Your own insurer must acknowledge the claim within 15 days, accept or reject it within 15 business days after it has what it needs (45 days with notice of a delay), and pay within 5 business days of accepting. Those prompt payment deadlines do not apply to the other driver's insurer.
Texas prompt payment rules cover first-party claims, meaning claims you make on your own policy for collision, PIP, uninsured motorist, or similar coverage. Under Insurance Code section 542.055, the company must acknowledge the claim, begin investigating, and request what it needs within 15 days of notice.
The decision comes next. Insurance Code section 542.056 requires the insurer to accept or reject the claim in writing within 15 business days after it receives the items it requested. If it needs more time, it must say why, and it then has up to 45 days. A rejection must state the reasons.
Payment follows quickly. Under Insurance Code section 542.057, the insurer must pay within 5 business days of accepting the claim. Personal Injury Protection has its own timing: PIP benefits are due within 30 days after the insurer receives satisfactory proof of the claim.
The other driver's insurer is different. The Texas Department of Insurance says plainly that the prompt payment law does not apply when another driver's insurance company is paying, although that company must still act in good faith and try to settle fairly. In practice, the pressure on that insurer comes from the evidence, a well-supported demand, and the possibility of a lawsuit, not from a statutory clock.
If your own insurer misses its deadlines, Texas law can add interest and attorney's fees to what it owes. If the other driver's insurer stalls, the two-year filing deadline is the one that matters. Owsley Law Firm tracks both and charges no fee unless it wins.
What to do, step by step
- Report the claim in writing and keep a copy with the date.
- Send the documents the insurer requests promptly, and keep proof you sent them.
- Note the date the insurer received the last requested item.
- If a deadline passes, ask in writing for the status and the reason for any delay.
The deadlines run from specific events: notice of the claim, then receipt of the items the insurer requested, then acceptance. Keeping a written timeline makes it easy to show when a deadline was missed.
Insurers may ask for a signed proof of loss, a recorded statement under your own policy, or a medical exam. Your own policy may require reasonable cooperation, but the other driver's insurer has no right to your recorded statement.
If your own company does not respond, the Texas Department of Insurance accepts written complaints, and it can ask the company to explain its handling.
Mistakes that cost people money
- Relying on phone calls with no written record of what was sent and when.
- Assuming the other driver's insurer has the same deadlines as your own.
- Letting the two-year filing deadline pass while waiting for an insurer to decide.
Related questions
What if the other driver's insurer never responds?
There is no prompt payment clock for third-party claims. A supported demand and, if needed, a lawsuit filed before the two-year deadline are what move the claim.
How fast must PIP pay?
Within 30 days after the insurer receives satisfactory proof of the claim.
Can my insurer delay because it is investigating?
It can take up to 45 days to decide after notifying you of the delay and the reason, but not indefinitely.
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