Questions About Auto Insurance and Accidents

Sandman6472 · December 2015

Just seems unfair, and their commercials do not explain this fact. A bit deceiving to be honest!!!

andres3 · December 2015

corvette said:
andres3, sorry to hear, sounds like the justice system did not work for you (as it often doesn't). I doubt "average length of time an American keeps their car before they sell it" is an appropriate legal standard and the whole point of DV is that you should be able to immediately sell the car without incurring a financial penalty beyond the normal depreciation a non-wrecked car incurs.

It seems as if a lot of insurance carriers run their auto claims departments as profit centers. After an accident a couple of years ago, which I will not repeat the details of, but suffice it to say my vehicle should have been totaled but wasn't, I am looking for a new carrier. (The fact that I have four personal and commercial policies with this carrier and have paid thousands of premium each year for seven plus years was not a concern to them, and still isn't.)

I do not believe I am eligible for USAA. Consumer Reports says Amica is pretty good. I'm looking for a financially solvent company which does what is best for its customer when faced with a "grey area" decision like whether to declare a clean vehicle with a lot of expensive damage a total loss. In the event I cause a crash, I also want my carrier to be generous with the other party. I do not want a company that will automatically lowball the other guy's damages and cause me to get sued (this happens a lot).

Any suggestions for companies I should consider, besides Amica? I also do not believe I meet Chubb's acceptance criteria (my house isn't expensive enough).

I agree with you that the date of loss is the best date to go by when establishing value. One day you could have sold your car for X amount. The next, you are facing 60 days of repairs and untold DV. That delta is what you should be compensated for in DV; not some theoretical future sell date.

I was pretty shocked the judge came up with a rather low $3K DV; things in court appeared to go very well for me. Now I hate it when cases are taken "under advisement" for "further research." I'd of done better if he'd of taken my number and their number and split the difference right then and there.

Maybe he rewarded the defendant for being so purely honest. Only the insurance rep tried some legal non-sense about trying to assess shared blame. The defendant admitted "I didn't see him." Made the fault easy to prove.

benben14 · January 2016

Hi,

I plan to buy a car in SF and I need a full coverage to lower risks. My question is simple: how there specifics for foreign people when subscribing to a car insurance? For example, if I choose a full coverage (physical damage, liability, collision) will I be charged additional fees in case I get hit (accident) ? I'll certainly buy this kind of car, it's a cheap SUV as described on edmunds.
Hopefully it's the right place to ask.
Thanks, Ben

Mr_Shiftright · January 2016

Your policy will probably have a deductible on the comprehensive and collision part. Depending on which deductible you choose (usually $250, $500, or $1000), you get a different rate. If you are going to park on the street in San Francisco, you should probably take the lowest deductible.

giz_2016 · February 2016

Need advice. Our 2016 Jeep (one month old with less than 1000 miles) was hit while parked in a parking lot by a large bucket truck. The driver left the area, but we found him. The damage isn't enough to be totalled (preliminary estimate $6000). While I would like to get a new vehicle because ours will never be the same, I understand this might not be reasonable. Even though, I am seriously considering buying a new one when ours is repaired. With regard to diminshed value, do I tell his insurance co. in the beginning that I expect DV, or wait until repairs are completed? Just not sure of the steps involved and how to find an auto appraiser in our small area or can a dealer give us the values we need?

Thank you.

Mr_Shiftright · February 2016

You'll have to wait until repairs are done, and then hire an appraiser who is familiar with DV claims. You have certainly suffered a diminution of value--how much rather depends on the type of damage done--just straightening and painting wouldn't be as severe as time on a frame-puller and/or panel replacement.

The DV claim goes against the insurance company of the truck who hit you. You cannot as a rule make a DV claim against your own insurance company.

A dealer might be able to assist an appraiser by providing testimony as to the DV loss but your case should be presented by an impartial appraiser. Dealers are not considered impartial.

If your car wasn't badly "bent", and if the body shop is a very good one, there's no reason why your Jeep should drive good as new, and look good as new---however, you have still incurred a DV loss no matter how well the repairs are done.

andres3 · February 2016

The average body shop will probably find it easy to build and meet Chrysler's specified tolerances and deviations; being as they are probably quite wide when compared to the rest of the industry.

Mr_Shiftright · February 2016

The real Kiss of Death is when the CARFAX reports says "air bag deployed" or "frame damaged". Of course, modern cars don't have frames, so I'm not sure what that means exactly---no doubt "subframe" damage, or distortion of the unibody structure.

SJC09 · February 2016

I just recently had a new Allstate policy written up that will be going into effect next month. I already have had to escalate an issue with rating to Allstate corporate on my initial premium, as the agent did not correctly put my education level and work experience in the manual quote. (Initially rated as having no high school diploma, and 3 years work experience -- in actuality, employed 19 yrs and have MS degree.) Agent told me those factors did not affect premium at all, and would not update the information.. That correction changed the "Rating Tier" value on the declarations page of my new policy to change from "50 - 00" to "33 - 00", and subsequently lowered the premium by $105.41 for 6-month policy.

Does anyone here know how to decipher the Rating Tier?

Mr_Shiftright · February 2016

Well these tiers are risk ratings. In some states, the law requires that the insurance company reveal the customer's particular tier on their policy, but I don't think they are under any obligation to explain the entire system to you. The tier system isn't standardized either, so some companies might have more tiers, or different tiers, etc.

SJC09 · February 2016

I was hoping that maybe a current or former Allstate agent may be viewing that could shed some light...Thanks

Mr_Shiftright · February 2016

Oh you mean how they determine which tier you fit into?

If you want to plow through this report from NJ on the tier system in that state, you might find some interesting information.

Tier Rating Plans and Underwriting Rules, State of New Jersey

andres3 · February 2016

Mr_Shiftright said:
Well these tiers are risk ratings. In some states, the law requires that the insurance company reveal the customer's particular tier on their policy, but I don't think they are under any obligation to explain the entire system to you. The tier system isn't standardized either, so some companies might have more tiers, or different tiers, etc.

I think the tier system is rigged, and designed to maximize profits and line the wallets of fat cats and insurance giants.

Health care insurance going single payer for all might just be the beginning of the end for the fraudulent insurance cabal.

Mr_Shiftright · February 2016

Insurance law is generally formulated by insurance company lobbyists, so you know who's going to come out smelling like a rose 9 times out of 10.

Sandman6472 · February 2016

Yes, single payer might just be the ticket for the future of what the AHCA was all about. Only time will tell.
And with auto insurance, it really is a shame that longevity with a company means squat to them. We've found that changing companies every few years results in better priced premiums in the beginning but then after a couple of years, the prices start that familiar creep up again which facilitates the whole process being started over and taking on a new company. Seems a bit silly but for some reason, that's the way it's been here in the U S. And it's something I'll never understand. Good customers who don't file many claims, or even those that never do, should be given the lowest prices and should be wanted to maintain their policies with the current companies. But for some reason, this is just not the case. Makes me mad as hell actually!!!
"I'm mad and I'm not going to take it any more"! Maybe like in the movie, "Network", folks should stand up together and demand that things change for the better! Probably think others might just feel the same way here.

The Sandman

andres3 · March 2016

Maybe they have an algorithm that tells them those who haven't had a claim in many years are starting to test their luck and might have one just to being "due."

Mr_Shiftright · March 2016

That would only work if skill wasn't involved in driving, and I guess for many people it isn't! I read that Americans rack up about 15 million collisions a year.

sean2000 · March 2016

Hello Helpers, I have been reading through some of the comments here, and understand that the DV (Diminished Value) claim is not straight forward as the Insurance Companies are [non-permissible content removed]!

I live in Ohio and have a Lexus ES 2009, 84K miles, which was recently rear-ended (in Ohio) with cracked bumper and possibly some "bending" of the exhaust pipe. Bring it to the Lexus dealer, and the repair cost was estimated over $2K. But the Insurance switched out the bumper replacement to using a Replacement Part instead of original Lexus part, claiming any car over 5 years and not current mode. So it would not get OEM part. Hence the repair would now come down to less than $1500.

By Kelly Blue Book Estimates, pre-accident trade in value ranges from 11K to $13K based on varying conditions, and private sale is about $13K.

Appreciate if you can shed some lights on the following:
1) Is the adjuster right about the replacement part for my OEM part?! I mean, I am a victim here, and I see that the Ins is taking [non-permissible content removed] excuses to avoid doing the right thing!

2) About the DV claims. Based on the 17C formula, with based value of 10% of Vehicle, what is the proper "Damage Multiplier" should be used? After all those stupids and flaw multipliers, I guess I would be lucky to see $300 DV claim.

Or you think I should go to the trouble of hiring an expert in assessing the DV? How much would that be?

3) Due to various phone calls, and sending car in for repair estimates, these have taken hours of my time. Shouldn't the Ins reimburse my time?

I mean, I am a victim in this accident, yet at the end, I wasted hours of my time + getting a lousy replacement part + loss of DV of car. Feel like Ins company is rubbing salt into wound.

Thanks
Sean

andres3 · March 2016

sean2000 said:
Hello Helpers, I have been reading through some of the comments here, and understand that the DV (Diminished Value) claim is not straight forward as the Insurance Companies are [non-permissible content removed]!

I live in Ohio and have a Lexus ES 2009, 84K miles, which was recently rear-ended (in Ohio) with cracked bumper and possibly some "bending" of the exhaust pipe. Bring it to the Lexus dealer, and the repair cost was estimated over $2K. But the Insurance switched out the bumper replacement to using a Replacement Part instead of original Lexus part, claiming any car over 5 years and not current mode. So it would not get OEM part. Hence the repair would now come down to less than $1500.

By Kelly Blue Book Estimates, pre-accident trade in value ranges from 11K to $13K based on varying conditions, and private sale is about $13K.

Appreciate if you can shed some lights on the following:
1) Is the adjuster right about the replacement part for my OEM part?! I mean, I am a victim here, and I see that the Ins is taking [non-permissible content removed] excuses to avoid doing the right thing!

2) About the DV claims. Based on the 17C formula, with based value of 10% of Vehicle, what is the proper "Damage Multiplier" should be used? After all those stupids and flaw multipliers, I guess I would be lucky to see $300 DV claim.

Or you think I should go to the trouble of hiring an expert in assessing the DV? How much would that be?

3) Due to various phone calls, and sending car in for repair estimates, these have taken hours of my time. Shouldn't the Ins reimburse my time?

I mean, I am a victim in this accident, yet at the end, I wasted hours of my time + getting a lousy replacement part + loss of DV of car. Feel like Ins company is rubbing salt into wound.

Thanks
Sean

I feel for you man, I feel for you. Unfortunately the only way to truly be made whole after an accident is to yell loudly, complain thoroughly, and be willing to take it to court and follow-through on your threats as most people make empty threats and they end up being bluffs. Insurance companies know this and take advantage. If we the people inundate the insurance companies with lawsuits and don't "settle" for pennies on the dollar, then things will change.

You Lexus is "old" (anything over 7 years) so your DV claim wouldn't be for much more than the cost to hire an appraiser. However, if you are intent on getting DV; that's your best bet on principle. Forget the formulas and multipliers, they are bogus. You probably have about a $750-$1,000 legit DV claim. You also have a right to specify OEM parts for your Lexus. I think they will cave on that given enough pressure. Or you can bargain and negotiate and say if they provide OEM parts you'll half your DV claim right off the bat.

Claiming costs for wasted time is an uphill battle. A lot of judges will think tough luck, that's life! Of course all us good drivers know it isn't just life, but negligence that causes these situations.

You should also demand a luxury car rental vehicle while it is being repaired, or at least a "premium" rental to approximate what you have lost use of during repairs. Why should someone used to driving around in a nice luxury car suddenly be forced to drive around in a $10K econo box that might get them killed in another accident whereas they would have survived in a "safer" vehicle!

Insurance companies think amount of seats equals "the same" transportation. By that reasoning, a 2 seat Smart car is equivalent transportation to a 2-seat Bugatti Veyron.

All of the above is done in an effort to cheat people, and be cheap (saving them $$$). It's all about the money; not about being fair or equitable.

Mr_Shiftright · March 2016

I don't understand what this means: "But the Insurance switched out the bumper replacement to using a Replacement Part instead of original Lexus part, claiming any car over 5 years and not current mode"

As for the DV part of your question, in my opinion you don't have a DV claim worth pursuing, as you suspected.

As for the OEM part dispute---laws vary state by state as to what an insurance company may or may not offer to you. So you would have to study those laws in the state where you live. In all the states I was able to take a quick look at, they do specify that after 2 or 3 years old, OEM parts are not required.

However, you can do two things in conformance with the regulations:

1. You can offer to pay the difference for the OEM part

2. If you can prove that the aftermarket part they intend to use is inferior, you may be able to force them to give you the OEM part. I'm not sure how you, or any insured person, is going to accomplish this exactly.

sean2000 · March 2016

Thanks ShiftRight and Andres.

Ins company is MetLife (Metropolitan). They claim, based on their procedures, they would only replace the bumper with Lexus original part OEM if the car is either less than 5 years old, and is current model. Which in my case it is not.

So it seems like both the DV claim + OEM Bumper is not an good and quick option to me. Did not realize how Ins company is such a huge vampire!

andres3 · March 2016

sean2000 said:
Thanks ShiftRight and Andres.

Ins company is MetLife (Metropolitan). They claim, based on their procedures, they would only replace the bumper with Lexus original part OEM if the car is either less than 5 years old, and is current model. Which in my case it is not.

So it seems like both the DV claim + OEM Bumper is not an good and quick option to me. Did not realize how Ins company is such a huge vampire!

There's a reason Bernie's single payer approach to insurance is popular. While I believe "no-fault" States lead to higher incidents of claims and higher costs result, I think cutting out the "middle man," which in most cases is the insurance company, could be a great thing.

Mr_Shiftright · March 2016

Insurance law is usually written with the active participation of insurance lobbyists---so there you go.

kyfdx · March 2016

Also, "No Fault" doesn't really mean, No Fault

andres3 · March 2016

kyfdx said:
Also, "No Fault" doesn't really mean, No Fault

But the theory is you socialize the losses bad drivers create to make the good drivers pay more, but you hope that offsets because no lawyers need to argue about who is at fault, or do I have that wrong.

kyfdx · March 2016

andres3 said:

kyfdx said:
Also, "No Fault" doesn't really mean, No Fault
But the theory is you socialize the losses bad drivers create to make the good drivers pay more, but you hope that offsets because no lawyers need to argue about who is at fault, or do I have that wrong.

I live in a "no-fault" state, but it doesn't work anything like you think it would. Insurance companies still find fault, and lawsuits are still filed.

andres3 · March 2016

kyfdx said:

andres3 said:

kyfdx said:
Also, "No Fault" doesn't really mean, No Fault
But the theory is you socialize the losses bad drivers create to make the good drivers pay more, but you hope that offsets because no lawyers need to argue about who is at fault, or do I have that wrong.
I live in a "no-fault" state, but it doesn't work anything like you think it would. Insurance companies still find fault, and lawsuits are still filed.

Well, it's and it was a bad idea to begin with, so I'm not surprised it is not working out as the proponents had hoped. If anything, we need greater punishment for "accident" causers. Huge fines and 100 hours of remedial driver's training might be in order.

flandref · June 2016

I am 20 years old and getting my first car, the insurance quote is simply outrageous.
Is that possible to make one of my out of state relative the primary driver and me the occasional driver?

andres3 · June 2016

flandref said:
I am 20 years old and getting my first car, the insurance quote is simply outrageous.
Is that possible to make one of my out of state relative the primary driver and me the occasional driver?

I wouldn't give an insurance company 1 more reason to deny a claim (false application information). I'd rather post a Bond for the State's minimum to self-insure before I did that.

isellhondas · July 2016

flandref said:
I am 20 years old and getting my first car, the insurance quote is simply outrageous.
Is that possible to make one of my out of state relative the primary driver and me the occasional driver?

That is fraud and if proven they can and will deny any claim. Don't do this!

Instead, you should do what most of "us" did when we were your age. Buy a beater and just have liability on it.

I'm just happy my insurance company somehow never found out about all of the tickets I got back in my misspent youth. Never an accident though.

rwolfe546 · August 2016

I have a 2015 wrangler unlimuted sport with all the options it is also lifted with larger tires and aftermarket bumpers with 15k miles

A lady ran a stop sign and hit me it is at the body shop now getting a estimate

So they are ordering a transmission line to get that filled and sealed then they have to take it to a bigger shop that can do body on frame and not uni body

They said the frame shifted to a diamond and is putting pressure on the passenger side of the cab so they ar3 going to take it to a frame shop to get measurements and see how far out of whack it is. So at this point it needs the whole front clip plus a front axel and suspension and maybe a frame

What are the odds it will get fixed or totaled?

What is the cash value I could potentially get if it is totaled ?

I live in PA

karhill1 · August 2016

Regarding our current auto insurance. I have had GEICO for years. Last year the premium rose to around $2,100 for two new vehicles in the DC area. I called around and found a better policy from a good company for about $1,400. I signed up. I then called GEICO to cancel. They immediately dropped the price to $950 a year and for better coverage. I stayed with GEICO. This year the GEICO premium did not rise.

I mentioned to the agent how it amazes me companies spend so much money trying to entice folks to purchase their products while at the same time they seem to have no problem trying to gouge their existing customers. Needless to say, the agent did not say much.

I had a similar issue with COMCAST. My monthly bill rose from $225 to nearly $350. I have everything including the fastest internet. A simple call got the bill reduced to $210 with more included.

stever · August 2016

Same thing with Sirrius/XM too.

Geico could be another $50 cheaper if they'd lay off the zillions of lizard ads that inundate the airways 24/7. But they got to keep up with Flo.

@rwolfe546, my guess is that because your Jeep is just a year old, the insurance company will try to fix it. Sounds like a $10k to $15k repair bill from my couch.

andres3 · August 2016

I've never heard of insurance rates plummeting due to a simple phone call. A previously missed 10% discount or two totaling 20% maybe, but not 100%+ in discounts. Geico should be cheap insurance, because when you make a claim, EXPECT to be dealt with cheaply. I accept that I buy cheap insurance and receive the same in return on a claim. What sucks is when you don't know you are paying for cheap insurance (sure doesn't seem like it when you are paying the bill), but then your expectations don't get met at claim time.

Comparing prices in my area for my vehicles, Geico is a cheap insurer, and you get what you pay for with them. They will not hesitate to change one tire on an AWD car where the manual says to NEVER change less than 2 tires at a time, and they won't hesitate to verbally state an unloaded car seat (no baby was in it at the time) is OK to use after an accident. Only when you ask them to simply put it in writing their policy is to not replace car seats or bases when they are unloaded in an accident, do they then fork over the $60 or so bucks for a new base. Shady.

Mr_Shiftright · August 2016

rwolfe546 said:
I have a 2015 wrangler unlimuted sport with all the options it is also lifted with larger tires and aftermarket bumpers with 15k miles

A lady ran a stop sign and hit me it is at the body shop now getting a estimate

So they are ordering a transmission line to get that filled and sealed then they have to take it to a bigger shop that can do body on frame and not uni body

They said the frame shifted to a diamond and is putting pressure on the passenger side of the cab so they ar3 going to take it to a frame shop to get measurements and see how far out of whack it is. So at this point it needs the whole front clip plus a front axel and suspension and maybe a frame

What are the odds it will get fixed or totaled?

What is the cash value I could potentially get if it is totaled ?

I live in PA

The insurance company will send an adjuster to evaluate the cost of repairs. If the repairs approach a certain percentage of "book" value, approx 60-65%, they will total the Jeep and pay you the "book" value. You have a right to contest the value they offer you--you can send in your own opinion and "comps" of other similar Jeeps for sale, or you can hire an appraiser to come up with, hopefully, a higher value. If the insurance company doesn't accept your estimate or your appraiser's estimate, then you must go into arbitration, which you pay 1/2 for, and the insurance company pays the other 1/2. Your appraiser will represent you in the arbitration, so you'll have to pay him/her in addition to what you paid for the appraisal. All in all, to fight all the way through arbitration will cost you around $750 give or take. Often the referee in the arbitration will award you a little more money, and sometimes a great deal more, depending on how good your claim is.

Don't expect the insurance company to pay you very much for the aftermarket additions. Most policies restrict the amount paid for customization.

Good luck with it!

andres3 · August 2016

Mr_Shiftright said:

rwolfe546 said:
I have a 2015 wrangler unlimuted sport with all the options it is also lifted with larger tires and aftermarket bumpers with 15k miles

A lady ran a stop sign and hit me it is at the body shop now getting a estimate

So they are ordering a transmission line to get that filled and sealed then they have to take it to a bigger shop that can do body on frame and not uni body

They said the frame shifted to a diamond and is putting pressure on the passenger side of the cab so they ar3 going to take it to a frame shop to get measurements and see how far out of whack it is. So at this point it needs the whole front clip plus a front axel and suspension and maybe a frame

What are the odds it will get fixed or totaled?

What is the cash value I could potentially get if it is totaled ?

I live in PA

The insurance company will send an adjuster to evaluate the cost of repairs. If the repairs approach a certain percentage of "book" value, approx 60-65%, they will total the Jeep and pay you the "book" value. You have a right to contest the value they offer you--you can send in your own opinion and "comps" of other similar Jeeps for sale, or you can hire an appraiser to come up with, hopefully, a higher value. If the insurance company doesn't accept your estimate or your appraiser's estimate, then you must go into arbitration, which you pay 1/2 for, and the insurance company pays the other 1/2. Your appraiser will represent you in the arbitration, so you'll have to pay him/her in addition to what you paid for the appraisal. All in all, to fight all the way through arbitration will cost you around $750 give or take. Often the referee in the arbitration will award you a little more money, and sometimes a great deal more, depending on how good your claim is.

Don't expect the insurance company to pay you very much for the aftermarket additions. Most policies restrict the amount paid for customization.

Good luck with it!

Does arbitration supersede any claims made in court by lawsuit for the "totaling" value? Is it required by most all policies to use arbitration nation-wide, or are you speaking specifically to a certain State.

Mr_Shiftright · August 2016

I believe all insurance companies use an arbitration clause, but given that this is a third party claim, I'd imagine you could sue the other party's insurance company. However in most cases it would be far too expensive to do so. I would think a court of law would require arbitration, prior to a law suit but you could refuse the decision in a third party claim.

I'm not an attorney and state laws differ so be advised. I always tell people to accept any reasonably fair offer or arbitration. You'll get back sales tax and registration fees, too, over and above the settlement so that's another ten percent. It's hard to disputed 2015 values because there is so much data out there.

andres3 · August 2016

Mr_Shiftright said:
I believe all insurance companies use an arbitration clause, but given that this is a third party claim, I'd imagine you could sue the other party's insurance company. However in most cases it would be far too expensive to do so. I would think a court of law would require arbitration, prior to a law suit but you could refuse the decision in a third party claim.

I'm not an attorney and state laws differ so be advised. I always tell people to accept any reasonably fair offer or arbitration. You'll get back sales tax and registration fees, too, over and above the settlement so that's another ten percent. It's hard to disputed 2015 values because there is so much data out there.

I agree with accepting any reasonable settlement. Choose your battles wisely.

It is when an Insurance company throws a bogus value at something (such as $1K diminished value on a 4-month old 4K mile 55,000 dollar S4); that you should dig in your heels and go straight to court. IMO Don't waste time with arbitration or mediation; it'll only wear you down; which is what they want. They will think you are bluffing about suing them until you serve them their papers. Unfortunately small claims court is the only way to do this inexpensively, and your claim is limited to $10K in CA for Small Claims.

Be prepared; they will send a very practiced non-attorney that works directly with their legal department. They are not allowed to send a full-fledged attorney, but they have highly trained advocates working for them.

The other learning lessons from my one lifetime experiencing in Small Claims court:

1) Don't assume anything.
2) Breaking rule 1, assume they (Insurance) will argue/protest/contest every single thing and element of your case; including previously un-argued points regarding fault.
3) Make sure you state your demands for payment, and what those amounts are currently for the judge (basically assume they know nothing about your case and haven't read a word of your application).
4) IF it is a case of your hired appraiser vs. the Insurance companies hired appraiser (such as in a DV claim); it might be worth it to hire 2 independent appraisers to trump the one they hired. Most likely yours will be in the same ball park while theirs is dependent on being re-hired by the insurance company for hundreds of cases. Your appraisers have no such incentive as you are likely not to have many DV claims in your lifetime.
5) Don't withhold substantiating evidence even though it is for a lower amount than you would like (Example: I didn't point out or present an Audi Dealership's Sales Manager's letter about my DV being about $5K, I solely used the appraisers number at 8,500 or so, and I ended up only getting $3,500 in DV). If I had presented the letter maybe I'd of received $5K!.

The court awarded me court and service of papers fees on top of my awarded judgement. The judgement was less than I had hoped for, but more than I was offered by the Insurance company. If you get your fees awarded, that means you "won" your case. They did not award me appraiser fees.

Mr_Shiftright · August 2016

With a third party claim (someone hits you and it's their fault) you have a lot of options open that you don't have if you bang up your own car.

jstevanus1 · October 2016

I'm in Michigan. I found out my wheel rim had a small crack from a pothole, and the dealership said my insurance probably will cover that since it wasn't my fault. I'll find out Monday when the insurance adjuster can look at it. But, they also pointed out a dent in my bumper that is a complete mystery to me. I know for sure I didn't back into anything to cause it. The dealership repair shop manager said to tell the insurance company the bumper was damaged as well as the wheel, so I told the insurance company about both being damanged. I don't think the insurance adjuster is going to believe the bumper dent was related, and especially since the dent is 4 feet away from the wheel! Would it be better to tell them the bumper dent happened in a parking lot? I don't know if it was the pothole or a parking lot, but it happened somehow, and I thought insurance covered things that were out of my control? Any help is greatly appreciated.

stever · October 2016

I'd just tell the adjuster that you didn't know about the dent until you took the car in for the wheel and that you don't know how or when the dent happened.

(I have Michigan rims on my older minivan and if only there was a way to crack them all and get new ones....)

tnasante · October 2017

Question from Canada -We have a 2004 Cherokee Trailer that had some damage this summer. Two tires blew withing 30 minutes of each other and ripped up the underneath part and damaged the awning as well. When we first bought it we had it insured for $14,000 value - of course over time its depreciated but we never thought to adjust the value and our insurance company never suggested it either. Now the trailer is 13 years old and worth a lot less, however when the adjuster came out they first told us it wouldn't be written off because it was insured for the $14,000 and the damage was only $5200 (at this point we might be lucky to get $8000 for it). So they are saying that they will repair it, however we have to pay the $500 deductible ( which was assumed) but now they are saying that there is a 20% depreciation that we have to pay on the repairs as well - so we have to come up with $1500 to pay for a $5200 repair job, plus the hikes in our insurance (which they are saying will be $700/year for the next 3 years). Can they do that? This is their response to us:
"Trailers that are 11 years or older are only entitled to actual cash value and we no longer pay replacement cost for them. To determine actual cash value, depreciation must be applied. Because your trailer is repairable, we are paying the actual cash value for the repairs.
Wawanesa has deemed 20% prior to GST a fair amount for depreciation and it as applied to any trailer that is 11 years or older."
I understand actual cost value and depreciation for a write off but can they claim depreciation on a repair if they are choosing not to write it off. Its very frustrating - this is our first claim in 20 years.

Mr_Shiftright · October 2017

Never heard of this, but I'm not familiar with Canadian insurance law. It's quite common to use depreciation to determine ACV, and then determine if they want to repair it or write it off. But I've not heard of depreciating the repair bill. You may need to dig out your policy and read it carefully. Whatever is in there, is the way it comes down for you. If it's not in there, then you have to fight them about it. They should just write it off and be done with it. Did they ever tell you what the ACV value is?

pr6147 · December 2017

Can someone please help me. I have an 2018 audi Q7 which was involved in an accident tonight. while driving home a tree fell on the front of the car. i think main damage is to the front end possibly just the bumper. I have geico. Nearest Audi authorized collision center is 2 hrs away from my place. We have a local dent and collision but i am not sure how good they are. Will geico pay for the car to be towed to the nearest audi authorized collision center and repair facility or will i have to pay out of my pocket. the insurance agent is going to come and have a look at the car tomorrow. any help would be appreciated. thanks

Mr_Shiftright · December 2017

They may ask you to take it to one of their "approved" collision repair shops. Do you have any kind of roadside assistance? For instance, I have AAA premium, so I get 100 miles for a tow.

You're going to have to work this out with them, but, quite frankly, on such a new car I'd probably eat the tow charge myself to take it to a place I"m comfortable with.

You might review your policy and see if there's some kind of mileage limitation on towing.

andres3 · December 2017

pr6147 said:
Can someone please help me. I have an 2018 audi Q7 which was involved in an accident tonight. while driving home a tree fell on the front of the car. i think main damage is to the front end possibly just the bumper. I have geico. Nearest Audi authorized collision center is 2 hrs away from my place. We have a local dent and collision but i am not sure how good they are. Will geico pay for the car to be towed to the nearest audi authorized collision center and repair facility or will i have to pay out of my pocket. the insurance agent is going to come and have a look at the car tomorrow. any help would be appreciated. thanks

Good news, Audi pays for roadside assistance including for collisions for the first 4 years and 50,000 miles, so you're covered to the nearest Audi certified dealership/bodyshop.

They may balk if you really do live that far from a certified body shop, but I doubt it.

However, my 2 cents is that the certification is worth about 2 cents.

Find a recommended high quality body shop that gets referrals from people you know, that's worth more.

pr6147 · December 2017

thanks for the replies...i got audi to towed it to the nearest certified collision center. Use Audi's roadside assistance. Geico then said that they will also pay upto 100 miles for towing but no more than that. so i finally used audi roadside assistance. I did not know that they would have towed it directly to any body shop within 100 miles if i had told them on the day of incident itself.

andres3 · December 2017

pr6147 said:
thanks for the replies...i got audi to towed it to the nearest certified collision center. Use Audi's roadside assistance. Geico then said that they will also pay upto 100 miles for towing but no more than that. so i finally used audi roadside assistance. I did not know that they would have towed it directly to any body shop within 100 miles if i had told them on the day of incident itself.

Geico's roadside assistance left me cold. I don't pay for it anymore because it is way too restrictive with far too many exceptions. My wife had our Honda (a few years back) towed to what she thought was the nearest dealer about 8 or 9 miles away. Surprise to her, a Honda dealership had recently opened up right by where she was towed. They charged us for the additional 8 or 9 miles times some ridiculous multiplier since she didn't go to the nearest dealership (she picked the 2nd closest, and there's a ton of Honda dealerships in San Diego). I told them that policy was ludicrous, as they should have at least a 10 to 15 mile minimum before they start double-charging people over the premiums they've over paid already.

Just another reason I hate insurance companies. This is par for the course of how insurance companies let greed govern their policy making.

georgik · February 2018

My car is 20yrs old. I recently got in a bumper accident. There is only damage to the bumper and light cap but because of a small nitch in the hood the damage went up to more than what they say the car is worth and they want to total my car or I can get it fixed and it will be a salvage. Had I known all this I would never have tried to claim on my insurance, not worried about the tiny damage to the hood and just had the bumper fixed for about $200. My car is a 98 mustang convertible with less than two hundred thousand miles but because over the yrs my car has acquired some scratches and some damage to the hood they said something about only paying me $1000. They are robbing my car and I don't know what to do about it. Any advice would help thanks!

Mr_Shiftright · February 2018

You can just withdraw the claim, presuming a) the insurance laws in your state don't say otherwise; and b) that you haven't cashed the settlement check yet.

It's best to do this in writing. That way you have everything you said in writing.

Keep in mind that the record of the accident doesn't go away even though you withdraw the claim.

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