Can an insurance company take months to decide my claim?

Not without a genuine reason. Since May 2017, insurance contracts carry an implied statutory term requiring insurers to assess and pay valid claims within a reasonable time, under Section 13A of the Insurance Act 2015. This sits alongside the Financial Conduct Authority's own rules, which require insurers to handle claims promptly and fairly, give reasonable guidance and progress updates, and not unreasonably reject a claim. A months-long wait isn't automatically unlawful — but it needs a real justification, not just inertia.

What decides whether a delay is "reasonable"

The FCA rules insurers are held to

ICOBS 8.1 requires insurers to handle claims promptly and fairly, provide reasonable guidance to help you make a claim, give appropriate information on its progress, and settle claims promptly once the terms are agreed. The Financial Ombudsman Service applies these rules constantly in real complaints, and has repeatedly found against insurers for gaps in a claim's timeline where nothing was actively being done to progress it, even when some individual delays (like a parts backorder) were genuinely outside the insurer's control.

Disputed claims get slightly different treatment

If your insurer is genuinely disputing whether your claim is valid at all — not just how much to pay — the delay-while-disputing generally isn't, by itself, enough to support a claim for damages, provided the insurer can show reasonable grounds for the dispute. But any part of the claim that isn't in dispute must still be paid promptly, and if the insurer eventually accepts the claim was valid all along, unreasonable delay in getting there can still be challenged.

What to do if your claim has stalled for months

1. Request a clear, written timeline from the insurer: what's been done, what's outstanding, and why.
2. Identify any gaps where nothing appears to have happened and no external cause is given — these are the strongest evidence of unreasonable delay.
3. Raise a formal complaint with the insurer directly, citing ICOBS 8.1 and the statutory duty to pay within a reasonable time.
4. Ask specifically what's holding up any parts of the claim that aren't genuinely in dispute — these should be progressing regardless.
5. If the insurer doesn't resolve it within 8 weeks (or issues a final response you disagree with), escalate to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
6. If the delay has caused you additional financial loss, ask whether that loss is being accounted for, since damages beyond the policy sum can apply in genuine breach cases.

More on this

What counts as a 'reasonable time' for an insurer to settle a claim? There's no fixed number of days — what's reasonable depends on the type of insurance, the size and complexity of the claim, whether the insurer complied with FCA guidance, and factors outside the insurer's control, such as delays caused by the policyholder or third parties (like a parts supplier) failing to provide information promptly.

Can I claim compensation if my insurer delayed paying a valid claim? Yes, potentially. Under the Insurance Act 2015, if an insurer breaches its duty to pay within a reasonable time, you may be able to claim damages in addition to the sum owed under the policy, which could exceed the policy limit if the delay caused you additional loss.

Related questions

• Can my insurance company increase my premium after I make a claim?
• What happens if my insurer's valuation is lower than the actual damage?
• Can my insurer refuse a claim because I made a mistake on the application?

Official sources

• Insurance Act 2015 — Section 13A (Implied term about payment of claims)
• FCA Handbook — ICOBS 8 (Claims handling)