If the driver who hit you carries Liberty Mutual, your injury claim usually goes to Liberty Mutual rather than to your own insurer. California is an at-fault state. That single fact shapes who pays, which deadlines apply, and how much room you have to push back on a first offer.
Whose Insurance Company Do I File a Claim with After a Car Accident?
You file with the insurer of the driver who caused the crash. California is not a no-fault state, so the at-fault driver’s insurance is responsible for the damage that resulted, including personal injuries and property damage. If Liberty Mutual covers that driver, your claim goes to Liberty Mutual rather than to your own carrier.
That is called a third-party claim, meaning a claim against someone else’s policy. You do not need a Liberty Mutual policy to open one. You can file directly, or notify your own insurer and let them help, which most policies require you to do anyway. How fault gets determined is what decides which of the two you are in, and it is not always obvious at the scene.
If you were injured in Florida or another no-fault state, you will likely file with your own insurance company instead. This page covers California claims. Gomez Trial Attorneys’ Florida office can help with the other. Schedule a free consultation today.
What California Law Requires You to Report
California puts two reporting duties on drivers, and neither one is your insurance claim. Both run on short clocks.
The first is the SR-1. Under Vehicle Code 16000, you must report a crash on a street or highway to the DMV within 10 days if anyone was injured or killed, or if property damage to any one person came to more than $1,000. That threshold is low. A bumper and a headlight will clear it. File it through the DMV’s accident reporting page. The section carves out a narrow exception for government-owned or government-leased vehicles, and under Vehicle Code 16004 the DMV is directed to suspend the driving privilege of a driver who does not file.
The second is faster. Vehicle Code 20008 requires a written report to the California Highway Patrol within 24 hours when someone is injured or killed. If the crash happened inside a city, that report can go to either the CHP or that city’s police department. If officers wrote a report at the scene, ask that agency what still has to come from you, and get the report number before you leave.
How Do I File a Car Insurance Claim with Liberty Mutual?
You file online or by phone. If the at-fault driver carries Liberty Mutual and you are claiming against their policy, Liberty Mutual takes that as a third-party claim through its own form, with separate paths for filing as an individual and filing as a carrier. That page does not offer a phone option, so use the form. Liberty Mutual’s general claims line is 800-2CLAIMS (800-225-2467).
If Liberty Mutual is your own insurer, for example you were at fault or your car was damaged in a hit and run, you can file through the Liberty Mutual claims center, the Liberty Mutual app, or that same number.
Have the date, time, and location ready, along with the other driver’s details, the police report number, and photos. If you do not know the answer to a question, say so. A guess becomes a fact in the claim file, and walking it back later is harder than never making it.
What Happens After I File My Claim with Liberty Mutual?
Liberty Mutual assigns an adjuster and begins investigating. Expect an inspection of your car and a call asking about the crash and your injuries. Proceed carefully here. Answers given early and casually can reduce the value of a claim or undermine it entirely, and you are not required to give the other driver’s insurer a recorded statement. There is a longer list of what not to tell an insurance company.
Liberty Mutual will then make a settlement offer. You are not required to accept it. First offers often arrive before your treatment is finished, which means they cannot account for care you have not had yet, income you will lose, or pain and suffering.
Once you do agree on a settlement figure, California’s fair claims regulations require the insurer to tender payment immediately. The outside limit is 30 calendar days after it accepts the claim and, where one is required, has your signed release. Payment moves quickly once you settle. Reaching the settlement is what takes months.
How Long Liberty Mutual Has to Answer You
California sets deadlines on the insurer too. They sit in the Fair Claims Settlement Practices Regulations, and most people never hear about them.
- 15 calendar days to acknowledge your claim. Section 2695.5(e) gives the insurer 15 calendar days from notice of claim to acknowledge it and provide the forms, instructions, and reasonable assistance you need.
- 15 calendar days to answer you. Under section 2695.5(b), when you send the insurer anything that reasonably suggests you expect a response, it has 15 calendar days to give you a complete response based on the facts it knows at the time.
- 40 calendar days to accept or deny. Section 2695.7(b) gives the insurer 40 calendar days after proof of claim to accept or deny, in whole or in part. Proof of claim means the documentation showing what you lost, not the day you first called. This one does not cover repair bills under your own collision or comprehensive coverage.
- Written updates every 30 days after that. If it needs more time, section 2695.7(c) requires written notice before the 40 days run out saying what it still needs, then another written update every 30 calendar days until it decides. These duties stop once you serve a lawsuit.
If those dates pass in silence, put your next request in writing so the clock is documented. You can also file a complaint with the California Department of Insurance. If the Department opens an inquiry into your claim, section 2695.5(a) gives the insurer 21 calendar days to respond to the Department in writing. The Department decides whether to open one, so this is not automatic. More on what to do when the adjuster stops calling back, where these deadlines are covered in full.
Liberty Mutual Cannot Make You Use Its Repair Shop
You choose the repair shop. Insurance Code 758.5 says no insurer may require that a vehicle be repaired at a specific repair dealer. The section defines a claimant to include a third-party claimant, so it protects you even though the policy is not yours.
It goes further than that. An insurer cannot suggest or recommend a specific shop unless you asked for a referral, or you have been told in writing that you have the right to pick your own. If Liberty Mutual recommends a shop from its network and you accept, it has to restore the vehicle to its condition before the loss at no added cost to you beyond what your policy already states. If you are claiming on your own Liberty Mutual coverage, that means your deductible still applies.
Network shops have real advantages. Direct billing, faster scheduling, a workmanship warranty. None of that makes them mandatory.
What Is the Deadline for Filing a Car Accident Claim with Liberty Mutual?
Auto policies generally require prompt notice rather than setting a fixed date, so do not sit on it. The deadlines that actually end claims come from California law, not from the carrier.
The deadlines that actually end claims are set by California law. The statute of limitations for a personal injury lawsuit is two years. For property damage it is three years. Both run from the date of the crash, not from the day your claim stalls, and an open claim with Liberty Mutual pauses neither. Most car accident claims involve both.
One deadline is far shorter. If a government vehicle or a public employee was involved, Government Code 911.2 gives you six months to present a written claim to that agency before you can sue. Talk to a lawyer right away in that situation.
Do I Need a Car Accident Attorney to File a Claim?
You are not required to hire a California car accident attorney to file a claim against Liberty Mutual. Plenty of property damage claims close without one.
It becomes a different question once you are injured, once liability is disputed, or once the offer does not cover the treatment you still need. An attorney takes over communication with the adjuster, values the claim including future care, and files suit before the deadline runs if the negotiation goes nowhere. Hiring early matters because the early stages are where the record gets built.
A no-cost, no-obligation case evaluation is a reasonable way to find out where you stand.
Need an Experienced California Car Accident Lawyer? Get Gomez.
Gomez Trial Attorneys represents California car accident and other personal injury victims, and our case results total more than $1 billion recovered. If you or a loved one has been injured in a California accident that was someone else’s fault, we are here for you.
Contact us at (619) 237-3490 or here to schedule a free case evaluation.
If a different insurer covers the driver who hit you, the California rules on this page still apply. What changes is the portal, the phone number, and the repair network. We walk through State Farm, Allstate, and USAA the same way.
John Gomez
John Gomez founded the firm alone in 2005. Today, John acts as President and Lead Trial Attorney. He has been voted by his peers as a top ten San Diego litigator in three separate fields: Personal Injury, Insurance and Corporate Litigation. Since 2000, he has recovered over $1 billion in settlements and verdicts for his clients with more than 160 separate recoveries of one million dollars or more. A prolific trial lawyer, John has tried to jury verdict more than 60 separate cases.
