How to File a Claim Against the Other Driver's Insurance

When another driver caused the crash, you can file a claim directly with that driver's insurance company rather than your own. This is called a third-party or liability claim. The Texas Department of Insurance puts the expectation plainly: the other driver's insurance should pay for your car repairs, medical bills, and a rental car. The catch is that there is no guarantee they will. Their insurer works for their policyholder, not for you, and it can dispute who was at fault. Knowing that in advance changes how you handle the claim from the first phone call.

What you need before you can file

A third-party claim runs on the information you collect at the scene. The NAIC recommends gathering:

• The other driver's name, address, insurance company name and phone number, and policy number from their proof-of-insurance card
• Their driver's license and license plate numbers
• The other car's make, model, year, and license plate number
• Names and contact information for any witnesses
• The responding officer's name and badge number, and how to obtain the accident report
• The time, date, and exact location, with notes on skid marks, weather, and road conditions
• Photos or a diagram of the scene

Get a police report if one is available and send it to the other driver's insurer. It is the single most useful document in a disputed-fault claim, because it is the one account of the crash that neither insurer wrote.

How to open the claim

Call the other driver's insurance company and tell them you are filing a claim against their policyholder. They will open a claim number and assign an adjuster, who will investigate and decide whether their driver was at fault and for how much. Send them the police report and your photos.

Notify your own insurer at the same time, even though you are not asking them to pay yet. Most policies require prompt notice of an accident regardless of fault, and telling them early preserves your ability to switch to your own coverage if the third-party claim stalls. It costs you nothing to report a not-at-fault accident that you never claim on.

No deductible, but no guarantee

The appeal of the third-party route is that a liability claim pays your damages without you paying a deductible, because it is not your policy responding. The drawback is that you are relying on a company with no contractual duty to you, and it can simply decline.

Texas regulators list the ways that goes wrong: the other company may say their driver was not at fault and refuse to pay, may say both drivers share fault and ask you to absorb part of your costs, may say their policy limits are not enough to cover your damage, or may just be slow to respond. Any of those can leave you waiting on repairs with a car you cannot drive.

If they refuse or blame you too

Ask for the reason in detail and in writing. That instruction comes straight from the Texas Department of Insurance, and it is the most useful sentence in this entire process. A written denial forces the adjuster to commit to a specific rationale, gives you something concrete to rebut, and becomes the core of any complaint you later file with a regulator. A vague verbal no gives you none of that.

Then decide whether to keep fighting or switch tracks. If the dispute is genuinely about fault and you have a police report and witnesses supporting you, pushing back is often worth it. If they are asserting shared fault in a state where that reduces what you can recover, or if their limits are simply too low, your own policy may get you whole faster.

Falling back on your own coverage

If the third-party claim fails or drags, file with your own insurer. If you carry collision coverage, it will pay your repair costs, minus your deductible. Your insurer then pursues the other driver's insurer for reimbursement, a process called subrogation. If it recovers, you may get your deductible back, in whole or in part.

Washington's insurance regulator adds a detail worth knowing: if you were partially at fault, you generally recover only a proportional share of your deductible. It also advises notifying your insurer before you settle anything directly with the other party, because a private settlement can undercut your own company's ability to recover, and therefore your deductible refund.

One claim type does not follow this pattern. Washington notes that a diminished value claim, for the resale value your car loses even after proper repairs, is filed against the at-fault party's insurer rather than your own, and that you must document the reduction in market value yourself.

Getting help when the other insurer stonewalls

You do have leverage beyond the adjuster. State insurance departments take complaints about how a company handled a claim, including claims by people who are not its policyholders. Texas notes that when you file a complaint about another driver's insurance company, the company has to write back explaining why it is denying the claim or paying the way it is. That written explanation is often what moves a stalled claim.

Insurers also owe general duties on timing. Washington's regulator says companies must give a timely and clear explanation of their coverage decision, timely responses to your questions, and timely payment. Specific deadlines vary by state, so check your own department's rules if a claim is sitting untouched.

The bottom line

Filing against the other driver's insurance is usually the right first move when fault is clear, because it avoids your deductible entirely. Collect everything at the scene, get the police report, report to your own insurer even if you do not claim, and insist on written reasons the moment the other company hesitates. If they will not pay and you carry collision, use your own policy and let subrogation chase your deductible. The mistake to avoid is waiting months on an adjuster who was never going to say yes.