If an insurer is stalling a claim after a Houston crash, the first question is whose policy the claim is under. Texas’s prompt-payment rules in Insurance Code Chapter 542 set fixed deadlines for first-party claims, meaning claims made under your own policy. Claims made against the at-fault driver’s insurer run on another track, and the same deadlines do not measure them.
The short version
- Your own policy has clock rules. Under a policy you hold, the insurer must acknowledge the claim within 15 days, notify you of acceptance or rejection within 15 business days after the last requested item arrives, and pay within 5 business days of notifying you it will pay, with exceptions (Ins. Code §§ 542.055 to 542.057).
- Late payment can carry a price. An insurer that is liable for the claim and does not comply with Chapter 542 can owe interest at 18 percent a year as damages plus reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees (§ 542.060(a)); § 542.060(c) sets a different rate in an action to which Chapter 542A applies.
- The Department of Insurance takes complaints but does not decide fault. The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) asks the company to respond within 15 days and does not make a company pay unless not paying breaks a law or the policy.
- A claim against the other driver’s insurer runs differently. TDI says it probably cannot help when that company will not accept liability, and Chapter 541 gives no cause of action to a third party suing the insured (§ 541.060(b)).
- Every date needs a check. The general limit for a personal injury suit is two years (Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003), with statutory exceptions, so counsel should confirm the date on your claim.
How long does an insurer have to handle your own claim in Texas?
For a first-party claim, the insurer must acknowledge it within 15 days of notice, give written notice of acceptance or rejection within 15 business days after it has the items it required, and pay within 5 business days after notifying you it will pay. Those are the usual fixed points, and the statute sets exceptions. The time between them depends on what the insurer requests and when it requests it.
Section 542.055(a) requires the insurer, within 15 days after it receives notice of a claim, to acknowledge receipt, begin its investigation, and request the items it reasonably believes it will need. It may make additional requests if the investigation makes them necessary (§ 542.055(b)). That is why the clock is not one number: the 15-business-day decision period starts once the insurer holds every item it required to secure final proof of loss (§ 542.056(a)).
If the insurer cannot decide in time, § 542.056(d) lets it notify you, within the same period, that it needs more time and why. It must then accept or reject the claim no later than the 45th day after that notice. A rejection has to state its reasons (§ 542.056(c)), so a written request for those reasons is the first thing to send when a claim goes quiet.
| Step | Deadline | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Acknowledge the claim, begin the investigation, request items | 15 days after the insurer receives notice | Ins. Code § 542.055(a) |
| Accept or reject in writing | 15 business days after all requested items are received | § 542.056(a) |
| Rejection | Written reasons must be stated | § 542.056(c) |
| More time needed | Written notice of reasons in the same period; decision within 45 days after that notice | § 542.056(d) |
| Pay an accepted claim | 5 business days after notice of acceptance | § 542.057(a) |
| Payment delayed where no other statute sets a period | More than 60 days after the insurer receives all items reasonably requested and required | § 542.058(a) |
The table states the general periods. An eligible surplus lines insurer has longer periods (§§ 542.055(a), 542.057(c)), § 542.056(b) sets 30 days where the insurer has a reasonable basis to believe a loss resulted from arson, and § 542.059(b) adds 15 days after a weather-related catastrophe or major natural disaster.
The extra time is not a hypothetical. FOX 26 Houston reported on 16 September 2024 that some Houston-area homeowners were still waiting more than two months after Hurricane Beryl for their insurers to pay claims, and that the Texas Department of Insurance had given insurers an extra 15 days because of claim volume (FOX 26 Houston, 16 September 2024). The department’s Bulletin B-0014-24, dated 18 July 2024, lists the affected counties, which include Harris, Fort Bend and Galveston, and cites Insurance Code § 542.059 for the extension. A storm claim is a different setting from a crash, and our piece on whether a car accident claim needs an attorney covers the crash side.
Statute text: Insurance Code Chapter 542, Subchapter B, checked 16 October 2026.
Which claims does the Texas prompt-payment rule cover?
Chapter 542 covers first-party claims: claims a policyholder or a named beneficiary makes under the policy, which the insurer pays directly to that person. The other driver’s liability insurer answers to a different set of rules, so the chapter’s clock does not measure that claim.
The statute’s definition turns on who makes the claim and who receives the money (§ 542.051(2)). Your own policy may include personal injury protection, medical payments coverage, or uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. Whether any of those applies, and what it pays, depends on the policy you bought, so read the declarations page and have counsel check it. When the other driver was uninsured or fled, that coverage is often the question, and the steps for a hit-and-run crash in Houston are set out separately. A crash in a rideshare vehicle raises its own policy question, which our piece on which insurance applies to an Uber driver in Houston addresses.
The subchapter also excludes some lines entirely, including workers’ compensation, title insurance, and marine insurance as defined in Section 1807.001 (§ 542.053(a)). A crash that happens on the job can raise the workers’ compensation question first, and a boat or seaman raises the marine one; counsel should answer both before anyone relies on a deadline.
What does Chapter 541 say about unfair settlement practices?
Insurance Code § 541.060(a) lists unfair settlement practices. The ones that matter in a stalled claim are failing in good faith to settle promptly once liability is reasonably clear, failing within a reasonable time to affirm or deny coverage, and refusing to pay without a reasonable investigation. A delay is not a violation by itself, because the statute ties each item to the facts.
The statute covers an insurer that fails “to attempt in good faith to effectuate a prompt, fair, and equitable settlement” of a claim whose liability “has become reasonably clear” (§ 541.060(a)(2)(A)). It also covers failing within a reasonable time to “affirm or deny coverage of a claim to a policyholder” (§ 541.060(a)(4)(A)) and refusing “to pay a claim without conducting a reasonable investigation” (§ 541.060(a)(7)).
A person who sustains actual damages from one of those practices may bring an action for them (§ 541.151). Whether a given claim supports that action is a legal question for counsel. The comparative negligence argument insurers raise often sits alongside these questions, so ask counsel about both together.
What can you recover when an insurer pays late?
An insurer that is liable for a claim and does not comply with Chapter 542 owes, under § 542.060(a), the claim plus interest at 18 percent a year as damages and reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees. Section 542.060(c) sets a different rate in an action to which Chapter 542A applies. Whether the insurer failed to comply is decided on the facts of the claim.
The statute makes a noncompliant insurer that is liable for the claim answer to the policy holder or the beneficiary making the claim, “in addition to the amount of the claim, interest on the amount of the claim at the rate of 18 percent a year as damages, together with reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees.” Section 542.058(a) is the delay rule: except as otherwise provided, if an insurer holds all the items it reasonably requested and required and delays payment for longer than the period another statute specifies, or for more than 60 days where none does, it must pay damages under § 542.060. Under § 542.058(b) that rule does not apply where arbitration or litigation finds the claim invalid.
Section 542.060(a) also does not prevent an award of prejudgment interest as provided by law. These remedies are written into the statute, though they carry no guarantee. A late payment may not qualify, and an insurer may have a reason for the time it took. Fee arrangements are covered in our piece on the cost of hiring an accident lawyer.
How far can the Texas Department of Insurance go with a stalled claim?
TDI takes complaints about insurance companies, agents and adjusters it regulates. It asks the company to respond, and the company has 15 days to respond and can ask for a 10-day extension. TDI cannot make a company pay a claim unless not paying violates a law or the policy, and it does not decide who was at fault.
TDI’s auto insurance complaint page, last updated 24 April 2025, sets out the sequence. First, talk to the company, since many issues are settled by a call to the help line on the policy. Second, if the dispute is about the cost of the damage, check whether the policy has an appraisal process and any deadline to request it; appraisal can settle only the amount of damage, not coverage. Third, file an online complaint and upload the letters and pictures that show what the company said and what it received.
TDI’s Help Line is 800-252-3439, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central time, Monday through Friday. The Attorney General’s consumer complaint form is a separate route, and that page says a complaint is open to the public under Texas law, so think about what you put in it.
Sources: TDI, Get help with an auto insurance complaint, read 16 October 2026; Texas Attorney General, File a Consumer Complaint, read 16 October 2026.
Does the same delay rule apply to a claim against the other driver’s insurer?
No, not in the same way. The prompt-payment deadlines apply to first-party claims, and TDI says it probably cannot help when another person’s insurance company will not accept liability. A claim against the at-fault driver is worked out through negotiation and, if needed, a lawsuit, under different timing.
TDI’s page says the agency probably cannot help when the other driver’s insurer will not accept liability, and it does not decide fault. Chapter 541 gives no cause of action to a third party bringing a claim against an insured under a liability policy (§ 541.060(b)). For background on the civil claim itself, see our tort law basics for Houston car accidents. A claim against the other driver therefore moves at the pace of negotiation, the documents and the at-fault insurer’s own evaluation, not by a statutory clock that starts from your notice. A crash with several vehicles adds more parties and more coverage questions, and who is liable when several cars are involved is a separate question. The picture changes again when a commercial vehicle is involved, and our article on insurance liabilities after an 18-wheeler accident addresses that case, which is also handled by our 18-wheeler accident attorneys in Houston.
Both kinds of claim share one outer limit: Texas generally allows two years to file suit, counted from accrual, subject to statutory exceptions (Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003). The typical length of a Texas injury claim is discussed in our timeline article. The damages a claim can include are listed in our damages article, and the wider cost of a crash appears on our statistics and cost page.
What should you do when your own insurer goes quiet?
Put every request in writing, keep a dated record of calls and letters, send documents as one organized packet, and ask the insurer in writing for its reasons if it needs more time. The record shows what the insurer asked for and when, and that is the timeline Chapter 542 turns on.
Start with a short letter giving the claim number, the crash date, and what you have already sent. Ask for the adjuster’s name, the specific items still needed, and the date each item arrived. If the insurer asks for something new, ask whether it is needed to finish the investigation, since the statute allows new requests only when the investigation makes them necessary (§ 542.055(b)). Good evidence also helps a stalled file: a set of photographs taken at the scene and the names of any witnesses give the adjuster something concrete to act on.
Be careful about what you say on a call and what you sign. A recorded statement, a medical authorization or a release can change the claim, so read each one first. Two related pieces cover those questions: one on speaking with an adjuster before a lawyer is involved, and one on an adjuster’s request for medical records. If the insurer still does not act, a written complaint to TDI is the next step on the record you have built. The tactics insurers use after a crash are worth knowing, and practical claim tips for Texas drivers make a useful checklist. The general FAQ page lists more questions. Our car accident FAQ for Houston drivers covers related questions.
A smaller unpaid amount may also belong in a county court close to home. Harris County’s justice courts, the county’s site says, hear civil matters in which the amount in controversy is no more than $20,000, exclusive of interest and court costs but including attorney fees, if any (Harris County Justice Courts, Justice Court Suits). That page does not say how the limit applies to a claim against an insurer, so check the amount and the court with counsel before filing; whether an attorney is needed for an insurance claim and how uninsured and underinsured motorist claims work are covered separately. Our pages on Houston car accident claims, auto accident cases and the first steps after an auto accident cover the claim around the insurer.
How does a Houston personal injury lawyer help when an insurer is stalling?
A lawyer calendars the statutory dates, sends the written requests and the complaint packet, handles the adjuster, and decides with you whether a complaint, a demand or a lawsuit makes sense. Each step leaves a dated record that a later complaint or lawsuit can rely on.
Readers with a stalled claim can start with our personal injury work, then what to bring to a case evaluation.
If your claim has stalled, gather the policy, the claim number, the letters and the crash report, and send them with a short timeline through the contact page. If you do not have the report yet, our article on getting a copy of a Houston car accident report explains how to request it. For the steps a lawyer takes on a car claim, see our walk-through of the claim, and for questions to put to any firm, see five questions to ask before hiring a lawyer.
Frequently asked questions
What to do if insurance company stalling claim?
Put each request in writing, keep a dated log of calls and letters, and ask the insurer in writing which items it still needs and why. If the claim is under your own policy, the Chapter 542 deadlines give you a timeline to point to, and TDI takes complaints about the company after you have talked to it.
How long can an insurer take to talk to you about a car claim in Texas?
For a first-party claim, the insurer must acknowledge it within 15 days after notice, under Insurance Code § 542.055(a). It must then accept or reject it within 15 business days after it has the items it required, or send written reasons it needs up to 45 more days, under § 542.056.
Can the Texas Department of Insurance make an insurer pay my claim?
Not in general. TDI says it cannot make a company pay a claim unless not paying violates a law or the terms of the policy. It can ask the company to respond to your complaint, and the company has 15 days to do so.
Does Chapter 542 apply to a claim against the other driver’s insurance company?
No. Chapter 542 defines a claim as a first-party claim made under a policy the claimant holds or is named in. A claim against the other driver’s liability insurer follows different rules, and TDI says it probably cannot help when that company will not accept liability.
Is every delay by an insurer a violation in Texas?
No. The statute allows an insurer more time in defined circumstances, such as the 45-day path in § 542.056(d). Section 541.060 turns on whether liability was reasonably clear and whether the investigation was reasonable, so a delay is judged on its facts.
Do I need a lawyer to file a complaint with the Texas Department of Insurance?
No. TDI accepts complaints through its online complaint system, where you can upload documents such as letters and pictures. A lawyer can help you decide what to file and whether a lawsuit is also worth considering.
About the authors
Sam A. Maida, Jr.
Owner and Managing Attorney
Sam A. Maida, Jr. has represented injured Texans in the greater Houston area since the firm opened in 1993.
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Bernard G. Johnson III
Litigation Managing Attorney
Bernard G. Johnson III is a board certified trial lawyer licensed in Texas since 1996 and a graduate of South Texas College of Law.