Car insurance claim rules in Washington, D.C.

How fast a D.C. insurer has to move

D.C. Code § 31-2231.17 lists unfair claim settlement practices. An insurer violates it if it does any of the following often enough to show a general business practice:

• Failing to acknowledge and act reasonably promptly on communications about claims.
• Failing to affirm or deny coverage within a reasonable time after proof of loss statements are completed.
• Not attempting in good faith to reach a prompt, fair and equitable settlement of a claim once liability has become reasonably clear.
• Refusing to pay a claim without a reasonable investigation, or forcing people to sue by offering substantially less than they later recover.

Because the section sets no number of days, use the national benchmark as your yardstick when you write to an adjuster: the NAIC model regulation asks for acknowledgment within 15 days and a decision within 21 days after proof of loss. It is not D.C. law, but it shows what a reasonable pace looks like. Our page on claims that drag on has a status letter you can adapt.

When a D.C. car is a total loss

D.C. Code § 50-1331.01 defines a salvage vehicle as one damaged, destroyed, wrecked or submerged in water so that the estimated or actual cost of parts and labor to rebuild it to its pre-damage condition, and for legal use on the road, exceeds 75% of its retail value before the damage. The retail value comes from a current edition of a nationally recognized compilation of retail values. An owner can also designate a car as salvage voluntarily.

The 75% line governs the title; an insurer can still offer to total a car below it when repairs plus salvage value make that cheaper. What the cash settlement should include is in our guide to total loss claims, and the total loss check runs the 75% test for you.

Duties at a D.C. crash scene

D.C. Code § 50-2201.05c requires a driver who knows or has reason to believe their vehicle was in a collision to stop immediately. What comes next depends on the harm:

• Someone is injured: call 911 or have someone call, stay at the scene until law enforcement arrives, and give your identifying information to the police and to the injured person.
• Only property is damaged: give your identifying information to the owner or driver; if no one is there, give it, with the location of the collision, to law enforcement or 911.
• The collision creates a risk to others: call 911 and report your information, the location and the nature of the risk.

PIP, fault and who pays

The District uses a choice no-fault system. Under D.C. Code § 31-2405, a victim with PIP coverage must tell the PIP insurer within 60 days of the crash whether they elect PIP benefits. The same section sets what happens if no election is made in that time, so send a written choice before the 60 days pass.

• If you elect PIP, you can still sue the driver at fault only if the injury causes substantial permanent scarring or disfigurement, a substantial and medically demonstrable permanent impairment, an impairment that keeps you from substantially all of your usual activities for more than 180 continuous days, or medical, rehabilitation or work-loss costs above your available PIP benefits.
• Fault rules are strict. D.C. applies contributory negligence to most crash claims, so a driver found partly at fault may recover nothing from the other driver. Under D.C. Code § 50-2204.52, a pedestrian or other vulnerable road user hit by a car is barred only if their negligence is greater than the combined negligence of the defendants.

How PIP claims work, and what to document, is covered in PIP and MedPay claims.

Deadlines to sue and where to complain

D.C. Code § 12-301 gives three years for damages for an injury to real or personal property, and three years for actions with no other limit specially prescribed, which covers most injury claims from a crash. The 60-day PIP election is a much shorter clock, so decide it early.

1. Ask the insurer in writing for its decision and the policy language behind a denial or a low offer.
2. Call the Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB) at (202) 727-8000 with questions.
3. File a complaint through DISB's Consumer Services Division online; our guide to insurance department complaints shows what to include.

Questions people ask