Yreka, CA asked in Insurance Bad Faith and Insurance Defense for California

Q: Do I have to release personal text messages to my insurance company for a claim?

1 Lawyer Answer
William John Light
William John Light
Answered
  • Insurance Claims Lawyer
  • Santa Ana, CA
  • Licensed in California

A: You have a duty to cooperate in your claim. What that entails depends on the nature of the claim and what they are asking you to release. If this is an auto claim and they want to know if you were texting and driving, it would make sense for the insurer to ask about text messages. In that case, it might be entitled to know the time of any sent messages around the time of the collision, from records from your cell provider. I'm not inclined to think that it would be entitled to read your messages. The answer might be different in other contexts.

Tim Akpinar agrees with this answer

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