The insurance company wants a recorded statement. What should I know first?

• Outside life, marine and fire insurance, notice of an accident, injury or death may be given to the insurer within 20 days after the event. A policy cannot require notice in a shorter time.

  Cal. Ins. Code § 551

• Texas’s prompt payment law covers first party claims, meaning claims under your own policy. It has the insurer request from the claimant all items, statements and forms that it reasonably believes will be required. The insurer’s deadline to accept or reject the claim runs from the date it receives them.

  Tex. Ins. Code §§ 542.051(2), 542.055(a)(3), 542.056(a)

• If a person makes a claim under a policy of insurance, the insurer may require that the person be examined under oath. This site has not verified whether the statute reaches a person claiming against another driver’s policy, or what happens if a person refuses.

  RCW 48.18.460

• Washington’s rule on prompt investigation of claims says that all persons involved in the investigation of a claim must provide reasonable assistance to the insurer. The sentence reads the same before and after the October 18, 2026 amendments. This site has not verified what that assistance includes or whom it reaches.

  WAC 284-30-370

• It is a crime to intentionally record a confidential communication, including a phone call, without the consent of all parties. A communication is not confidential when the parties may reasonably expect that it may be overheard or recorded.

  Cal. Penal Code § 632(a), (c)

• A separate section makes it a crime to record, without the consent of all parties, a call that involves a cell phone or a cordless phone. That section does not use the word confidential.

  Cal. Penal Code § 632.7(a)

• A recording made in violation of section 632 is not admissible in any proceeding, except to prove the violation.

  Cal. Penal Code § 632(d)

• When a Georgia office of a brokerage recorded calls with clients in California without their consent, the California Supreme Court held that California law applies to decide whether the recording was unlawful. The decision turned on its facts. It does not say that California law governs every call across state lines.

  Kearney v. Salomon Smith Barney, Inc. (2006) 39 Cal.4th 95

• It is an offense to intentionally intercept a call. It is an affirmative defense that the person is a party to the call, or that one of the parties gave prior consent, unless the call is intercepted for the purpose of committing an unlawful act. In plain terms, a person who is part of the call may record it without the other person’s consent.

  Tex. Penal Code § 16.02(b)(1), (c)(4)

• It is unlawful to record a private phone call without first obtaining the consent of all the participants.

  RCW 9.73.030(1)(a)

• Consent is treated as obtained when one party announces to everyone on the call, in a reasonably effective way, that the call is about to be recorded. If the call is recorded, that announcement must be recorded too.

  RCW 9.73.030(3)

• Information obtained in violation of this statute is inadmissible in any civil or criminal case in Washington courts, with narrow exceptions.

  RCW 9.73.050

• Evidence of a statement is not made inadmissible by the hearsay rule when it is offered against the person who made it, in a case to which that person is a party.

  Cal. Evid. Code § 1220

• A statement is not hearsay when it is offered against an opposing party and was made by that party.

  Tex. R. Evid. 801(e)(2)(A)

• A statement is not hearsay when it is offered against a party and is the party’s own statement.

  Wash. ER 801(d)(2)

This page has no verified rule on this for California. Ask us.

• In a lawsuit, any person may obtain, on written request, his or her own statement concerning the lawsuit that is in the possession, custody or control of any party. A statement includes a recording of what the person said. By its words, the rule does not give a right to a copy before a lawsuit is filed.

  Tex. R. Civ. P. 192.3(h)

• In a civil lawsuit, a party may obtain a statement that the party previously made about the lawsuit or its subject matter. A statement includes a recording made at the time, or a transcript of it.

  Wash. CR 26(b)(4)

• Effective October 18, 2026, insureds have the right to request and receive from their insurance company any portion of the first party claim file, including statements and video recordings, subject to listed redactions. The insurer has 15 business days from the request to provide the documents. This rule covers a claim under your own policy. It is not in force before that date.

  WAC 284-30-340(2), as amended by WSR 26-17-089, effective October 18, 2026

• California’s Fair Claims Settlement Practices Regulations define a claimant as a first party or a third party claimant. A third party claimant is any person asserting a claim against a person insured under a policy. Time is counted in calendar days.

  Cal. Code Regs., tit. 10, § 2695.2(b), (c), (x)

• An insurer must acknowledge a notice of claim within 15 calendar days and begin any necessary investigation. It must also answer, within 15 calendar days, a claimant’s communication that reasonably suggests a response is expected.

  Cal. Code Regs., tit. 10, § 2695.5(b), (e)

• After it receives proof of claim, an insurer must accept or deny the claim, in whole or in part, within 40 calendar days. If it needs more time, it must say so in writing within that period and again every 30 calendar days. An insurer that denies a third party claim, or disputes liability or damages, must do so in writing. The regulation lists exceptions.

  Cal. Code Regs., tit. 10, § 2695.7(b), (b)(1), (c)(1)

• Once an insurer accepts a claim in whole or in part and, where one is needed, receives a signed release, it must pay within 30 calendar days, with listed exceptions.

  Cal. Code Regs., tit. 10, § 2695.7(h)

• An insurer must conduct a thorough, fair and objective investigation. It must not persist in seeking information that is not reasonably required for or material to the resolution of a claim dispute.

  Cal. Code Regs., tit. 10, § 2695.7(d)

• California law lists unfair claims settlement practices. The list includes directly advising a claimant not to obtain the services of an attorney and misleading a claimant about the statute of limitations. The statute covers acts done knowingly or often enough to indicate a general business practice.

  Cal. Ins. Code § 790.03(h)(14), (15)

• The California Supreme Court held that section 790.03(h) does not create a private civil cause of action against an insurer. The person who sued in that case had been injured by an insured driver. The court pointed to administrative remedies through the Insurance Commissioner.

  Moradi-Shalal v. Fireman's Fund Ins. Companies (1988) 46 Cal.3d 287, 304-305

• Texas’s prompt payment deadlines apply to first party claims only. A first party claim is one made by an insured, a policyholder or a beneficiary named in the policy, which the insurer must pay directly to that person.

  Tex. Ins. Code § 542.051(2)

• For those first party claims, the insurer has 15 days after it receives notice of the claim to acknowledge it and begin any investigation. It has 15 business days to accept or reject the claim in writing once it has all the items, statements and forms it required. It has 5 business days to pay after it gives notice that it will pay. The statute sets longer periods for some insurers and situations.

  Tex. Ins. Code §§ 542.055(a), 542.056(a), 542.057(a)

• The Texas statute on unfair settlement practices is written for a claim by an insured or beneficiary. It says that it does not provide a cause of action to a third party asserting a claim against an insured covered under a liability insurance policy.

  Tex. Ins. Code § 541.060(a), (b)

• The Texas Supreme Court held, under the earlier version of the statute, that a third party claimant has no direct cause of action against an insurer for unfair claim settlement practices.

  Allstate Insurance Co. v. Watson, 876 S.W.2d 145 (Tex. 1994)

• Texas law lists unfair claim settlement practices, including knowingly misrepresenting to a claimant pertinent facts or policy provisions relating to coverage. The Texas Department of Insurance receives and investigates complaints and may issue cease and desist orders. This site has not verified how that law is applied to a person claiming against another driver’s policy.

  Tex. Ins. Code §§ 542.003(b)(1), 542.008, 542.010

• Under Washington’s claims rules, a claimant can be a first party claimant, a third party claimant, or both. A third party claimant is a person asserting a claim against someone insured under a policy of the insurer.

  WAC 284-30-320(2), (17)

• Until October 18, 2026: within ten working days after receiving notification of a claim under an individual insurance policy, the insurer must acknowledge its receipt of the notice of claim. Effective October 18, 2026: within 10 business days.

  WAC 284-30-360(1); amended by WSR 26-17-089, effective October 18, 2026

• Until October 18, 2026: every insurer must complete its investigation of a claim within thirty days after notification of claim, unless the investigation cannot reasonably be completed within that time. Effective October 18, 2026: the period is 30 calendar days, and an insurer that needs more time must tell the claimant the reasons in writing and give further written notice every 30 days.

  WAC 284-30-370; amended by WSR 26-17-089, effective October 18, 2026

• This rule covers first party claimants only. Until October 18, 2026: within fifteen working days after the insurer receives fully completed and executed proofs of loss, it must notify the first party claimant whether the claim has been accepted or denied. Effective October 18, 2026: within 30 calendar days after the insurer receives a notification of claim.

  WAC 284-30-380(1); amended by WSR 26-17-089, effective October 18, 2026

• Unless a statute, rule or contract sets another time, an insurer’s procedures must be designed to deliver payment of a settled claim within 15 business days after the insurer or its attorney receives properly executed releases or other settlement documents. The period is the same before and after October 18, 2026.

  WAC 284-30-330(16); amended by WSR 26-17-089, effective October 18, 2026

• The rules bar an insurer from negotiating or settling a claim directly with a claimant it knows is represented by an attorney, without the attorney’s knowledge and consent. Routine questions to a first party claimant, to identify the claimant or get details about the claim, are allowed. The rule is the same in substance before and after October 18, 2026.

  WAC 284-30-330(19)

• Washington’s Insurance Fair Conduct Act lets a first party claimant who is unreasonably denied a claim for coverage or payment of benefits sue the insurer. A first party claimant is a person asserting a right to payment as a covered person under a policy.

  RCW 48.30.015(1), (4)

• The Washington Supreme Court held that third party claimants may not sue an insurance company directly for an alleged breach of the duty of good faith under a liability policy. It said that enforcing the claims rules on behalf of third parties is for the Insurance Commissioner.

  Tank v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 105 Wn.2d 381, 715 P.2d 1133 (1986)