Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:26:56 -0400
Reply-To: Rowan Tipton <uther@DRAGONHOME.ORG>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Rowan Tipton <uther@DRAGONHOME.ORG>
Subject: Re: Mellow Yellow got hitted
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTikD8oDoBbVkFm95RuMVVNtp3NUwLiMGkvvMPN9D@mail.gmail.com>
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Don,
I wonder if your bad experiences relate to the particular insurance
and/or adjuster you have? I have had two experiences with my
insurance company (State Farm). Neither was with a Vanagon but both
were easy. I had a used car that I had only owned for about six
months stolen from a parking lot and they payed more that I had payed
for it plus they also payed the sales tax. I think they used blue
book value for excellent condition... which the car was in. In
another incident someone backed into me in a parking lot and left with
no note. Well, I didn't notice the damage until the next day so I
called my agent (it was a Saturday so they were closed) who called
back on monday. He said I needed to file a police report. It turned
out that the local police require the report to be filed within 24
hours and Monday is more than 24 hours from Friday. The adjuster said
that without a police report it would be on my collision so I would
have to pay my $1,000 deductible. I called my agent and he made
everything right. I got to pick to place to fix the car and they
payed everything. Maybe I'm just lucky!
r
>
> Your insurance company likely isn't concerned with whether it's
> "worth
> fixing". Their only concern is how to avoid paying anything more
> than what
> you can force them to pay. If they pay one dollar more than what
> they will
> lose if they have to go into court and fight you to avoid paying...
> they
> will consider that a 'business' failure, poor performance by the
> claims
> officer and every employee who is responsible for them having to
> actually
> give you the money to fix your Westie,
>
> You will probably soon become familiar with their usual routine
> when they
> are faced with a customer who asks them to actually pay out money.
> Sorry to
> hear about your damage but your hassels have probably only just
> begun. Be
> prepared to have plenty of "How the he** do they expect to get away
> with
> that?" moments, followed by "Crap! That is not legal and fair, is
> it?"
> moments and finally you may end up with "Oh, heck with it, I will
> just fix
> it myself and take what they give me, take what I can get, it is not
> worth
> fighting any more"...which is how the insurance industry has the deck
> stacked, how they know your incident will end up, from the get-go.
> It is
> what they do every day.
>
> (PS...Someone will now chime in with "Oh that is so cynical, it
> didn't go
> that way for me..." and maybe YOU will be lucky too(?)...but I've
> dealt with
> insurance many times over and observed their behavior for years
> without ever
> seeing any actual evidence of fair and timely claims settlements to
> anyone I
> know)
>
> PPS..I lost a nice almost new pick up..parked in a driveway at a
> house we
> were building. A road-rolling machine got away from the driver and
> 'smooshed' my truck while I was inside working. After almost 3
> months of
> fighting with them for a claims settlement and hitching to work
> every day or
> borrowing vehicles to get around, they gave me low kelly value for
> the
> truck...nothing at all for the new Gem Top camper, nothing for the
> CB radio
> or the stereo or the Yakima bike rack or the brand new tires or
> aftermarket
> wheels or trailer package, etc etc. Their statement was...."Sue us,
> then,
> if you don't like it..you will end up with the same money anyhow.and
> it will
> take another 3 months. We KNOW, this is what we have all the
> accountants
> and actuarial tables for...Don't take offense, Mr. Hanson, it's just
> business"..The attorney I hired to help me with this claim
> said...."Yep,
> that is just about right...when all is done, you will still be
> screwed "
> Similar results on two other episodes over the years, where I have
> been
> run into or had vehicles wrecked through no fault of my own..
>
> Don Hanson
I remain, as always
YrLyl&ObdntSrvnt,
r
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