How Long Does Home Insurance Take to Process?

Accidents happen. If you searched and clicked on this post, then there’s a good chance something already happened. If you’ve already filled out your home insurance claim, what’s next?

Below, we’ll explain how long home insurance takes to process. Read to the end for some bonus tips to speed up the claim process and get paid out.

Home Insurance Claim: How Long Until You Get Paid?

In most cases, you can expect an insurance company to take several weeks or several months to issue a payout. The short answer would be approximately 45 days.

The wide time range for processing is the result of two primary factors: 1) individual state laws and 2) the circumstance surrounding your claim.

Some state laws allow insurers to take anywhere between 10 and 30 days to acknowledge receipt of your claim, and an additional 40 days to accept or deny the claim. In other states, the law only urges insurers to file claims in a “reasonable” amount of time.

The circumstances surrounding your claim influence the processing time too. Smaller claims tend to process faster than larger claims. Since larger claims call for higher payouts, insurers tend to do more investigating and may require you to fill out additional forms. If an insurance company is dealing with numerous large insurance claims – e.g. after a hurricane – you’re going to be waiting longer too.

Tips to Speed Up Your Home Insurance Claim

Below are the best practices to follow when filing your home insurance claim:

• Keep a home inventory – Have a home inventory list of all your personal belongings, with pictures and receipts if possible. This leaves the guesswork out of getting compensated.
• Document your loss – Before doing any clean-up, make sure to take photos and videos which you’ll need to submit later on.
• File promptly – Most states require you to file a claim within 30 days of damage. The faster you file your claim, the faster you get your money.
• Keep track of all conversations – Take notes on the times and dates in which you have contact with your adjuster.
• Know your deadlines – After your initial claim, your insurer may ask for additional documents. Submit documents promptly and pay close attention to deadlines if applicable.
• Stay in touch with your adjuster – To reduce unnecessary communication delays, request important documents and paperwork directly from your adjuster.