Geico Claim AFTER blowout

[Executive45]

Last April I had a blowout on the rear inside dual. We were on I-10 outside Tonopah, Arizona. A call to Geico Roadside "service" was anything but. They wanted to tow us back to Phoenix. This would require a flatbed trailer and cost roughly $1100. I found a replacement tire locally and asked that they simply have a roadside truck pick it up and install it. They declined and said the only option was the tow which would occur on Monday since it was Sunday afternoon. Not being excited being parked on the side of the interstate for 24 hrs. I opted to drive back to Tonopah on the flat to have it repaired. I had the new tire installed and we proceeded to Quartzsite for the night. When the tire blew, it put a hole in one of the hydraulic lines for the rear driver's side slide. The allowed the slide to extend about 8" and while it would retract, it immediately popped out again. After arriving in Q I found a RV place who would make a temp fix on the hydraulic line. This got us to California where we spent the next several months work camping. I called Geico and filed a comprehensive claim when we got settled in California, as we experienced three issues. 1. The hydraulic line was still leaking; 2. The driver's side bay doors would not unlock, (see earlier post) and 3. The air bags would not hold.

Upon returning to Arizona last week, it was time to start fixing that which was broken from the blowout. First thing was buying new tires. Then I took it to my local dealer in Mesa. Here's what they found. 1. Three hydraulic lines need replacing. There's a short somewhere in the electrical line to the bay doors. Two air bags have tire shrapnel imbedded in them and an air line and valve are leaking. So far so good right?

Geico has inspected the coach and agreed to pay for the hydraulic lines and the air bags. They declined repairs to the bay doors. They have balked paying for the air line and valve repair. Now, I don't believe in coincidences. I accepted the responsibility to repair the bay doors although the tech has not found the exact location of the short and is simply going to run a new wire to that side of the coach. However, since two air bags were damaged IMO, it's reasonable to assume; either the air line and valve were damaged at the same time or the valve failed because it worked overtime keeping the air bags level. Either way, I feel that should be part of the Geico claim.

Thank you for listening to my rant today. Has anyone had experience with Geico and their claims? I'm also looking for opinions as to whether I'm being petty with having the air valve replaced on Geico's dime. The bay door fix is $357 and the air line and valve is $541. Not a lot of money but if it's their responsibility I think they should pay for it. The claims adjuster is going to go back out Monday and reinspect the coach but she says she doubts they will cover it. I'm looking for experience and opinions. Thanks....Dennis

[Executive45]

ReneeG wrote:
I'm sorry to hear of the frustration you had in settling your claim and fixing your motorhome after a tire blowout. Three years ago a tire separated on our fifth wheel and in the process it damaged the tire in front of it, the side wall, nearly took out the steps and took out the fender too. We have Allstate and GS Platinum Roadside Service. We called GS. They came out within the hour and the tech put on our spare. We turned around and went back home, emptied out the fifth wheel fridge and cupboards of all food, straight to Les Schwab who replaced all the tires and spare, then over to the dealership we bought our FW from. They called our insurance company and took care of fixing everything. A month later we had our FW back and the claim all settled smoothly. The Allstate rep kept in touch with us on level of service, etc. We were extremely pleased.

Awesome story. Glad it worked well in your favor. Unfortunately, Allstate does not offer full timers insurance. We'll see how this goes with Geico. They're saying the 'valve' failure was not caused by the blowout. I will research further once I get the moho and the failed part back from the dealer....Dennis

[ReneeG]

I'm sorry to hear of the frustration you had in settling your claim and fixing your motorhome after a tire blowout. Three years ago a tire separated on our fifth wheel and in the process it damaged the tire in front of it, the side wall, nearly took out the steps and took out the fender too. We have Allstate and GS Platinum Roadside Service. We called GS. They came out within the hour and the tech put on our spare. We turned around and went back home, emptied out the fifth wheel fridge and cupboards of all food, straight to Les Schwab who replaced all the tires and spare, then over to the dealership we bought our FW from. They called our insurance company and took care of fixing everything. A month later we had our FW back and the claim all settled smoothly. The Allstate rep kept in touch with us on level of service, etc. We were extremely pleased.

[Bigdog]

I'm not sure what the problem would have been with transporting your rig on the flat bed. I have had two buses that I was driving hauled on a flat bed and had no problems. One was a 1978 GMC Buffalo that had a plugged fuel line and we put it on a semi flatbed and hauled it from Buttonwillow,Ca to Bakersfield and the other was a 45' tour bus from the Dalles Or to Portland. Never did hear what happened on the latter,but I had an ungodly vibration from the rear somewhere.
The Bakersfield tow was fun as the driver was a little guy and pretty much of redneck and he took me to breakfast at the Crystal Palace,Buck Owens place, when he found out I knew Don Rich, who was Owens sidekick till Donny died in '73.

[J-Rooster]

Dennis we have geico insurance and used it one time with success 5 or 6 years ago when a run away pick up truck (paperboy jumped out of truck on a flat surface at the Cattail Cove Ranger Station and down hill the truck went.) The PU went over the bank and T-Boned the right rear side of my Winnebago wiped out our propane system. It was 5 AM and the wife and I were sleeping. Geico had our coach towed to 3 T’s in LHC. This accident happened in Dec. so I couldn’t get any parts from Winnebago factory closed down for Christmas Vacation so had to wait until second week on Jan. To get parts. Geico paid for everything including our trip back to WA. ST. Rooster

[pusherpilot]

bobkatmsu wrote:
Don't mean to hijack thread, but do you need full time insurance? We are considering going full time and had never heard or thought of "full time" insurance.

We were warned about the full time policy. If you're going full time you should take it. Even now that we are not full time we kept it to remove the excess use excuse for not paying a claim.
Ron

[Passin_Thru]

Stands for Government Employees insurance and you wonder why they are cheap?

[Executive45]

mike brez wrote:
Any idea what caused the tire to fail?

Mike, tires were over 6 years old. Mileage was about 65,000. Not sure if I ran over something, didn't see anything in the road or if it simply failed. We were puttering along at 60mph with cruise on when it gave way. Inspection of the tire showed a hole in the middle where the tread came off. I traveled about 3/4 mile before I got the rig to a stop and then drove back about a mile to the repair shop. When it blew the rig continued straight as an arrow until I was able to slow and stop. I was pleased with the handling of the coach.

Yesterday was Columbus Day, (Indigenous Day for Californians) so everyone was on holiday. They should all be back today and I should hear something from Geico later. Thanks for the feedback....Dennis

[mike_brez]

Any idea what caused the tire to fail?

[Mr_Mark1]

Dennis, word on the street is that it is very difficult to get some Michelin tires. You did excellent with you date codes!

Michelin is the only manufacturer that makes the 365 tire that we have on the steer and tag axle. We have 315's on the drive axle.

The 365 tire is an amazingly wide tire, almost looks like a tire and a half in width.

Safe travels,
MM.

[10forty2]

Tough go of it with Geicom huh? .....I've honestly considered giving them a shot at quoting our insurance, but after 2 blowouts and significant damages, Nationwide Insurance handled and covered them all without question. They sent an adjuster to the house, wrote everything up and handed us a check on the spot. The second blowout was over $4K in damages to wiring, tailpipes, generator, and body damages, and they included the pro-rated prices of the tires and any service charges we incurred outside of the Good Sam Roadside Assistance coverage. I'm pretty sure they subrogated against Goodyear, since it was a brand new tire that failed the second time, but Nationwide didn't tie us up in that process and have not held us responsible with rate increases either.

We have everything we own, except the Harley (Nationwide really didn't want the Harley for some reason), covered by Nationwide and have had nothing but great service and coverage for the past 30 years. We had a really bad hailstorm several years ago that damaged our 20 year old shingles on the roof. No question, they replaced the roof and to date, we have gotten no increases in rates. And the best thing about them is that we have a local face to look at when we make a claim or make changes in our policy. That in itself is worth any slightly higher rates we pay over Geico or Progressive or any of the other online insurers.

Sorry you had that experience, Dennis. I think given your choices, I would have done the same thing as you. No way would I have left my rig on the side of the road overnight waiting for a tow.

My $.02 worth.

[Executive45]

Mark, you're correct. I replaced the steer tires with 315 Michelins two years ago. 🙂

Bob, we've been full timing for 9 years now. Full timer insurance includes liability just like a regular homeowner's policy for your home. In very simplistic terms, if someone trips and falls while visiting, you're covered.

[bobkatmsu]

Don't mean to hijack thread, but do you need full time insurance? We are considering going full time and had never heard or thought of "full time" insurance.

[Mr_Mark1]

Dennis, did you replace just the rears? I see six new tires in the pic, your coach has eight. 🙂

MM.

[T_bone1]

Thanks for this topic..I had been considering Geico but you have settled that for me ..THANKS AGAIN!!!