Car insurance claim rules in Mississippi

How fast a Mississippi insurer must act

We found no Mississippi regulation that sets day counts for auto claims; the department's list of regulations has claim-payment rules for health insurance, not for cars. The department's auto insurance guide sets out what it expects instead:

• Notify your insurer promptly after a loss.
• The claim should be paid promptly after the insurer has received adequate proof of loss.
• A rejection or partial payment should come with a written explanation.
• No prompt, satisfactory answer? The department tells you to contact it.

As a yardstick, the NAIC model regulation that many states follow asks insurers to acknowledge a claim within 15 days and to accept or deny it within 21 days after proof of loss. It is not Mississippi law, but it shows what prompt usually means. When a file stalls, our page on claims that drag on covers what to send and when.

When a Mississippi car is a total loss

Mississippi uses no percentage threshold. The Department of Revenue defines a salvage vehicle as one an insurance company gets from the owner after paying a total loss claim for collision, fire, flood, hail, theft that isn't recovered or another event. Whether to total the car is the insurer's call under your policy, usually by comparing the repair cost plus the wreck's salvage value with the car's actual cash value.

• Older, low-value cars are left out: a car 10 or more years old worth $1,500 or less isn't a salvage vehicle.
• Minor damage is left out: neither is a car that needs five or fewer minor parts repaired or replaced.
• The settlement is usually the actual cash value just before the loss, as your policy defines it; what to check is in total loss claims.

The total loss check shows how repair cost, salvage value and the car's value interact.

Your rights when the car is repaired

The department's page on physical damage claims lists protections that matter on a repair claim:

• You pick the shop. An insurer may not dictate where repairs are made, and it can't condition payment on a particular repair facility.
• Aftermarket parts are labeled. Non-original parts must carry the maker's logo, number or name, and the estimate must identify each one. You are not required to accept a non-original part.
• Hidden damage gets paid. If a shop finds more damage, the insurer inspects it and issues a supplemental check to the shop.
• The floor is a proper repair. The law sets the minimum as the lowest amount for which the car could be properly repaired in your area; most policies pay more.

Reporting a Mississippi crash

The department's advice is to call the police after a crash, even one where police don't usually come out. A police report is the neutral record an adjuster looks for first. Call 911 if anyone is hurt. Copies of crash reports can be bought online through the Department of Public Safety's crash report page.

Fault and who pays

Mississippi is an at-fault state: the driver who caused the crash, through their liability insurance, pays for others' injuries and damage. Section 11-7-15 of the Mississippi Code uses pure comparative fault. Your own negligence doesn't bar recovery for injury or property damage; it reduces your damages by your share. Even at 70% fault, you could recover 30% of your losses.

Deadlines to sue and where to complain

Section 15-1-49 gives three years to bring a claim that has no other time limit, which covers most suits for injury or property damage from a crash. Your policy may set its own deadlines for notice and disputes. The department can't decide facts or order an insurer to pay, but it can look into how a claim was handled.

1. Ask the insurer in writing to explain a denial or a partial payment.
2. Call the MID Consumer Help Line at 800-562-2957, or 601-359-2453 in the Jackson area.
3. File a complaint online or with the department's form; our guide to insurance department complaints shows what to include.

Questions people ask