Auto Insurance Claims: how long does an insurance company have to pay a claim in tx, Time Limit on claims

Question
Now that the at-fault driver's insurance company has accepted 100% liability (almost 4 weeks after the accident), how long does an insurance company have to pay a claim in TX(the accident happened in MS but insurance co and at-fault driver is in TX). At least how long does an insurance have to fix our SUV and pay the tow/storage and rental car fees. We've been paying out of pocket for car rental (again for almost 4 weeks) and medical expenses (co-pays and deductibles); our attorney keeps saying we cannot make them do anything and keeps sending them letters basically telling them about the financial strain on us..but we have no recourse and there is no incentive for the insurance company to resolve this??

Answer
Your attorney is right, there is no time limit on a third party claim in Texas or in MS for that matter.  The only way to put pressure on the company is to file a lawsuit against their driver.  Insurance companies know that they cannot get in trouble so long as their policy holder has not suffered any financial loss.  If there is threat that their policy holder is sued and that a hearing would likely result in an adverse judgment, then the company will normally settle.  Your attorney should be able to get this resolved without a suit, but some companies are very ornery.  Adjusters at many companies are overworked and simply don't have the experience to evaluate a claim quickly enough to resolve it confidently.  Most adjusters are working within an "authority", meaning they have a certain dollar amount they can pay and if the claim gets bigger than that, then they have to enlist the help of a higher level adjuster or supervisor and it is just time consuming.

The best measure of whether a company is treating you fairly is to see if they are abiding by the "Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act".  Ask your attorney for a copy of it, or you can download a copy of the statute here:

http://www.pettydetailsllc.com/small_claims_court_resources.html

Just copy and paste that into your address bar and then scroll down until you see "Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act" and click on it and it will allow you download a word document containing all the content of the statute.  If you can't get to it, let me know, and we'll figure out some way to get it to you.  

I hope this helps.