Auto Insurance Claims: disclosure of policy limits in California, maughan, bodily injury

Question
Hi Sheldon, I am currently dealing with an adjuster regarding a car accident
that occurred in California. I wish t find out the limits of the insured's policy.
The adjuster refused. In Florida, where I'm from, there is a State law which
requires the insurance company to respond with the policy, limits, details of
the policy and the insurance company's position on the case within 30 days
from a demand of the information. My question is... is there a similar
requirement in California?
Thanks for any help you can give.

Answer
Joe-

I assume you are talking about Bodily injury since usually you will know fairly quickly on property damage if there's not enough to cover the damage.  
My experience and understanding is that the insured must give permission before the information can be released.  
When someone was taking legal action against me a few years back when my daughter caused an accident, my insurance company called to ask for my permission to release the information in order to help with the settlement process. They told me that if I said no they could not release the information. Fortunately the case was dismissed becasue the guy was trying to claim pre-existing injuries.
You will only get what you can prove your damages were including medical bills, pain & suffering, lost wages etc. so if you're trying to decide if it's worth hiring an attorney, base it on how high that number is, not what the policy limits are.  Whatever the shortfall is will just have to come out the other drivers assets and future income if a judgement is issued against them-that's why high bodily injury limits are so important.

Sheldon Maughan
Sacramento, Ca