| Topic: |
Sociology > Depression |
| User: |
"Franz Bestuchev" |
| Date: |
21 Aug 2004 10:55:18 PM |
| Object: |
fighting insurance companies |
I met with the adjuster who decided to total my car. Just the word "total"
feels so wrong to me. It's the same car I've always loved and there's a
pretty good chance that it could be fixed 100%...the twitchy little adjuster
from American Family just decided that it wasn't in his company's best
interest. I don't give a ***** about how much it would cost them to fix my
car. I had a *perfect* older vehicle...blue book, NADA, none of those
"guides" applies to what the car meant to me. I wasn't liable in this
accident, so they shouldn't have any right to tell me what will happen to my
car. If I want it fixed....they pay whatever it costs.
Over the last couple of years I'd put on some performance parts such as
suspension bits, brembo brake parts, the tires were 1 week old. The adjuster
had the nerve!! to tell me I was "stupid" for doing those modifications.
That I should have fixed the tiny little door dings and paid the $250 to
repair the seat bolster. As for the new performance tires "cars are supposed
to have tires," well ***** that's true but there's a difference between
Costco special and H rated performance tires. There's a big difference
between stock braking and Brembo rotors and calipers. I could go on.
He offered me $3k and the car or $3k + sales tax($200) if I surrender the
title to them. My sister practically had to hold me back from assaulting
this *****. It wouldn't have been a fair fight anyway, I probably had a foot
in height on him, 20 years less on my odometer, and a lot of rage. Even with
all the pain I'm still in, I would have loved to drag him across the
asphalt.
So I'm angry.
My neck still hurts, my head still hurts. I've lost the car of my dreams.
I have a feeling I'll never be properly compensated for the property loss
nor the health problems. Some times I wish I was a lawyer myself. Hiring one
is for the wealthy, and when something like this happens to somebody of
limited means they just get taken for a ride by companies.
.
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| User: "Hap Arnold" |
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| Title: Re: fighting insurance companies |
21 Aug 2004 11:28:35 PM |
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"Franz Bestuchev" <fbestuchev@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:2oqjp7FdllduU1@uni-berlin.de...
I met with the adjuster who decided to total my car. Just the word "total"
feels so wrong to me. It's the same car I've always loved and there's a
pretty good chance that it could be fixed 100%...the twitchy little
adjuster
from American Family just decided that it wasn't in his company's best
interest. I don't give a ***** about how much it would cost them to fix my
car. I had a *perfect* older vehicle...blue book, NADA, none of those
"guides" applies to what the car meant to me. I wasn't liable in this
accident, so they shouldn't have any right to tell me what will happen to
my
car. If I want it fixed....they pay whatever it costs.
Over the last couple of years I'd put on some performance parts such as
suspension bits, brembo brake parts, the tires were 1 week old. The
adjuster
had the nerve!! to tell me I was "stupid" for doing those modifications.
That I should have fixed the tiny little door dings and paid the $250 to
repair the seat bolster. As for the new performance tires "cars are
supposed
to have tires," well ***** that's true but there's a difference between
Costco special and H rated performance tires. There's a big difference
between stock braking and Brembo rotors and calipers. I could go on.
He offered me $3k and the car or $3k + sales tax($200) if I surrender the
title to them. My sister practically had to hold me back from assaulting
this *****. It wouldn't have been a fair fight anyway, I probably had a
foot
in height on him, 20 years less on my odometer, and a lot of rage. Even
with
all the pain I'm still in, I would have loved to drag him across the
asphalt.
So I'm angry.
My neck still hurts, my head still hurts. I've lost the car of my dreams.
I have a feeling I'll never be properly compensated for the property loss
nor the health problems. Some times I wish I was a lawyer myself. Hiring
one
is for the wealthy, and when something like this happens to somebody of
limited means they just get taken for a ride by companies.
Sounds like you would be better off to decline the offer.
Keep the car. Pay for it to be fixed yourself, or at least part it out and
sell the bits yourself.
or
Take the offer, but find out where it will be sold at auction and buy it
back at the auction.
In the future, you can stipulate higher coverages in your insurance. If you
just take the coverage given that is going to be NADA, but you can specify
that you want so many thousands of dollars of comprehensive coverage. You
should also change companies. Performance parts are supposed to increase
the value of the car. You probably would need the reciepts, though. My
mechanic rolled the Corrado he bought from me and got paid twice blue book
because he had reciepts showing the increased value... also some adverts
showing the car's selling price wasn't accurately reflected by NADA.
--
E Sempre l'Ora
--
.
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| User: "Franz Bestuchev" |
|
| Title: Re: fighting insurance companies |
22 Aug 2004 12:28:28 AM |
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"Hap Arnold" <hap.arnold@cox.net> wrote in message
news:bnVVc.5998$Ka6.1554@okepread03...
Sounds like you would be better off to decline the offer.
Keep the car. Pay for it to be fixed yourself, or at least part it out
and
sell the bits yourself.
or
Take the offer, but find out where it will be sold at auction and buy it
back at the auction.
In the future, you can stipulate higher coverages in your insurance. If
you
just take the coverage given that is going to be NADA, but you can specify
that you want so many thousands of dollars of comprehensive coverage. You
should also change companies. Performance parts are supposed to increase
the value of the car. You probably would need the reciepts, though. My
mechanic rolled the Corrado he bought from me and got paid twice blue book
because he had reciepts showing the increased value... also some adverts
showing the car's selling price wasn't accurately reflected by NADA.
--
E Sempre l'Ora
--
The other driver was at fault, and his insurance has accepted liability. I
have receipts for all my upgrades, but the attitude of the adjuster was that
a tire is a tire, a brake rotor is a rotor...whether it's a $30 NAPA special
or a $170 rotor suitable for autocrossing. The adjuster didn't think any of
that mattered, but heaven forbid there's a ding on the passenger door....now
how exactly does getting that fixed improve my driving experience?
I know their motivation is to pay as little as possible and to knock the car
value for anything they can, but this is outrageous.
I just can't wait till it comes time to start fighting over the medical
compensation. No Mr. Bestuchev, your pain is only worth $100 because this
accident only depressed an already depressed person. lol
.
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| User: "CyberDroog" |
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| Title: Re: fighting insurance companies |
22 Aug 2004 12:58:42 AM |
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On Sat, 21 Aug 2004 21:55:18 -0600, "Franz Bestuchev"
<fbestuchev@hotmail.com> wrote:
I have a feeling I'll never be properly compensated for the property loss
nor the health problems. Some times I wish I was a lawyer myself. Hiring one
is for the wealthy, and when something like this happens to somebody of
limited means they just get taken for a ride by companies.
You don't have to pay for a lawyer in such a case. They work on
contingency, getting paid only if they win. Don't let depression stop you
from trying to get what's coming to you. Call a lawyer who specializes in
auto accidents and have a consultation. The insurance company will almost
always make a better deal to avoid the cost of litigation. Most often you
will never see a courtroom.
The insurance can't always just go by blue book. They have to replace the
loss with "like kind and quality". If you had non-stock parts on the car
they have to consider that the same as they have to consider anything you
happened to be carrying in the car that was damaged (for instance if you
happened to have your mothers china in the trunk.)
Go ahead and call someone. The lawyer will handle everything and he has
the incentive to get as much as possible since he'll get a third of
whatever he recovers.
--
ACCUSE, v.t. To affirm another's guilt or unworth; most commonly as a
justification of ourselves for having wronged him.
- Ambrose Bierce
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| User: "Whiskers" |
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| Title: Re: fighting insurance companies |
22 Aug 2004 11:07:08 AM |
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On Sat, 21 Aug 2004 21:55:18 -0600, "Franz Bestuchev"
<fbestuchev@hotmail.com> wrote:
snip
He offered me $3k and the car or $3k + sales tax($200) if I surrender the
title to them.
snip
Would $3,000 be enough to get the car repaird to your satisfaction?
I agree with CyberDroog that you ought to get an expert to back up your
side of the negotiations; as there is a Personal Injury aspect as well, a
lawyer on a 'contingency fee' probably would be a practical approach. A
vehicle mechanic or engineer, or restoration specialist, would probably be
able to offer 'expert opinion' on your side, as to the real value of the
vehicle (and the practicality of getting it roadworthy again).
You should also be pressing a claim for loss of earnings, and increased
travel costs (eg hiring another car while the claim is being negotiated).
--
-- ^^^^^^^^^^
-- Whiskers
-- ~~~~~~~~~~
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| User: "Franz Bestuchev" |
|
| Title: Re: fighting insurance companies |
23 Aug 2004 10:03:04 AM |
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"Whiskers" <catwheezel@operamail.com> wrote in message
news:pan.2004.08.22.16.07.02.904217@ID-107770.user.uni-berlin.de...
On Sat, 21 Aug 2004 21:55:18 -0600, "Franz Bestuchev"
<fbestuchev@hotmail.com> wrote:
snip
He offered me $3k and the car or $3k + sales tax($200) if I surrender
the
title to them.
snip
Would $3,000 be enough to get the car repaird to your satisfaction?
I agree with CyberDroog that you ought to get an expert to back up your
side of the negotiations; as there is a Personal Injury aspect as well, a
lawyer on a 'contingency fee' probably would be a practical approach. A
vehicle mechanic or engineer, or restoration specialist, would probably be
able to offer 'expert opinion' on your side, as to the real value of the
vehicle (and the practicality of getting it roadworthy again).
You should also be pressing a claim for loss of earnings, and increased
travel costs (eg hiring another car while the claim is being negotiated).
--
-- ^^^^^^^^^^
-- Whiskers
-- ~~~~~~~~~~
The car is at a body shop that takes care of all the expensive football
player's cars when they wrap them around a phone pole. I also know the
owner, so I'm not worried about the shop.
I will be filing for loss of earnings and all that stuff.
I just need someone who knows how all this stuff works so I don;t get abused
by their insurance.
A quick search online found that 60% of the cars like mine cost more than
$3000.
I don't want to fight this, I just want them to be fair and I'll
reciprocate.
Sigh.
I've talked to lawyers and they say that unless the difference is more than
several thousand it's not worth it. For my car I just want another
$2000-$3000. If I lose I pay for a lawyer, court costs and their lawyer.
There goes my original settlement...
.
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| User: "Hap Arnold" |
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| Title: Re: fighting insurance companies |
23 Aug 2004 05:06:57 PM |
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"Franz Bestuchev" <fbestuchev@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:2ouf99Fe1f7cU1@uni-berlin.de...
I don't want to fight this, I just want them to be fair and I'll
reciprocate.
Try contacting your agent instead of the adjuster folks. Ask him to explain
the arbitration agreement you probably have included in your policy. I have
State Farm. They got nailed a couple of times for funny bookkeepping, but
their agents have always been very helpful to me in dealing with the claims
side of the company. That is why I don't switch to GEICO or another of the
'no agent' or 'direct' insurance companies.
Try contacting the office of your state insurance commissioner.
--
E Sempre l'Ora
--
.
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| User: "Whiskers" |
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| Title: Re: fighting insurance companies |
23 Aug 2004 03:18:59 PM |
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On Mon, 23 Aug 2004 09:03:04 -0600, "Franz Bestuchev"
<fbestuchev@hotmail.com> wrote:
snip
I've talked to lawyers and they say that unless the difference is more
than several thousand it's not worth it. For my car I just want another
$2000-$3000. If I lose I pay for a lawyer, court costs and their lawyer.
There goes my original settlement...
.... not worth it for the lawyers, perhaps :((
In my country, 'Loss Adjusters' and 'Loss Assessors' will work for an
individual, not only for insurance companies. They need paying, of
course, but might be less snooty about "small" amounts - and would be able
to negotiate on your behalf from a similar professional status to the
insurance company's representative.
Would the owner of the body shop be prepared to give you a pre-crash
valuation and post-crash repair estimate, to show to the insurance
company?
Remember that you have no contract with the insurance company who
represent the person who crashed into you, and you have no obligation to
them - nor they to you. Do not be afraid to stick up to them.
The terms of your contract with your own insurance company, have nothing
to do with your claim against the 'third party'. However, the settlement
you reach with the 'third party' may well influence your own insurance
company's assessment of your next premium; settle for a low pay-off and it
might look as if you are accepting some of the blame, thus showing that
perhaps you aren't such a good driver.
If you are convinced that you are entitled to have the complete repair of
your car (and all the other things) paid for by them (or by the person who
caused the crash) then all you have to do is convince them that you are
going to fight for what you want, if necessary by taking them to court,
and the chances are that they will increase their offer to the point at
which you 'go away'. They want quick settlement at least cost and without
publicity; you want restitution. That gives /you/ the upper hand.
--
-- ^^^^^^^^^^
-- Whiskers
-- ~~~~~~~~~~
.
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