The first hour, and the calls that are not to us
Report a claim
Some of what follows a loss is urgent and none of it is complicated. Start with the calls that are not to us, then the deadlines, then the report — in that order.
Sometimes the right call is not to us. Some of what people ring an agency about belongs somewhere else, and saying so costs us a sale. A dispute with a carrier that has exhausted the adjuster and the supervisor is a complaint to the Department of Financial Services, which is free and which insurers take seriously. A settlement figure that needs negotiating on your behalf is a licensed public adjuster. An injury claim against another driver, or a coverage denial you intend to challenge, is a lawyer. Health cover for a household buying it without an employer is the New York State of Health marketplace. We will point you at all four, and we take no fee for sending you to any of them.
This office keeps counter hours and does not pretend otherwise. Your carrier's claims line runs around the clock and its number is on your insurance card and your declarations page — after hours, that is the number to ring, and then tell us the next morning so we can pick the file up.
Before either of those, there are calls that are more urgent than any insurance question, and an agency that leads with its own telephone number rather than with these is putting itself first.
The calls that are not to us
If anybody is injured, or there is fire, or you smell gas: 911, immediately, before anything else. An insurance claim is a question about money and it will keep. Nothing on this website is more urgent than that call.
If there is water still arriving, turn it off at the stopcock. If a vehicle accident has happened, police at the scene where anybody is injured or where damage is significant — a police report number makes a motor claim substantially easier, and its absence makes a hit-and-run claim substantially harder.
For a burglary or vandalism, the police first: most policies require you to report a crime to the police, and a claim without a report number is a claim with an argument attached to it.
The New York deadlines that actually deny claims
No-fault. The written application for no-fault benefits generally has to reach the insurer within thirty days of a motor accident, and medical bills within forty-five days of treatment. This is the deadline that quietly costs people their medical cover, and it applies whether you were the driver, a passenger or a pedestrian.
Prompt notice generally. Every policy requires notice as soon as reasonably practicable, and late notice is one of the most common grounds for refusing an otherwise valid claim. Report it even if you are undecided about pursuing it — reporting and claiming are two different decisions.
Hit-and-run in particular. Report to the police and to your carrier as soon as you reasonably can. A late report on an unwitnessed hit-and-run is the most defensible denial an insurer ever writes.
What to gather, while it is still there
Photographs before anything is moved or cleaned up, including wide shots that establish the scene and close ones that show the damage. Once a room is cleared it cannot be photographed, and the adjuster works from that record.
The other party's details on a motor accident: name, licence, registration, insurer and policy number, and photographs of the vehicles where they came to rest. Witness names and telephone numbers if anybody stopped.
Receipts for anything you spend to prevent further damage — boarding up, a tarpaulin, emergency drying. Most policies cover reasonable emergency measures and reimburse them, and most people throw the receipts away.
Then tell us, and what we do
Ring during office hours or email at any time. We report the loss to the carrier, send them your full policy and endorsement history so what was in force is established from the record, and tell you what the adjuster will ask for next.
Then we follow the file, chase it when it stalls, escalate past an adjuster who is not moving, and put our reading of the wording in writing if we think a denial is wrong. What we do not do is decide the claim or negotiate the number — see how a claim is decided for where that line sits and why it is drawn there.
There is no charge for any of it, and we will do the arithmetic with you on whether a small property loss is worth claiming at all. For anything involving injury to another person, do not do that arithmetic — report it immediately.
In order
How this works in practice
911 first, if anyone is hurt
Or if there is fire or gas. The insurance question will keep; that call will not.
Stop the loss getting worse
Water off at the stopcock, the building secured. Keep the receipts — emergency measures are usually reimbursed.
Police where a crime or injury is involved
A report number makes a motor, theft or vandalism claim substantially easier and its absence makes it harder.
Photograph before anything moves
Wide shots and close ones. Once it is cleared up it cannot be photographed and the adjuster works from that record.
Report inside the deadlines
Your carrier's line runs around the clock. No-fault is thirty days, and it denies whole claims when missed.
Then tell us
We send the history, follow the file, escalate, and argue a denial in writing. Free, and not a decision we get to make.
Questions we are actually asked
Report a claim — frequently asked
Should I call you or my insurance company first?
After hours, the carrier — their claims line runs around the clock and the number is on your insurance card. This office keeps counter hours. Tell us the next morning either way, and we will pick the file up, send the history and follow it.
How long do I have to report a claim in New York?
Policies require notice as soon as reasonably practicable, and late notice is a common ground for refusal. Some deadlines are specific: no-fault benefits generally need the written application within thirty days of a motor accident, and medical bills within forty-five days of treatment.
Should I report a small loss?
Do the arithmetic first for property: subtract your deductible from the loss and weigh what remains against a likely premium increase and a lost claims-free credit. We will do that with you. For anything involving injury to another person, do not weigh it — report immediately.
What if my claim is denied?
Send us the denial. We will read it against the wording and, where we think it is wrong, say so in writing and escalate above the adjuster. If that is exhausted, a complaint to the Department of Financial Services is free, and for a contested figure a licensed public adjuster negotiates where we cannot.
Read next
Related reading
Bring the declarations page and we will read it with you
Ask us what it would cost
Send or bring the summary pages of what you already have — those two sheets are where most of the useful conversation is. We will tell you what we would place it with and what that would cost, what we are paid for doing it, and whether you should move at all. Quite often the answer is that your current policy is priced fairly and you should keep it, and that is an answer we give in writing like any other.