Generally there are no state mandated guidelines for lien holder notification by insurance companies, so it is up to the individual insurance carrier to decide when and if the lienholder will be told of the claim.

An insurance company will typically notify the lien holder if they are going to write a check to make the insurable interest (vehicle) whole. Since both the lien holder and the insured driver have an interest in the value of the vehicle, normally they are both notified about physical damage claim reimbursements of any amount.

In addition, a check payment that is due to the insured will usually be made payable to both the customer and the lien holder and thus need the lienholder to cash or sign over the check to the customer (or vice versa). So if the lien holder was not notified previously they would need to be at the time the insured needed to use the check to repair or replace the vehicle.

Go to the Auto Insurance Specialist for insurance quotes or other insurance information.