WWGRM do? Accident content

Duke:

If you decide to fix it, let me know.

My daughter has a similar car which would make a very good parts donor. The engine runs excellent, the body is rust free, but has been hit everywhere except the rear.

She's selling it very cheap (maybe $500 for the whole car). It would make a cross country trip.

OK, thanks!

maj75 wrote: I can honestly say that in 40 years of driving and at least 8 accidents where I was not at fault, I have never been satisfied when I used my insurance.

Everything Sonic said is correct, you need a better insurance company or perhaps just a better agent. Some agents within the same company will work harder for you than others. Granted when it comes to claim time the agent has no say but if they are a strong agent in the company and willing to go to bat for you they'll have your back. I've never failed to be satisfied with a repair when going through my insurance company.

When my daughter wrecked the Honda, they actually gave us more than average value because they could tell that it was so clean in and out before the accident.

maj75 wrote: I was in house attorney for insurance companies for years. I know exactly how the game is played.

EDIT. Ugh...never mind. I wrote this long response, but it's not worth it. All I will say is I'm not sure what capacity you worked for a carrier, but very clearly you have no idea at all how auto damage claims work. Pretty much everything you wrote is 100% incorrect. Don't know if you have an ax to grind or what, but as someone who has done these claims for 17 years now...including as a claims manager (who evaluated adjusters) and as a panelist for the arbitration forum you refer to, nothing you wrote has any basis in reality.

Klayfish wrote: ... Oh, as for the lawyer thing...do what you want, but I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt...it won't help. First, you may not find an attorney to take a relatively small property damage claim, because there's nothing in it for them (unless they're a family member or something). If you find one, they'll just take a lot of your money. They will also typically slow the settlement process down dramatically. And people complain about paying such high rates...sigh.

Well, USAA was lowballing me on the Elise. No way I could replace it for what they were offering. "Oh, we don't have to give you replacement value. We have to give you what it's worth..." Well, in my book, what it is worth is what I could sell it for or what I would have to pay to buy another. Same thing. After the last call I had with their total loss employees, a higher up level at that, he told me basically "you'll never see another dime out of us, I suggest you take it." I said the car was worth more than that. He said (and I'm quoting) "Then I suggest you hire an attorney." I told him "Thank you very much for that advice, and that's exactly what I am going to do." So I hired an attorney and last week we (USAA and me) agreed on a value 10% over the "not one more dime" value, and about a 250% ROI on the attorney fees. I am very tempted to call that last shiny happy person up and leave a message for him (no one there will every answer the phone or return a call) saying "Hey, berkeleyhead, just cashed your check for ten points over your 'not one more dime' value, and almost exactly what I told you the car was worth. Thanks again for suggesting I hire an attorney." But, as we still have the medical claim outstanding, I'll refrain.

Oh, and the lizard said that USAA was a good company to deal with. I would hate to deal with a bad one.

Glad to hear it worked out for you, Hess. I cringed when I heard about your car being totalled...the Elise is a bucket lister for me. I don't know the specifics of your file...nor would I want you to publish them. However, you understand the Elise is very, very different than the car in this scenario. I've handled several total loss Elises and even a few Tesla roadsters. Values for them vary tremendously, so there's a ton of grey area. I have no clue what their initial offer was, what it was based on or what you ultimately settled for. Is it possible they undervalued your car initially? Sure. As I said the Elise value range is quite wide. Is it possible you just squeezed them for more money than what the car was actually worth (again, I don't know the numbers so I'm not saying you did or didn't)? Sure. If you feel the attorney was the difference, then great. Understand that your claim was very different than 99.5% of others out there, so this truly a YMMV scenario. Exotic cars are vastly different than most cars. Speaking from seeing countless claims, unquestionably I stand by my comments. Insurance companies also make business decisions...sometimes they will pay a bit more than what is truly owed just to get a claim resolved. Glad your claim is resolved to your satisfaction in the end.

In reply to Dr. Hess:

Well as I said up thread, I've been thoroughly satisfied with every claim I've ever made. I forgot to mention two others I had with my Miata, both not my fault, one was in Canada and one when my car was hit at an autocross sire. All no issue whatsoever. In my 20 years in the country I've been involved with 5 auto insurance claims and have been delighted with every one. I wish i could say the same about house insurance.

BAck to the OP, honestly, it's not a rare, valuable or desierable car, it doesn't sound like there is a strong emotional attachment. I say let them total it, take the check and upgrade.

When the deer hit my LS400, the lizard was fine. Actually, it went pretty smooth, despite my 1K deductible biting me on that one. Hagerty (GRM advertiser...) was great when the Esprit went on to the great race track in the sky. USAA was lowballing me. What they offered would not get you anywhere near a car like mine. It might get you one with a salvage title, but not a clean car like mine in perfect condition prior to their insured slamming into me because he was sleepy. I told them what the car was worth after their initial lowball, and they did eventually agree to that amount (although I don't have a check in my hands yet.) It just took 4-5 months and a lawyer to get to this point. And I consider myself to be a pretty good negotiator.

The Lizard offered me significantly more than I had paid for my low mileage, one owner C5 just one month before it was wrecked. I complained and asked for more money anyway, sent some classified ads of overpriced examples to the adjuster and got an extra thousand bucks. Well worth about an hour of my time.

I know this won't help you now. I found that using a third brake light flasher and fake braking when I slow down has stopped all the rear end hits and close calls. Now I just need to stop the pull outs that force me to panic stop.

Still waiting for the other driver to call GEICO back. They've called me twice to reassure me they are still pressing the claim. I'd say he's got another couple of days to respond before things start going radically worse for him.

Dr. Hess wrote: Oh, and the lizard said that USAA was a good company to deal with. I would hate to deal with a bad one.

Though honestly and in my experience, it's as much the individual adjuster as it is the company. I've had great and terrible service from the same company, just different adjusters. I've even had it flip-flop when one adjuster was replaced by another while processing the same claim.

Though all in all, it's almost invariably a lousy experience.

Duke wrote: Still waiting for the other driver to call GEICO back. They've called me twice to reassure me they are still pressing the claim. I'd say he's got another couple of days to respond before things start going radically worse for him.

That sucks. Hope he responds to them. If he doesn't, they'll first send him a letter basicially saying he's jeapordizing coverage and is contractually obligated to cooperate. If he still fails to do so, they could deny coverage to him. If that were to occur, your best bet is to go through State Farm and let them go after him. Yes, you're out your deductible, but you can still go after him for that. At least you're taken care of. If you try to do it yourself, which you certainly can if you want, you have to file suit yourself, etc...

Do you know if the GEICO policyholder was the same person as the driver? i.e. it wasn't a child of the policyholder, or a friend. If so, and there is a police report, you can push the issue a little with GEICO. I'd present the argument that the police report proves clear liability (assuming this was a simple rear end accident) and it was their own policyholder driving, so they should be able to proceed. They very well still may not be able to, but it's worth a shot.

Klayfish wrote: your best bet is to go through State Farm and let them go after him. Yes, you're out your deductible, but you can still go after him for that. At least you're taken care of. If you try to do it yourself, which you certainly can if you want, you have to file suit yourself, etc...

As I said before. When I had an accident I went through my insurance and the never charged me a deductible. I ASSume they collected from the other persons insurance co.

Klayfish wrote: Do you know if the GEICO policyholder was the same person as the driver? i.e. it wasn't a child of the policyholder, or a friend. If so, and there is a police report, you can push the issue a little with GEICO. I'd present the argument that the police report proves clear liability (assuming this was a simple rear end accident) and it was their own policyholder driving, so they should be able to proceed. They very well still may not be able to, but it's worth a shot.

It was a simple rear-end accident, and yes, there is a police report, though it will cost me $25 and a couple days to get a copy, so I haven't bothered until now. I think I'll mail away for one tonight.

I believe the driver is the son of the insured; they have the same first and last names but different middle initials.

State Farm told me if it was my fault, they would give me 14 days to respond before taking the next step, so I'm not getting too antsy yet - we're only 8 days out from the accident and a week since the claim. I'd just like to see some progress. There's no reason for the other people to delay the claim, except to be dicks.

Just my 2 cents. I was recently hit in my 1990 Miata by another driver with USAA. I was stopped at an intersection, and he did the monster truck thing on the front of my car, but it was still driveable. He admitted liability, I took it to USAA's approved shop, he worked with me to keep it from being a total (107k miles) and they even wrote a new front bumper coverage. Other than the body shop forgetting to plug in the front parking lights, it really was smooth. In SC, if a driver doesn't contact their insurance company within 15 days, they lose their license.