Auto Insurance Claims: Response Time To Claim, own insurance, repair estimate

Question
I was involved in an auto accident and filed a claim 4 days ago against Allstate. Since that day. They state they have assigned an investigator to see if the party I was involved with even has an insurance policy with them. I find all this hard to believe. Can this be possible?. Am I being mislead?.
Also, how long do they have to continue to investigate before I must be given an answer.

Answer
Hi Paul,

In most states, an insurance comapny has 30 days to investigate and either pay or deny a claim. The do have to be sure the person has insurance with them. If the policy was only recently taken out it is possible that their computer system is not yet showing the person as their insured. They will also have to make contact with the other driver to obtain a statement from them to verify what happened in the accident. They will then make a liability decision. If they accept liability, they will send out a damage estimator to assess the damage and write a repair estimate. They may try to sway you to take the vehicle to a particular body shop. You should do your own research and select the body shop of your choice to do the repairs. If their is an extended delay on them making a liability decision, you may want to place the claim through your own insurance policy. They your company will pursue reimbursement from Allstate.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh