Right to Prompt Claims Handling

• Each state has laws regarding the time frames under which insurers must operate when they receive a claim. California, for example, requires insurers to take action "immediately, but in no event more than fifteen calendar days" after they receive notice of a claim. This disallows insurers from avoiding claims simply by ignoring their customers. Massachusetts requires insurers to pay claims in a "prompt and reasonable" amount of time, though it does not specify what this time period is.
  
  

Right to Policy Benefits

• Your auto insurance policy spells out specific benefits for which you are entitled under certain circumstances. When you suffer a covered loss, you have a right to expect all the appropriate benefits available under your policy. Insurers are not allowed to partially pay claims they are legally obligated to cover. California even specifically makes it illegal for insurers to withhold benefits information. In other words, if your policy entitles you to a rental vehicle, the insurer must inform you of this even if you do not ask.
  
  

Right of Appraisal

• If you and your insurer disagree about the dollar amount of your damaged vehicle, you have the right to an appraisal built into your policy. At your own expense, you can hire an appraiser to calculate the value of your car. The insurer will do the same, and hopefully the two professionals agree. If they do not, they work together to reach an agreement that is then binding for the claim. If they cannot reach an agreement, a neutral third party is hired to reach an agreement for them, and his or her decision is binding.
  
  

Right to Like Kind and Quality

• When your vehicle is damaged and your insurer offers repairs, you have the right to repairs that restore the car to its pre-loss condition using like kind and quality parts. In some cases, this may be new parts made by the vehicle's manufacturer, but for older vehicles or those with high mileage, many states and insurers permit used, aftermarket or reconditioned parts for vehicle repair. The concept is that if your fender is five years old, an undamaged five-year old fender from another vehicle is the same kind and quality as the one that was damaged.