Dealing with Insurance Companies..

[DD716TED]

Just seeking suggestions and/or advice... This week my Immaculate Truck was attacked and severly damaged by a logging truck on the interstate. No injuries thank goodness. I have been in contact with the truck's insurance company and already they have provided a rental car for my use while things are assessed and hopefully settled. That is the part that scares me.. The blue book value of my vehicle is no where near what it can be replaced for. My vehicle has extremely low mileage, and many added many extras such as sound system, hard tonneau cover, etc... I have receipts for what I have added. I have found several similar vehicles within 100 miles for reference of value, but they are all less equipped, double the mileage of my vehicle, yet priced well above what blue book lists for my vehicle. I am just trying to get everything lined up for discussion when the Truck's insurance company when they make an offer??? any suggestions or ideas on preparing for this would be appreciated.. I have never delt with an insurance company before but!!!

[mkirsch]

Yup. I'm surprised it took this long to get to this point, and how many people really don't understand the process.

The insurance agent has nothing to do with getting you a settlement. They sell you the policy, and make changes to the policy.

When you have an accident, you deal with the ADJUSTER. That is the person who will assess your vehicle's value and cut the check.

It sounds harsh but the agent doesn't want to hear about your accident. There's nothing they can do about it. It's not their job.

[dougger222]

An insurance agents job is to provide you with insurance coverage and collect on average 10% of the premiums you pay. Your agent is there for premiums not for claims. Claims would be the claims department with a dedicated claims adjuster. A good agent will help facilitate your needs when you file a claim such as recommend a glass company or repair shop or call into the claims department on your behalf.

A couple years ago had a wreck in the 00 Excursion diesel. The vehicle was still drivable but sustained frame damage to the rear driver side (hit a concrete divider on a bridge at 50mph on black ice). Long story short my insurance company totaled it out. After providing them KBB and NADA for my vehicle they sent me 3 for sale comparable. I called all 3 and they had either more miles needed repairs or slightly lower miles but also needed quite a bit of repairs. They then deducted $1,500 from the sale price stating that is what they would sell for. Turns out 2 of the 3 had sold for within $200 of the asking price!

They offered me $8K after buy back ($1,200) but I insisted on $10K. Kept driving it for 2 months. My agent emailed me how things were with the claims adjuster told him a stalemate as they are about $2K short. 30 minutes later the adjuster emailed me and said they'd pay an additional $2K. When asked how they came to the final value she said they called a local dealership and asked IF they had my vehicle what they think they could sell it for, YA RIGHT!!!

My argument was my vehicle functioned 100% everything worked as new as when something failed or broke on it, it was repaired with OEM parts.

[PA12DRVR]

Huge amount of misinformation in this thread.....and I make that allegation as someone who used to litigate both sides of insurance cases.

That being said, to avoid pot-stirring, I'll just make a couple of simple suggestions to the OP:

1) Read your policy to see what it says. See what damages are covered; see what types of causes are covered (i.e. Damage caused by a typhoon might not be covered in Washington State) and see what exculpatory provisions are involved ("We will not provide coverage if it's the 1st Thursday after a full moon when the incident happens")
2) Contact the....brain fart....WA DMV (I think) and ask for their pamphlet on the duties of insurance companies towards their insureds. I haven't looked since at least 1998 but pretty sure that YOUR insurance company has an obligation to cover your damages regardless of fault.
3) As someone suggested above, you should be prepared to accept a reasonable offer of settlement, however and whenever you receive it.

Bottom line, were it me, I'd do the above, but take two additional steps: A) Send a notarized letter (w/delivery confirmation) to your insurance company and demand that they compensate you for your damages (You'll negotiate over the amount of damages, but letting them sit on the sideline is not acceptable if you've suffered a covered loss); B) contact a lawyer and ask them to get involved; I seem to recall WA state has a regulatory scheme wherein attorney fees are tacked on as a matter of law to any settlement reached between the damaged party and the at-fault's insured; your lawyer will probably write a nastygram to your carrier as well as the other guy's and get action from them both;

[covetsthesun]

"Your agent" is really not working in your best interests. They are either hired or contractually obligated to promote the best interests of the company. You, are the cash generator. That being said... there are good agents out there who will take it to the mat for insureds. But don't count on it.

Insurance companies do not like to pay claims. That's a cost. If you are dealing with the other insurance company... you are not costing your insuror anything. Yet.

The logging co's agency is duty bound to pay the least amount of money you will accept. That's their job. In order for you to get more "value" you have to be able to prove that your truck was better than the average book. You can get "dealer price opinions" as to what they would have put your vehicle on the lot for. DPO's mean something, but are not everything.

Go back to your company. Check to see if you have under insured coverage etc. Technically, your agent/company doesn't have to get involved untill you file a claim with them.

Is your vehicle totalled? Another thing to consider... sometimes physical injuries don't show up untill a few days to a few weeks after the accident. I hope you have not signed any medical releases. It would be a very good idea if you were to go see your doctor and have yourself thoroughly checked out. YOUR agency or the other should pay for this under the terms of the policy.

As for "diminished value"... regardless how perfect the body shop does the work, the mere fact that the vehicle was in an accident does diminish the value in a buyers mind. If you are out shopping for a vehicle... and you see two identical nice looking vehicles... and one of them had been in an accident.. which would you choose? That's where the "diminished value" comes in. Both trucks may in fact be perfect. But most buyers will mentally downgrade the previously wrecked one.

Something to consider... if your vehicle has been totalled... you can get a check for the loss minus salvage value. You can then have it repaired but will have to get a salvage title. That will reduce the value of the truck...and you most likely will not be able to insure it for anything other than liability. Just depends on your state and insurance company.

Good luck. Been there done that.

[Perrysburg_Dodg]

Mickey_D wrote:
Week before last a large "Road Construction Ahead" sign blew over and hit the passenger side of my 2014 Ram 2500. Got lucky and tracked down the TXDOT inspector overseeing the road project and he identified the sign owner and they admitted that it was improperly ballasted and they accepted liability. Truck goes into the shop this week for repairs ($6503 is the present estimate). The local dealership estimated a $1500 to $2000 diminished value hit due to CarFax even with a good repair and advised getting a diminished value appraisal and then go after their carrier.

I did contact my insurance company (State Farm) right after the accident and they offered to cover the claim less my deductible and then refund the deductible after the other company settled. My agent said that contractors insurance companies are normally very hard to deal with and often take the threat of a lawsuit to get things moving. He did state that my carrier could not cover diminished value because of the way the law was written in Texas. My BS detector did perk up on this, but with as messed up as our legislature is I would not be surprised.

Tell the dealership and all insurance companies, that YOU do not authorize THEM to report any information about your truck. That you will be checking with CarFax to make sure no one has reported the repair to them. Repair shops and insurance companies get payed to report your information to these companies. Not sure if State agencies get paid or not for title information but you can stop the others from reporting your information at least in Ohio.

This diminished value is BS if you ask me. As long as you used a quality Bodyshop there should not be any issues. The biggest issue is making sure you have the vehicle rustproofed in the repair areas. If you don't the inside of area could have bare metal that will rust in very short order. Repair panels need to be primed and cut in. That black coating is to protect it during shipping and storage only. So it is imperative that the underside be primed and painted before they are installed! Remember welding, spot welding or brazing will expose bare metal that can not be primed and painted. I would not recommend having the bodyshop do the rustproofing but having it sent out to a rustproofing shop.

Good luck with your repairs I hope everything works out for you.

Don

[Mickey_D]

Week before last a large "Road Construction Ahead" sign blew over and hit the passenger side of my 2014 Ram 2500. Got lucky and tracked down the TXDOT inspector overseeing the road project and he identified the sign owner and they admitted that it was improperly ballasted and they accepted liability. Truck goes into the shop this week for repairs ($6503 is the present estimate). The local dealership estimated a $1500 to $2000 diminished value hit due to CarFax even with a good repair and advised getting a diminished value appraisal and then go after their carrier.

I did contact my insurance company (State Farm) right after the accident and they offered to cover the claim less my deductible and then refund the deductible after the other company settled. My agent said that contractors insurance companies are normally very hard to deal with and often take the threat of a lawsuit to get things moving. He did state that my carrier could not cover diminished value because of the way the law was written in Texas. My BS detector did perk up on this, but with as messed up as our legislature is I would not be surprised.

[ACZL]

We got hit by a 20 yo kid last Dec in LR wheel and LR corner. He came into our lane on the interstate. He was cited for unsafe lane change only. His ins co denied my claim cause he said I moved into his lane yet he was the one who got the ticket.. Was told to turn claim into my ins and that his ins will deal w/ them instead. So we have to eat the deductible (for now) and our ins is paying to get car repaired along w/ rental. Not sure when or how long it will take, but our ins will now have to pursue his to get reimburse along w/ our deductible. Clearly shows on police report other driver was ticketed, so "should" be a easy case. What will hold things up is his version which I don't see how it could work in his ins favor as he got charged, again, not me. If his ins refuses to settle, then it goes to a independent arbitrator and with whatever ruling they come to, both sides have to agree to it. Wife want to go after kid w/ a civil suit, but not sure if it would be worth it. Damage to our car, approx 6500.00. Will let you know how this ends up.

[Elbert]

if you guys think your ins agent is your "agent" in a case like this...you better high tail down to your ins agent's office and bounce the senario and get a direct read on what your ins agent is going to do on your behalf.

The ins agent is a one of two things (1) a direct employee of the ins company or (2)so called independent contractor. The employee has no "skin" in the game like the old school agents.

Ins agent may talk a good game on the front end...but in reality they are not going to do "@#@(" on your behalf except some trivial admin type junk. They do not represent you in a matter like this because your insurance policy / coverage is not involved and their is no claim or action against your insured property or your actions, therefore your ins. company in the long run is going to tell you "its your busines".

I suggest that if you have a lawyer friend....go consult that person... a ltr from the lawyers office can accelerate settlement. But you gotta weigh the lawyer bills if things get serious on a trivial amount of $$...as dumb as that sounds. I believe the damaged party is at a disadvantage and that's not a whole lot to be done other than lawyer time or you can contact the insurance commissioner in the state in which the ins company operates or is headquartered, but i suspect that will be a long no-win process.

The bad thing about these type of events is that it pits an individual who may or may not have any experience with this type of action against a large corporation or large business who deals with this all the time, and obviously where the parties are not equal in resources or information or expertise...etc.

Few if any advocates for the individual...other than if your retain a lawyer....your ins. agent is not your advocate...if you believe that you need to have a serious talk with your ins agent so you understand what that means and when the @#$% hits the fan what "your guy" is actually going to do.

[Elbert]

Your ins agent is not going to be involved....nor will they do anything on your behalf (in the scenario described). If you don't like the settlement proposed by the other party's ins...co. well, that will be all on you to fight or to dispute in whatever manner you pursue.

Since apparently its not your fault and your ins company has no liability...they're not going to do anything.

About the only thing your agent will do is potentially save a copy of the police report if you have one...and maybe offer to get a phone number of the opposing party ins.. outside of that the agent is going to tell you that its your issue to deal with the other ins...co.

Different states have different rules about property and what the ins. companies are required to do. The ins on average are in the biz to lowball the claim payout....so they never get tired of the stupidity...you on the other hand will get tired of theirs... if its a total...then you'll do good to get the average price of a similar truck used...

[rhagfo]

DD716TED wrote:
After several days of back and forth with his insurance company...I feel as though I am in a baseball game... One low ball (offer) after another low ball (offer). They are basing their offers on blue bbok retail prices without regard to my trucks low mileage, condition, and added items that were totally destoyed and will require replacement on a new vehicle. Thank God there are 9 innings in a baseball game as I am not swinging at any of their offers thus far.. Just complaining about the calls...

Did you take the advice to get your insurance Co. involved?

They should assist you, that is part of their job!

[DD716TED]

After several days of back and forth with his insurance company...I feel as though I am in a baseball game... One low ball (offer) after another low ball (offer). They are basing their offers on blue bbok retail prices without regard to my trucks low mileage, condition, and added items that were totally destoyed and will require replacement on a new vehicle. Thank God there are 9 innings in a baseball game as I am not swinging at any of their offers thus far.. Just complaining about the calls...

[Perrysburg_Dodg]

If totaled your are owed fair market value for your truck in its current state. Note this is retail value not trade in and yes they might try and pay you trade in value.

The same holds true for replacement parts, if your truck is in excellent condition then you can demand factory new replacement parts if they are available. Do you think the truck is totaled? If so then start looking at what like trucks are selling for and not just in your market area.

Don

[p220sigman]

Don't be afraid to negotiate a settlement with them. We had a similar situation with my mom. She was driving a 10 year old car that literally looked brand new inside and out and had very low miles (about 49K as I recall) for year car. The initial offer was right at average value. I contacted the adjuster and found out that he had not actually seen the car in person, but only utilized photos of the damage. I described the car to him and requested that he review the case and take a look at the car in person. I met him and the yard where the car was towed to and he agreed that it was in much better shape than average and adjusted the quote accordingly. We were happy with the amount and all was well. Since it was totaled, we were dealing with diminished value, but I would include it although depending on the age of the truck, it is much harder to get them to agree to diminished value the older the vehicle gets.

As was stated above, be professional and polite. While this may be personal for you, it is just business to them.

[NJRVer]

dapperdan wrote:
Food for thought, make sure you get a fair settlement, not just repair costs!!

In August of 2014 I T-Boned a young lady who never stopped for a stop sign. We were both OK, I was only going about 30 MPH at the time and jammed on my brakes, probably going closer to 20 or 25 at impact (air bag never deployed). Her car suffered pretty bad damage to passenger side at the door and rear of it. My truck was a mess, all of the radiators/cooling units were trashed as well as grill and partial fenders and hood. $7200 damage to MY truck, her insurance covered ALL of it including my deductible.

Last February I decided to buy a new 2015 RAM, when I gave the dealer my truck to check out "moderate front damage" came up on the car-fax report. After telling them what happened I was offered significantly LESS for my trade-in due to THAT damage! I checked with two other dealerships (just for my own peace of mind) and sure enough the damage incurred the August before came around to bite me in the U - NO - what!!! From now on if it's not my fault I'll be going after the other guy for "lost value" as well as damages.

Dan

X2!
Something no insurance company or agent will volunteer to you.
May have to threaten court with the other driver.