The Shoulder
The Shoulder
44
Insurancewarm-marmot-137

Insurance wants photos of parts of my car I can't find — will this hold up my claim?

So I was rear-ended about two weeks ago — fully the other driver's fault, their insurer accepted liability pretty quickly which honestly shocked me. Now the adjuster sent me this long checklist of photos they want: damage shots, interior, exterior, and then a bunch of specific label/tag locations on the car.

Here's my problem. One of the tags they're asking about is just... not where it's supposed to be. I've looked twice. My car is older and I think it may have just worn off or gotten dislodged at some point — definitely before the accident, this isn't crash damage. I have the number itself on my registration and title paperwork, no problem there. But the physical sticker on the car? Gone or hiding somewhere I can't reach.

I'm a little paranoid that if I tell the adjuster "hey I can't find that sticker" they're going to use it as an excuse to slow-walk my claim or question whether the car is even legit (it absolutely is, bought it used from a dealership, have all the paperwork).

Questions I'm spinning on:

  • Is it a red flag if I just explain the sticker is missing/damaged and provide the info from my registration instead?
  • Should I get the missing info documented somewhere official before I reply to them?
  • Has anyone dealt with an adjuster getting weird about something minor like this?

I don't want to seem uncooperative but I also can't produce a photo of something that isn't there. Ugh. Any advice appreciated 😬

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9 replies

  • 18
    tidy-stoat-779

    I went through something almost identical last year — older car, adjuster wanted a photo of a sticker that had basically disintegrated from sun damage. I just emailed them saying the sticker was deteriorated and attached a photo of my registration showing the same info. They accepted it no problem and moved on. Don't stress too much, they deal with old cars all the time.

    • 13
      careful-crow-270

      Ugh, this sounds so stressful, especially when you've already been through the accident itself. I feel like insurance companies love finding little things to nitpick. Hope it gets sorted fast for you 💙

  • 15
    bold-mole-885

    Email the adjuster today. Short, factual message: label is not on the vehicle, attaching registration and title showing the same information, happy to provide anything else needed. Don't overthink it. Waiting and worrying won't help but a clear response will.

  • 14
    clear-fox-432

    Just be careful how you phrase things. Don't say anything that sounds like you're apologizing or being uncertain about your own car. State it as a simple fact: the label is not present, here is the official documentation with the same information. Adjusters can sometimes use vague or nervous language from claimants to kick things into a "further review" queue, which just means delays. Be matter-of-fact and confident.

    • 7
      weathered-mile-marker914

      Exactly my experience. Persistence paid off in the end.

  • 13
    gentle-vole-170

    Worked in auto claims for a long time. Honestly, that checklist they sent you is often a template they send to everyone — they're not targeting you specifically. If a sticker is missing, just note it plainly in your reply: "This label is not present on the vehicle; please see attached registration documentation." Attach your registration. Done. We saw missing or damaged labels constantly on older vehicles. What we were actually looking for was whether the numbers matched across documents, not whether every sticker was pristine. You have nothing to worry about as long as your paperwork is consistent.

  • 13
    swift-lynx-023

    Your registration, title, and any dealership purchase records all carry the same identifying information and are actually more official than a sticker. If you want to be extra thorough, your state's DMV can sometimes provide a records printout that confirms everything matches. That kind of documentation would make any follow-up questions from the adjuster pretty hard to sustain. Not legal advice, just stuff I've seen come up in claim files.

  • 12
    plain-marmot-279

    Quick question — did they specify why they need that particular label, or was it just on a generic list? Sometimes it's worth asking the adjuster directly what they're trying to verify so you can provide exactly what they actually need rather than hunting for something that might be irrelevant to your specific claim.

    • 2
      soft-spoken-co-pilot449

      Took me three tries but they finally budged. Don't give up.