I officially hate insurance companies

[Expat]

What about the person who pulled out, causing the swerve?

Not trying to be a d*ck, but what if the other option was T-boning the car that pulled out at speed, maybe the sideswipe of your wife's car was the better option, in which case, it may not have been negligent. The person who pulled out, that would seem to be where the true fault lies given the way you described it. The way this works out in court (which is the basis they use in determinining liability for the accident) is that the accident may have more than one cause and no party involved is supposed to be held liable for more than their portion of the fault.

This is the law. The insurance company whether it is small or large, is not just being a dick by following the law. If they would just pay you even though their insured was not at fault under the law, how do you think their insured would react.

 

[dung]

There is a draw back to letting your insurance company handle it (subrogation). I was hit a few years ago by a guy running a stop sign. I went through my insurance (as i always have before) even though he was at fault. Everything was fine, I didn't get stuck for the deducitble as it was his fault. However, when my rates went up a couple of years later due to normal rate creep I started shopping around.

Liberty Mutual gave me a great qoute, but when they ran my records it showed up that I had a claim and then they jacked up their charges. They acted like using your insurance is a sign that you are willing to make claims so you are more likely to use the service you are paying for. Therefore you are a riskier bet. He also said that you should be a better defensive driver and not get side swiped....insurance is a racket.

 

[yeahbaby]

We are dealing with a situation at MIL house. About 3/4 weeks ago we had that bad rain storm that came through on a Saturday in Porter county. Rain and wind for about 13 hours straight. Water starts leaking into 2 of the back bedrooms. Call the insurance company who sends out an adjuster. We also called a roofing company that we have used and trust them. Adjuster looks things over inside and out. Initial comment was they are only going to fix the areas of the roof that are leaking. Also some damage in the attic. Roofing company looks over everything and finds mold in the attic. And of course wants to redo the whole roof. We get a letter in the mail last week from the insurance company that now they are not going to fix ANY of the roof. But gave us a check for 3K to do mold remediation. So they are going to fix the issue caused by the leaking roof, mold in the attic. But not fix what more than likely caused the mold issue, leaking roof. Ugh.

 

[JettaKnight]

Next time you are up this way the burgers are on me....

Next time you are up this way the burgers are on me....

Two lunches for CountryBoy!

 

[JettaKnight]

I used to sell insurance and always dealt the the at fault company (ie. NOT mine.)

I never had any real problems. I had to sue Allstate, and got into an argument with another company, but all were resolved fairly easily.

I would never want to involve my company unless I was at fault. Just unnecessary. However, it seems that we each have our own experiences with the system that teach us to move in certain directions. C'est la vie...

Doug

PS - Mention filing a complaint with the Insurance Commissioner and see how quickly they move. That will move most folks.

Doug, you know the in's and out's of insurance and wouldn't have trouble going to small claim court. Not all of us are that smart.

In this case, it looks like CountryBoy either has to get his insurance to sort it out, or get the collision report and go after the third party himself.


[video=youtube;puK5CwThaq4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puK5CwThaq4[/video]

(sorry for the poor quality)

 

[Libertarian01]

We have both property's, all the vehicles and 2 life policy's through the same agent. He takes care of anything that comes up.

I don't know why anyone wouldn't do this! You get an auto/home discount, you get the multicar discount, etc. Granted, every company does this, but it's overall a really good deal to keep all of your business together and rates low.

We are dealing with a situation at MIL house. About 3/4 weeks ago we had that bad rain storm that came through on a Saturday in Porter county. Rain and wind for about 13 hours straight. Water starts leaking into 2 of the back bedrooms. Call the insurance company who sends out an adjuster. We also called a roofing company that we have used and trust them. Adjuster looks things over inside and out. Initial comment was they are only going to fix the areas of the roof that are leaking. Also some damage in the attic. Roofing company looks over everything and finds mold in the attic. And of course wants to redo the whole roof. We get a letter in the mail last week from the insurance company that now they are not going to fix ANY of the roof. But gave us a check for 3K to do mold remediation. So they are going to fix the issue caused by the leaking roof, mold in the attic. But not fix what more than likely caused the mold issue, leaking roof. Ugh.

With mold that means the problem has existed for a long time. This then means, unfortunately, MIL didn't maintain the property. No insurance company is obliged to pay for what should be normal maintenance on a home. If a tree falls on the roof and does damage, that is most likely covered as it is instantaneous damage. However, if a small leak exists for who knows how long and then becomes a big leak when it is finally noticed, that is on the homeowner.

That said, you may still argue that the damage wouldn't be noticed by a normally prudent person. You contacted them AS SOON AS the damage was noticed. That your MIL didn't notice it doesn't mean she was negligent, just that it wasn't noticeable until now. I'd send a letter appealing their decision and ask them to cover the loss. If they still say NO, then send a letter explaining in detail to the Indiana Dept of Insurance asking them to step in and intervene. If that gets you nowhere, then attorneys are needed to proceed further. But at least the IDOI doesn't cost more than time and postage. Good LUCK!

Doug, you know the in's and out's of insurance and wouldn't have trouble going to small claim court. Not all of us are that smart.

In this case, it looks like CountryBoy either has to get his insurance to sort it out, or get the collision report and go after the third party himself.

(sorry for the poor quality)

I admit that I may live within a bubble on this issue. In two (2) losses I had to call the other persons insurance company directly when the other person refused to do so. The first was many years ago at a transmission company out off of Coliseum. My car was parked on their lot and several vehicles include mine were broken into. The owners insisted that my insurance would cover it. I called BS as my car was in their "care and control." They still refused to file but when I demanded the name of their company they gave it to me. When I called them they told me, "of course we'll pay for the damages." Then they would also pay for the other damaged vehicles as well. The only thing we argued about then was the model of CD player to be replaced from my car. They don't have to mach it exactly, but it does need to be "like kind and quality." I backed down on that.

I think that the company had had multiple break ins with vehicles on their lot and didn't want to pay for fencing, so they were trying desperately to avoid filing claims. Tough for them.

The second was when my hand was broken and I had to go to the hospital. The gal had borrowed a boyfriends car and didn't file a claim. This is when I had to sue Allstate. That said, I was able to go to a local agent and present them with the accident report and get them to start the bureaucracy moving. They did pay for my car fine, so no problem there. It was the medical damages along with pain & suffering that I had to sue over. When they wouldn't even cover my medical expenses I got an attorney. A really great guy! I told him I had tried to settle things nice, that didn't work. So I was hiring him to "not be nice."

When I did have the medical damages I talked to not one (1) but two (2) insurance adjusters from companies my father represented. I told them exactly what happened, what my damages were, and wanted to know a FAIR amount to ask for. They both gave me very close to the same number, so I knew I wasn't being unreasonable.

My real success story was helping a friend who's father had passed away. He brought me eight or nine olde life insurance policies hoping that some were in effect. Most weren't. However, I found one policy he bought back in the sixties from a company out of Indianapolis. They had gone out of business so I called the Indiana Dept of Insurance to find out who acquired their book of business. They sent me to a company in Atlanta Georgia. I called them to find out they had also gone out of business sometime in the seventies. So I called the Georgia DOI and found a company out of Texas had bought their book of business. A phone call to Texas and behold! They had the policy and it was still in effect! They couldn't tell me anything for legal reasons but I was able to get a persons contact information and pass it on to my friend, who then filed a claim and got some money for the family. Often times just phone calls can solve a lot of problems.

Having a good understanding of what insurance will and won't do slightly beyond the lay understanding has certainly helped me, so perhaps my response to insurance companies is a bit skewed.

Regards,

Doug

 

[yeahbaby]

Thanks Libertarian01 that info is very helpful.

 

[Alamo]

I have USAA for car insurance. When my truck got t-boned and totaled while my nephew was borrowing it, USAA handled all the details and far as I can tell did not affect my rates in any way. Unless you are in the business or really like to run down details and spend time following up, I vote for making your insurance company do the legwork. And if they want to count it against you, find a new insurance company as soon as you get this mess cleaned up.

Now if you have other incidents on file, even if not your fault, then the insurance company is going to look at you as a higher risk than other drivers. You are somehow operating in an environment where your risk is higher, maybe because of the location, you have a cosmic "kick me" sign on your back, whatever. But for a once in a great while boo-boo, let your insurance guy do the work.

 

[CountryBoy19]

Having a good understanding of what insurance will and won't do slightly beyond the lay understanding has certainly helped me, so perhaps my response to insurance companies is a bit skewed.

Regards,

Doug

Maybe you can help me then... I filed with my insurance today. The issue I'm having is rental car coverage isn't adequate. I spoke with my agent, he said generally if their insured is at-fault, they will authorize higher coverage for the other party so they may obtain a "like model" rental.

However, when making a claim with my insurance, because I don't have a specific rental policy but have what he called "valet" (my ins co is IN Farm Bureau), they will only cover $30/day, which is less than half of what it takes to get me a like-model. It won't even get me a model that we can fit all the kids carseats in. I spoke with the adjuster for my Ins co and she said that was the best they can do; the rental place won't upgrade me at no charge. So I can only assume that if the 2nd/3rd parties would accept fault, they would extend the courtesy of a like-model rental, but becaues they're going to fight about it, I get screwed out of a rental. It won't do me any good to even get the rental that the seats won't fit in.

What can I do?

Would it help to tell the adjuster (for my company) that I will take the rental for a limited number of days (shorter than normal), if they will pay a higher daily rate? Do you think they would go for that? I plan to replace the door myself, at that point the car will be usable again, this will take me 1 day after I get the go-ahead from the adjuster. Certainly an insurance company would be interested in $70/day for 5 days over $30/day for 14 days wouldn't they?

 

[Expat]

Are you sure on the rental price? Enterprise does insurance rentals for less than $60 day. Make sure they know it is insurance.

 

[Libertarian01]

Maybe you can help me then... I filed with my insurance today. The issue I'm having is rental car coverage isn't adequate. I spoke with my agent, he said generally if their insured is at-fault, they will authorize higher coverage for the other party so they may obtain a "like model" rental.

However, when making a claim with my insurance, because I don't have a specific rental policy but have what he called "valet" (my ins co is IN Farm Bureau), they will only cover $30/day, which is less than half of what it takes to get me a like-model. It won't even get me a model that we can fit all the kids carseats in. I spoke with the adjuster for my Ins co and she said that was the best they can do; the rental place won't upgrade me at no charge. So I can only assume that if the 2nd/3rd parties would accept fault, they would extend the courtesy of a like-model rental, but becaues they're going to fight about it, I get screwed out of a rental. It won't do me any good to even get the rental that the seats won't fit in.

What can I do?

Would it help to tell the adjuster (for my company) that I will take the rental for a limited number of days (shorter than normal), if they will pay a higher daily rate? Do you think they would go for that? I plan to replace the door myself, at that point the car will be usable again, this will take me 1 day after I get the go-ahead from the adjuster. Certainly an insurance company would be interested in $70/day for 5 days over $30/day for 14 days wouldn't they?

I always liked the Farm Bureau agents I met in my life ins classes.

It seems that the "valet" coverage is FB's uppity way of saying "rental coverage." Most policies list the rental as $X / day. This is normally used if you are at fault in an accident. They DO NOT CARE what you need, they are agreeing to pay like a disability policy, $X for Y days (usually 30.)

You are owed, by the other company, a "like kind and quality" vehicle. So, for example, if you drove a full size car, they would owe you a full size car. If you drove a pickup truck, they would owe you a pickup truck. You get the idea. However, you went through your company. You cannot deal with both. I'm pretty sure you are stuck now dealing with your company alone.

What you may want to do on your own is go online and look for a rental company that has a vehicle that can seat X number of people, then check with your adjuster if that would be OK by her. On these matters the agent is generally out of it and the adjuster ultimately has the final say, although pleading to your agent IF the adjuster is really unreasonable may get you an advocate, but the agent has no power here, only persuasiveness.

I don't think they will budge on the dollars per day, as they know with the hundreds of accidents per year that they deal with, that some repairs get complicated and take longer. But you can always ask. You have the advantage that the other vehicle is at fault and your adjuster knows that eventually her company will be reimbursed. Many adjusters do have some wiggle room, so a pleasant conversation is the best way to go.

But start by finding a vehicle, rental company, and price that will suit your needs and share that with the adjuster. Be ready to sell the need for X number of seats. If that fails, call the IDOI and ask them what you can do. Let your agent know before you call the IDOI what you are going to do to help them advocate on your behalf. No company likes complaints or issues as the IDOI can eventually tell them they cannot do business here. One call will never do that, but every company wants to avoid the pileup of calls that may eventually get them kicked out of a market.

I'm betting your company will work with you if you're nice about it.

Also, IF your wife is nicer than you, a better sales person, or can cry on demand, let HER make the call! Maybe she can be more persuasive than you on dealing with seats and kids. Play EVERY card in your hand.

I hope this helps and all the best!

Doug

 

[Libertarian01]

Are you sure on the rental price? Enterprise does insurance rentals for less than $60 day. Make sure they know it is insurance.

Surprisingly, I have found that Hertz is less expensive than Enterprise for rentals on the weekends. Most of Hertz's business is with business travelers who fly out on Monday, have their meetings, and are flying home on Friday or before. So their general business is dead on the weekends. Good deals to be had here.

Doug

 

[Expat]

The insurance rental business is completely different. Most insurance companies have negotiated contracts at reduced rates because of the volume.

 

[patience0830]

Why are you dealing with them?
Any time I've needed to, I've talked to my insurance agent and let them deal with it.

This. That's part of what you pay for your insurance for. Should not count as a claim against you.

 

[patience0830]

This. That's part of what you pay for your insurance for. Should not count as a claim against you.

State Farm is who we use. This happened Sunday.

They have a negotiated rate with Hertz. Fusion at $19.95/day. DURANGO for less than$24/day.

 

[CountryBoy19]

The insurance rental business is completely different. Most insurance companies have negotiated contracts at reduced rates because of the volume.

That us the negituated rate, adjuster contacted enterprise and squared it away. Enterprise is the only game in town, 45 minute drive to next rental place...