Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2010 12:05:24 -0700
Reply-To: Roland <syncronicity1@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Roland <syncronicity1@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Mellow Yellow got hitted
In-Reply-To: <4C3F1BDC.1000909@hughes.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
In the last 3 years I've had 2 experiences with insurance companies. Both
of them were totaled cars (not Vanagons).
- in both cases, the car was declared totaled by the insurance company. But
my response was, hey wait a minute, it isn't that bad, I'd like you to fix
it!!!!
- in both cases the company gave us the defined replacement value, and then
we bought the car back at about 1/8th the settlement amount. I.e. in one
case the total settlement as $12,500 and I bought the salvaged car back for
$1,400. Yes, "salvage title", but that is no big deal if you plan to keep
it.
- in both case we proceeded to repair the cars ourselves, with some help
from pros where we couldn't do the work, and got them back on the road,
maybe for $2-$4k
- basically we made many $1,000s on these deals.
One car we got back to like it was new. One car we just tolerated some
straight but rumpled quarter panels (now my son's offroad vehicle).
So in the case of MY, it sounds like the repair estimate will be lower than
the totaled value. That is terrific, since all of it is taken car of. But
if the insurance totaled it, then one nice path might have been to take the
settlement, buy it back (salvage), do some smaller repairs, and pocket the
rest.
Also, in both of the total cars mentioned above, we were able to bump the
settlement value by faxing repair receipts to the insurance co. Save all
your receipts for the past 2-4 years of work, our insurance company added
about $2K to one of the settlement $ because of the receipts we sent them
for recent work.
Roland
On Thu, Jul 15, 2010 at 7:31 AM, Marc Sayer <marcsayer@hughes.net> wrote:
> Add me to your list of people who have been screwed by insurance
> companies. They are happy to take your premiums (my wife and I own and
> insure 5 cars - they charge us full premiums for 5 cars, with only 2
> drivers, how's that for starting off with a scam?). My experience covers
> 3 states, 4 companies, and almost 40 years, and I have never once had a
> good experience with a claim. Back in 1978 my 1970 Fiat 124 had just had
> $6k worth of resto and upgrade work done on it. The only thing missing
> was the passenger's seat and door panel. They were in my garage waiting
> to be installed. They valued the car at $500 and totaled it. But they
> wanted me to pay $1000 to get it back as salvage! (now I know a Fiat 124
> is not a big dollar car, but you can tell by what I spent on it that it
> was in exquisite condition and was not a $500 car. Their excuse? Well
> that make/model wasn't wroth much, plus it was missing so many parts.
> And of course parts in my possession but not on the car were not "part
> of the car." Their attitude was sue us, you can't possibly afford to
> match our resources. We'll drown you in court costs and you'll end up
> losing a small fortune, so be our guest refuse this offer and take us to
> court. They were more than willing to spend 2, 3, or more times what my
> claim was really worth, in court costs. They would rather spend the
> money setting a precedent and letting folks know they had better take
> what's offered. Had an equally bad experience with my 64 Type 2, my 72
> MGB, my wife's 84 Volvo, my 79 Datsun 810 wagon, My 81 280ZXT, need I go
> on? Every time it comes to paying out for a covered loss, they weasel
> and cheat and do whatever they can to not pay out fairly. If an
> individual tried to start selling the same thing and conducting business
> the same way, they'd be charged with fraud. But the insurance industry
> is BIG business and has a very, very powerful lobby (notice how all
> sorts of insurance is slowly becoming madatory, how many industries can
> manage that trick?), so they can get away with this crap. My homeowner's
> insurance agent refused to write a policy for our new home when we moved
> in 2005. After having been with them for almost 30 years. When I asked
> why she said it was because I ran a dog rescue out of my home. Turns out
> they she saw a story about my rescue on TV 2 years before. Also turns
> out that while she was taking my premiums for those 2 years, she
> admitted they would not have covered me for anything for that period,
> because of my dog rescue. When I asked her why she didn't contact me to
> adjust my policy or cancel, she told me it wasn't her job to make sure I
> kept them informed, and that all she was required to do was let the home
> office know that they didn't need to cover me because I was running the
> rescue. If I wanted to alter or cancel my policy, that was my
> responsibility. So I asked her why they didn't just cancel me instead of
> continuing to take my premiums when they had no intention of insuring me
> against any claims. In other words why were they fraudulently taking my
> premiums? Never could get a straight answer. That's the insurance
> business as a whole. Maybe there are occasional cases where an insured
> is treated fairly, but they are the exception. An Insurance agency is in
> business to make a profit. And there are big profits to be made if you
> avoid paying out on losses. Look at how many car insurance ads you see
> on TV and compare that to any other industry. Those ads are not cheap
> and they only way they can afford to run them is to overcharge and
> underpay. Insurance started out as a gambling scheme, and it is as
> crooked and biased toward "the house" as any other form of gambling.
>
>
> --
>
> Marc Sayer
> Journalist, Photographer, Dog Trainer (APDT member #062956)
> Board member - Western States Great Dane Rescue Association
> Director of Operations& Training - Deaf Dane Rescue Inc.
> Oakridge, OR USA
>
> My Homepage -http://gracieland.org
> Deaf Dane Rescue -http://deafdane.org
> White Danes Yahoo Group -http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/whitedanes
> Western States Great Dane Rescue Association -http://wsgdra.org
> RescueWatchdogs -http://rescuewatchdogs.org
> Association of Pet Dog Trainers -http://APDT.com
>
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