Totaled my fifth wheel, how to work with insurance adjuster

We totaled a new (600 miles) trailer and truck due to a frozen bearing/brake setup in 2010. I was in law enforcement, and learned to document EVERY contact, phone call, name of agent, and time of contact. Also, register mail (with a return signature)when you send papers by USPS!
The insurance company denied almost every item we claimed, but finally a fair settlement was arrived upon. No attorney was needed, but it was close. Insurance companies don't make money by giving away money, so they are usually willing to wear you down.
We know the tragedy you had to experience in the wreck. Unfortunately you have to relive the event every time you speak with the insurance folks. It took my bride three years to get behind the wheel of our rig (she used to be a fearless-hear me roar driver), but we're back in the saddle again.

I would push to get the price of a new one. Being that new, it will be very difficult to find a used one, and you will probably end up buying a new one. It's not right for you to have to settle for a different unit, or have to search all over and possible travel to get you replacement. You should be compensated for the hassle.

An attorney will probably get you new pricing, plus they will have to pay your attorney fees. I'd explain that to the adjuster, and tell him you want a check for the cost of new, or the next communication will be from the lawyer.

drsteve wrote:
Your rates are based on fault. Example: get rear ended at a stop light, turn in a claim for thousands, your rates will not rise. Rear ended someone, they're going up.

Knock on wood I don't have any recent experience to base what I've learned off of......and hope to keep it that way, lol.
But in past experience, $ paid out regardless of "fault" affected your future rate or insurability. Now add in credit score and all the other bs ins companies can use as a metric for determining rates since you can dang near get a persons dental records off the interwebs quickly and easily.
Insurance companies aren't to be trusted, just like any other business out to make money off of you, the consumer. If they were, my parents wouldn't have been dropped from their carrier and placed into a higher risk bracket then me at the time (single male under 25 with a lead foot!) for a single Comp claim. Yes that claim was a structure fire that cooked 3 of our 4 cars, but diint see any "fault" there when they got the "cancelled" letter....
If they were to be trusted, Allstate wouldn't have signed me up for house insurance after I declined it while insuring my vehicles with them. And they certainly wouldn't have found my lender, submitted my "new" homeowners policy causing the bank to cal and cancel my real policy without my knowledge. And they certainly wouldn't have continued billing me for insurance I didn't take and send me to collections for a bill I never signed up to pay! And if any of this was false they definately wouldn't have retracted my credit hit with collections after I threatened a lawsuit.

Bottom line no matter what you think feel or hear, treat insurance companies with caution and do not trust them.