Insurance exists with the purpose of paying for claims. An insurance company and a policyholder conclude an agreement. It is important to read and understand your policy as it include all duties, reasons for claims, amount of money you may get, exclusions, and failure causes. No one insurance company can just refuse to satisfy legitimate claims if there were no violations.

Buying an auto insurance policy, you agree to behave in a prescribed way and perform certain duties after a loss has occurred. You may find these duties in the section of the policy entitled “Conditions”. If you failure to perform one duty at least, the insurance company may refuse to pay the claim.

Usually you are required to inform the insurance company of any loss that has happened. This may include the time and place of an accident, information about damages and injured person etc. Some of the insurer requires your help in the investigation, settlement or defense of claims.
Obligation to provide a defense for you if you are sued may also be included into your auto insurance policy. In that case the insurance company selects a lawyer and pays for all legal fees.

In your part you must inform the insurance company of an accident at once. Otherwise the insurance company may accuse you of preventing from doing an investigation or taking any other actions. As a result the insurance company may reduce the amount of claim or even deny to pay for charges on the legal ground.
All you steps should be coordinated with your insurance company. It that case you will be protected from company's repayment refuse.

However the insurance company may refuse to pay a claim produced by its policyholder. It may be caused some instances. For example, your insurer may decide that your auto insurance policy doesn’t cover such type of damages or a court found you guilty of auto insurance fraud.

If you feel that you haven’t got the appropriate solution of your claim, ask for reassessment of your claims from the appraisal service or the arbitration service of your insurance company. Besides you can turn to your own state’s insurance department for help.

You may also call the consumer complaint department. Ask the name of the person whom you talked in the consumer complaint department and send photocopies of all the documents to him. In some cases he may be able to help you.

Finally you may call a toll free consumer information service 1-800-942-4242. This service is sponsored by the insurance industry and is available Monday to Friday, from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm. Specially trained personnel can assist and answer your questions relating to auto insurance complaints.

If you steel have any doubts concerning legality of the insurance company’s decision, consult with an attorney, who is specialized in handling auto insurance cases.

Anyway, an insurance company pays for claims only up to your coverage limit. All fees that exceed a policy limit are your responsibility.