. The Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner notes the adjuster may recommend original equipment, aftermarket, or used parts, so a different part type is sometimes the faster route.
• A supplemental claim awaiting approval: the California Department of Insurance explains that if further damage is found during the repair, the shop contacts the insurer for approval of the additional cost, and the insurer may send an adjuster to re-inspect. This is the most common place a repair quietly stops. Call the adjuster and ask whether a supplement is pending and what is needed to approve it.
• Shop backlog: your car is in line behind others. You can typically choose your own repair shop, as both the Washington regulator and the Texas Department of Insurance note, and you can move the car to a shop with capacity, but ask about teardown or storage charges before you do.
• A slow claim decision: if the insurer has not yet accepted the claim, state deadlines apply. In Texas, the insurer has 15 business days to acknowledge a claim and 15 business days after it has what it needs to say whether it will pay, extendable by 45 days with a reason. In California, insurers must acknowledge a claim within 15 days, respond to your communications within 15 days, and accept or deny within 40 days of receiving proof of claim.

The rental car problem

Your own rental coverage has a ceiling. The Texas Department of Insurance describes rental reimbursement coverage as paying for you to rent a car while yours is being repaired after an accident, and notes that rental coverages have dollar limits, which are the most the company will pay even if the cost is higher. The California Department of Insurance adds that the company pays up to a specified amount per day for a specified number of days, and that coverage ends when the vehicle is repaired, the loss is paid, or the specified period runs out, whichever comes first. The Washington regulator warns plainly that delays on vehicle repairs could cause you to exhaust the rental car limit before the repairs are completed, leaving you with out-of-pocket rental expenses.

If the other driver caused the accident, the picture changes. The Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner notes that the at-fault driver's insurer may provide a rental car on a reimbursement basis or by direct billing the rental agency. That is a loss of use claim against their liability coverage, and it is not capped by your own policy's rental limit. When the repair runs long, send the at-fault insurer the shop's written status and parts dates and ask, in writing, for the rental to be extended through the documented repair period. If the adjuster refuses, ask for a supervisor, and if that fails, the California regulator's advice applies everywhere: if you believe there is an unreasonable delay in settling your claim, contact your state's department of insurance.

Watch for storage fees

A car that sits can cost money. The Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner advises picking up your vehicle as soon as possible, or giving the insurance company permission to move it, to avoid storage fees. If your car is at a tow yard waiting for a shop slot, or at a shop waiting for parts, ask whether daily storage is accruing and who is paying it. Storage fees that build up because of a delay you did not cause are part of the damages you can put to the at-fault insurer, but only if you can document them.

When a long repair becomes a total loss conversation

Each supplement pushes the repair cost up, and at some point the cost to fix the car approaches what it is worth. If that happens, the insurer may re-evaluate and pay the actual cash value as a total loss instead of continuing the repair. Ask the adjuster where the repair total stands relative to the car's value, especially if months have passed and parts are still missing. A car that would be worth more fixed than it is worth as a total loss is a reason to push for the repair; a car that will never be the same is sometimes better settled.

A step-by-step for a stalled repair

• Get a written status from the shop: what is on order, when it was ordered, and the expected date
• Call the adjuster and ask whether a supplement is pending, what is needed to approve it, and when the insurer last communicated with the shop
• Ask whether an alternative part type would shorten the wait, and what that means for the repair quality and your rights
• If you were not at fault, send the at-fault insurer the shop documentation and request a rental extension in writing
• Keep every receipt for rental, rideshare, and transportation costs, as the Washington regulator advises for roadside and towing expenses
• Confirm no storage fees are accruing, and if they are, get them in writing and send them to the responsible insurer
• Escalate: adjuster, then supervisor, then a complaint to your state insurance department if the insurer, not the shop, is the one stalling

The bottom line: a slow repair is usually a parts or shop problem that no insurer can fix, so your leverage is in the paperwork around it. Chase the supplement, document the delay, push the at-fault insurer for the rental, keep storage from accruing, and escalate to your state regulator only when the insurer itself is the one dragging.