What Does it Mean When Your Car Insurance Claim is Closed
One of the main reasons for buying an insurance policy is that it will provide you with enough financial support when you urgently need it. But what if your car suffers from severe damage after an accident, and your company refuses to pay for the losses or just refuses to accept the claim by announcing it as a “closed claim?”
Don’t be in shock, guys, because this situation often occurs. To make you more aware of such matters, we will share some information about what a closed claim means, its common causes, and more.
So, let’s start the discussion of our article by learning the actual meaning of a closed claim.
What Does Closed Claim Mean?
In straightforward terms, an insurance claim is closed, which means the insurance company, such as a progressive insurance company, takes a final look at the claim and later makes an absolute decision.
In a concise term, we can say that they first review your claim and make a final decision regarding your claim, such as;
- Whether to Denied a claim or not
- Paying out on the claim wholly or partly
- Offering a settlement amount just to balance the claim amount.
Whereas, if we mainly focused on the word “Closed,” that simply indicated that Progressive has completed the adjuster’s review, and once it is completed, that will not reopen or reconsider, no matter what new thing you will add.
What Does it Mean When a Claim is Closed Progressive
A claim closed is nothing but is the same as denying the claim from the side of your insurance company.
On the other hand, People always have questions about how you would know that your claim is closed by insurance companies such as Progressive, a popular insurance provider.
- It is the responsibility of Progressive Insurance to provide a written explanation for why they closed your claim, and they specifically need to highlight the reasons for the denial.
- Once your claim is closed, then you have a right to reopen it via appeal.
- Closing a claim simply means you have no contract with the company and cannot make any new claim on the closed claim process.
- Now, if the policyholder was driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol at that time, too, your provider will not pass the coverage for it.
A few Common Causes behind Closing your Claim:
Insurance providers such as Progressive close the claims for several reasons, some of which are general, and some are non-based, against which you can appeal it.
But very few people can understand the reasons, so here we are sharing a few common reasons with you because of which your claim could be closed or denied, including;
- Disputes Over Cause of Loss:
The provider might deny or close your claim if the damage was caused by negligence or improper maintenance.
- Coverage Limitation:
Suppose the claim you made under a category not covered by your policy; then you cannot file a claim against it at that time. For instance, if your vehicle gets damaged by a flood, many standard homeowner policies do not accept your claim.
- Lack of Cooperation:
The policyholder has to submit all the claim-related documents on time. Still, if you cannot adjust everything on time, your claim is automatically closed from the side of its provider.
- Suspicion of Fraud:
Often, the people file a claim fraud just to take insurance money back; thus, in that case, the provider has all the right to deny or close the claim.
Apart from these reasons, there are a few more causes, such as pre-existing conditions and misrepresentations, because the chances of closing the claim are initially increased.
What to Do if Your Claim is Closed by an Insurance Company?
Many times, people start worrying after they know that their provider closed the claim process, and now they have no second option to cover the losses.
Thus, at that time, here we are suggesting a few solutions that might provide some helpfulness when stuck in such a situation, like;
- Request the Provider to Review:
First, you can request your insurance adjuster to review the claim process and reopen their case. Later, provide them sufficient proof again related to the damages.
- File an Appeal:
Sometimes, the insurance providers do some kind of formal appeals that permit you to dispute the closure of your claim and get its reassessment by another insurance adjuster.
- Submit Your Complaint:
Every state has a head insurance department, which mainly handles the issues the policyholders suffer. Thus, you can go there and share the details of your problems, and if they find it genuine, they will indeed support you.
- Contact a Lawyer:
Now, if the insurance department is also providing little support to you, then you have a right to take the help of an experienced lawyer who can give you legal advice about your insurance case.
Final Words:
Many people have faced this situation in which the provider announced that the claim they made was already closed, but at that time, due to a lack of information, one cannot find the actual way to appeal them back. But, after reading this article, we hope you have sufficient information on what you will need to do when any providers close your claim.
But wait, guys, before making any appeal, it’s your responsibility to check the above-given causes based on which the providers have the right to deny or close your claims.
Now, at last, we thank all the readers for spending their valuable time reading the entire article, and if you have any queries, please feel free to comment in our website comment section.