Car insurance claims in Delaware

Delaware bolts a compulsory first-party benefit onto an intact fault system, which is why the fault system is recorded as «add-on» rather than «no-fault». Every policy on a vehicle registered in the state must carry FOUR coverages, not one: indemnity from legal liability at «the limits prescribed by the Financial Responsibility Law of this State»; «compensation to injured persons for reasonable and necessary expenses incurred within 2 years from the date of the accident», with a minimum of «$15,000 for any 1 person and $30,000 for all persons injured in any 1 accident» covering medical care, «net amount of lost earnings», «extra expenses for personal services which would have been performed by the injured person had they not been injured» and funeral services capped inside that aggregate at $5,000; $10,000 for damage to other people’s property; and — found in no other jurisdiction in this dataset — «compensation for damage to the insured motor vehicle, including loss of use of the motor vehicle, not to exceed the actual cash value of the vehicle at the time of the loss and $10 per day, with a maximum payment of $300, for loss of use», which the owner «may elect to exclude, in whole or in part» (§ 2118(a)). The first-party benefit is a single aggregate for all heads together rather than a menu of sub-limits, and its two-year EXPENSE WINDOW is the restriction readers miss: expenses must be incurred within two years of the accident, extended only for surgical or dental work a practitioner certifies in writing within those two years, and the insurer must notify the injured person of that limit.

Who the benefit follows is precise. It «shall be applicable to each person occupying such motor vehicle and to any other person injured in an accident involving such motor vehicle, other than an occupant of another motor vehicle» — so an occupant of the other car claims from that car’s own policy — and it follows the PERSON for «the named insureds and members of their households» anywhere «in any state of the United States, its territories or possessions or Canada». Pedestrians are covered «only if they are injured by an accident with any motor vehicle within the State», unless they are the named insured or a household member (§ 2118(a)(2)c.–e.). The claimant has two deadlines of their own: a bill must be submitted «as promptly as practical, in no event more than 2 years after they are received by the insured», and a bill incurred inside the window but impractical to present in time «shall be paid if presented within 90 days after the end of the 2-year period» (§ 2118(a)(2)i.).

There is NO TORT THRESHOLD in Delaware — no verbal test and no monetary one. What the statute does instead is narrower and stranger: a person eligible for the first-party benefits «is precluded from pleading or introducing into evidence in an action for damages against a tortfeasor those damages for which compensation is available … without regard to any elective reductions in such coverage and whether or not such benefits are actually recoverable» (§ 2118(h)). So medical bills and lost earnings drop out of the tort claim while pain and suffering and every uncompensated loss stay in it, and the bar bites even where the benefits cannot in fact be collected. Where fault is shared, contributory negligence does not bar recovery unless the claimant’s negligence was greater than the defendant’s or than «the combined negligence of all defendants against whom recovery is sought», and otherwise the award is reduced proportionally (§ 8132): a crash apportioned fifty-fifty recovers half. Both limitation periods are two years but they live in separate sections with separate accrual formulas — injury from the date the injuries are claimed to have been sustained (§ 8119), vehicle damage from the accrual of the cause of action (§ 8107) — and a suit on the policy is a contract action with three years (§ 8106(a)).

Uninsured motorist cover must be in every Delaware policy «unless coverage is provided therein or supplemental thereto» is rejected «in writing, on a form furnished by the insurer or group of affiliated insurers describing the coverage being rejected, by an insured named therein», and once rejected it stays out of every renewal «unless the coverage is then requested in writing by the named insured» (§ 3902(a)). It is recorded as «optional» for that reason, in the same sense as Florida, Hawaii and Alaska. Delaware prescribes the FORM of the rejection, so a bare signature on an application will not do. The floor is the financial-responsibility limits, i.e. 25/50/10; the property-damage part carries «a $250 deductible … unless the insured and the insurer agree in writing to a different deductible» and — in the opposite direction from Alaska — expressly provides that «the term “property damage” shall include the loss of use of a vehicle». A vehicle counts as uninsured not only where there is no cover but where «the insuring company denies coverage or becomes insolvent», which is the limb a claimant will not guess, and a hit-and-run qualifies on «physical contact of the hit-and-run vehicle with the insured or with an insured motor vehicle, or by a noncontact vehicle where the identity of both the driver and the owner of such vehicle are unknown», provided «the accident must be reported to the police or proper governmental authority» and «the insured must notify his or her insurer within 30 days, or as soon as practicable thereafter» (§ 3902(a)(2)–(3)). UNDERINSURED cover is separate and elective: «every insurer shall offer to the insured the option to purchase additional coverage for personal injury or death up to a limit of $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident or $300,000 single limit, but not to exceed the limits for bodily injury liability set forth in the basic policy», and «such additional insurance shall include underinsured bodily injury liability coverage». It pays only after «the limits of liability under all bodily injury bonds and insurance policies available to the insured … have been exhausted», and § 3902(b)(4) saves the claim that settling normally destroys: an insured who releases «a single tortfeasor owner or operator of an underinsured motor vehicle in exchange for payment of the entire limits of liability insurance afforded by the tortfeasor’s liability insurer shall continue to be legally entitled to recover against that tortfeasor for the purposes of recovery against the insured’s underinsurance carrier».

Two claim timetables run in parallel, and the difference between them is what a reader needs. For a FIRST-PARTY INJURY-BENEFIT claim the statute is precise and priced: 10 days from written notification to send the claim form, on pain of 1 per cent of the amount due per day up to $5,000; and 30 days from the written request plus documentation that the expense is compensable either to pay or to give a written explanation of the reasons for denial, after which the unpaid amount grows at 1.5 per cent a month to day 60, 2 per cent to day 120 and 2.5 per cent thereafter (§ 2118B(b)–(c)). The claimant «may recover the amount due through a civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction or through a Delaware Insurance Commissioner’s Arbitration Proceeding … at the option of the claimant», costs and fees are available but «only if it is found that the insurer acted in bad faith», with the burden on the claimant, and «any sums other than the original claim paid under this subsection shall not reduce the amount of coverage available». SUBSECTION (e) IS A TRAP WORTH ITS OWN SENTENCE: an action filed more than «90 days of the date of denial or the date when benefits are due» does not lose the claim, but the penalties «shall begin to run from the date of the filing of said action». FOR OTHER CLAIMS the timetable is regulatory: 15 working days to acknowledge and respond, 10 working days to begin investigating, and 30 days after proof of loss to affirm or deny in writing or to explain the inability to do so (Regulation 902, §§ 3.1.2–3.1.5). That regulation «shall not create a cause of action for any person or entity, other than the Delaware Insurance Commissioner», and it is enforced against a PATTERN rather than an incident — Delaware quantifies the threshold, treating it as «prima facie evidence of a general business practice» where «the total number of unfair claims settlement practices exceeds four percent or more of claims» in «a single category» within «a single 12-month period», rebuttable by the insurer on «the harm to claimants caused by the violation, the nature of the violation, and the insurer’s intent» (§§ 3.2–3.5). One instrument is recorded as read and EXCLUDED: Regulation 1310, the health-claims rule that Regulation 902 § 3.6 points at, expressly exempts «automobile medical payment insurance» from its own scope, so Delaware’s motor-claim clocks are not in it and its definition that «“Days” means calendar days» does not reach Regulation 902.

Delaware also offers something no other jurisdiction in this dataset does, and it is the single most useful thing to tell a Delaware reader. «Every insurance policy issued under this section shall require the insurer to submit to arbitration … any claims for losses or damages within the coverages required under paragraph (a)(2) of this section AND for damages to a motor vehicle, including the insured motor vehicle, including loss of use of such vehicle, upon request of the party claiming», the request being «in writing and mailed to the Insurance Commissioner». The proceeding is «administered by the Insurance Commissioner», before «3 individuals from the panel of arbitrators, at least 1 of whom shall be an attorney», «the arbitrator’s fee shall not exceed $25 per arbitrator for any 1 arbitration», «the right to require such arbitration shall be purely optional and neither party shall be held to have waived any of its rights by any act relating to arbitration», and «the losing party shall have a right to appeal de novo to the Superior Court if notice of such appeal is filed with that Court … within 30 days of the date of the decision» (§ 2118(j)). After a crash a driver must stop, «immediately undertake reasonable efforts to ascertain whether any person involved in the collision was injured or killed», clear the roadway once it is established nobody is hurt and the vehicle is obstructing traffic, and «give the driver’s name, address and the registration number of a vehicle and exhibit a driver’s license or other documentation of driving privileges» — exhibit it, not merely recite the details (§ 4201). Where there is injury or death the driver must render «reasonable assistance, including the carrying of such person to a hospital … or by contacting appropriate law-enforcement or emergency personnel and awaiting their arrival» (§ 4202). Reporting is immediate and to the police, not to a state agency: the duty arises «when the collision results in injury or death to any person», «when the collision occurs on a public highway and results in property damage to an apparent extent of $2,000 or more» — the dollar limb is confined to a PUBLIC HIGHWAY, so a car-park crash is outside it — or «when it appears that any collision involv[es] a driver whose physical ability is impaired as a result of the use of alcohol or drugs», and the written Uniform Traffic Collision Report is the police agency’s duty under § 4203(d), not the driver’s. Complaints go to the Delaware Department of Insurance, whose own page says it cannot «assume the role as your legal representative, in or out of court», «intervene in a pending lawsuit on your behalf» or «act as your lawyer or give legal advice», and asks consumers to contact the company, agent or adjuster first. Whether inherent diminished value is recoverable in Delaware has not yet been verified against a primary text and is not stated here: the state courts’ own site offers no full-text opinion search, no Delaware case was read, and Delaware has NO total-loss or valuation regulation in the instruments read — no analogue of Alaska’s 3 AAC 26.080 — so unlike Iowa, Nebraska and West Virginia this row claims no regulatory negative on the point either.