In short, yes; regardless of fault because all Insurance Policies contain a provision called “Duty To Cooperate”.
This provision is based on two concepts: preventing collusion between the insured and the party who created the accident/loss and the second reason is to assist the Insurance Carrier in its investigation, defense of and settlement of a claim or suit. It also enables the Insurance Carrier to obtain relevant information regarding the loss while the information is fresh, to enable it to decide its obligations and to protect itself (and possibly the insured) from fraudulent and false claims. The cooperation clause requires honest cooperation and telling the truth. The duty to cooperate generally extends to providing information to the investigation of the claim, providing testimonial evidence, otherwise cooperating in the defense of the claim and acting in a way so as to not compromise the resolution of the claim. Because this cooperation can be fairly characterized as a “duty” the failure to cooperate can result in a coverage denial and possibly the carrier entirely dropping the policyholder coverage for breach of contract. The best way to prevent a coverage denial is to do what your Insurance Carrier requires without unnecessary delay.
