Insurance Help!? Not my fault but theyre not paying...

Hey everyone,

I have a 1959 Chevy Apache that was my daily driver and while I was on my way to a buddies house I was rear-ended. My bumper and tailgate took the brunt but so did my cab corners and my driveline decided to jump forward and put a huge hole in my radiator.

The big problem is I'm being shafted by insurance. The other driver's insurance. Theyre quoting me at labor and part rates equal to that of a new car getting hit (ie popping on and off exchangable parts). So, quality shops won't touch it because the estimate is too low. I've got collision guys telling me they won't touch it because its a restoration job and restoration guys not touching it because its a collision job. Meanwhile, the insurance company is sitting back not budging waiting for me to take their measley check. ANY ADVICE OR COMMON EXPERIENCE REPLY WOULD REALLY HELP ME OUT? HOW DID YOU GET THE RIGHT AMOUNT TO FIX YOUR VEHICLE?

 

Have your insurance company fix it under your collision coverage, pay your deductible (you will get that back when they get it from the company that insures the at fault driver) and be done with it.
Let your company argue with them, that's what you pay your premiums for.

BB

 

Next time you call them, midway through the conversation, tell them you will have to call them back because the ice pck on your neck needs changed.

 

i would get a few quotes from the restoration shops and submit them. if the other insurance hassles you take them to small claims. my buddy had a unisured motorist hit his truck buckled one whole side, wanted to give him $500 said the truck was only worth $1400 bucks!, he ended up getting screwed by his own insurance so watch out. he sold his 65 a few months ago for just alittle bit more $15000!! with the damaged side! not your fault that the other guy hit you and you drive a superior car that requires more attention than the rest!!

 

When I went through a similar experience here in Texas I had to get the attorney general's office involved. The AG's office contacted the insurance company and the state board of insurance to get things resolved. What started out as a insurance check that was $2000 short ended up being $25 short. It took about 2 weeks to get it resolved. I dont know about Florida, but Texas has what is called "good faith" laws regulating the insurance companies. In Texas if you can prove that the insurance companies are not acting in "good faith" it gets them in deep do-do.

 

I've been in the insurance business for 10 years and have learned one valueable lesson. If in doubt, call the division of insurance. The regulate every insurance carrier in your state and have to investigate every complaint. Thats there job. If your not happy with the estimate and you feel your being treated unfairly, call and make a formal complaint. But first, make sure you exhaust all efforts to get it resolved, either thru your carrier or the at fault party's. If nothing is solved, you might tell them that your going to call the DOI. Sometimes that will light a fire!

 

Get your lawyer to talk to them in "lawyer talk",they will understand that pefectly clear......

 

Good advice there. I was in insurance for a couple of years and this is sound thinking. However, having said that choprods below makes a very good point as well. VVVVV Something to consider.

 

Just remember, if you get an attorney, that slows the entire process down as the insurance company can no longer talk to you, they will deal with the attorney only.

 

Same old shit different day. Insurance companies want to pay as little as they can to settle a liability. What they owe is the fair market value of the loss (they need to make you whole, which means you suffer no loss or gain in the matter in the strictest sense of the word) and need to clear the insured's liability to you in this matter. I hope you dont get flustered easily , Thats what there hopeing youll do .
Pm me your phone #or give me a call and I'll explain things to you theres just too much involved to type everything in a posting.
Keep notes of every conversation regarding the claim and repair . They may be needed for reference.

 

<TABLE id=HB_Mail_Container height="100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 UNSELECTABLE="on"><TBODY><TR height="100%" width="100%" UNSELECTABLE="on"><TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off">What palosfv3 said is on the money. I worked as an adjuster until recently. IMHO, in this case, an attorney is a waste of time. We dealt with them everyday, they don't add anything in this case. Now, if you were injured, that would be a different story.
Let your insurance cover your damage, (you do have agreed value I hope), and let them subrogate the other company. It's not worth the headaches and thats why you pay premiums.
My $.02

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The reality is that unless that was a $15K truck before the accident, it's totaled. The driveline damage added to the fact that the box has to come off, then add parts. She's a goner.

I'd go to the resto shops, you do have legal rights to decide where your vehicle is fixed.

And after you stand by that high resto-shop number, then it's time to debate the truck's value for total-ing purposes.

Also find out if you have a right to a rental car at their expense. If so, get it now because it adds cost penalty to their delays.

good luck

 

Sorry fella's. This is not as hard as your making it out. A little common sence goes along way. If you have some proof of what the vehicle was worth prior to the damage and and estimate for the repairs, should be fairly easy. I had a driver from State Farm hit my 54 Chevy. The estimate was from a Hot Rod Shop was a little over $2k. I had an appraisal showing the value at $15k. The cut me the check without any hassle at all. Ambulance chasers, a.k.a attorneys, are the reason your insurance rates are the way they are!

 

Call them and ask (nicely) for the "division of insurance" phone number.

It can be amazing how fast things happen when you "speak the language".

 

Whatever you do, do not give in to the insurance company. It&#8217;s their job to lowball you but when they see you wont just go away they&#8217;ll come up

 

Oh hell.............. I hope you just didn't have liability on it. You should have had it on an agreed value policy. Anyways, DO NOT take their lowball offer and let them jack you around. Get your insurance co. involved ( thats what you pay them for ) to resolve this to your satisfaction. Sounds like it needs time on the frame rack from the driveline damage ( they probably ain't figuring that in ). If their at fault It shouldn't cost you one dime for car rental or anything. I'ts just an old truck to them and they gonna figure you will take a few hundred and leave happy. Don't settle for less than satisfaction on your part.

 

Not trying to scare or make it anymore difficult than it needs to be. You were fortunate that you were dealing with a company like State Farm. If you had to process a claim with some of the lesser (good hands) or sub standard companies you would find out that it can be very difficult to resolve a claim, hence the suggestion from others to get your own insurance company working on your behalf. Ive been handling insurance claims on a daily basis for over 20 years and you can get a good or bad expierience with any company . The key is the claim rep and the company's internal claims policies that the rep has to abide by. There are companies that you'll never get a fair settlement or even action until you sue the policy holder and are at the court house an hour beforethe judge renders his decision. These insuror tactics are also just as reponsible for increased costs as others.

 

Being in the business, my advice is this, for whatevers its worth. The info you have on your car, i.e appraisal, receipts for work done and/or parts and pictures of the car, will only help you in this instance. The more info you can give to the adjuster, the better it will turn out for you. You as a consumer have a certain amount of repsonsibility when it comes to things like this.

 

You really need to get a couple of real estimates to fix it. You need to have some reference for what the vehicle was actually worth, look at "replacement cost" and not just book value. It may end up being a total loss to the insurance company but you should be able to keep the truck anyway, I did this when my one '57 Buick was in an accident, cost me about a grand to keep it. That'll give you a bit more negotiating power. But do not settle for the insurance company's lowball effort. Show them it will cost $5k to replace (or whatever you come up with)...

 

Filling out a complaint at the state insurance board re: the poor or lack of response by the insurer, does work. I'd be first certain that all other avenues were tried. If your insurer is able to use the quotes and Docs you've provided then they can do their job, which is to make your property whole...less any deductable.

 

What insurance company are you dealing with? As mentioned above, I'd get a couple of estimates for the repairs and submit those. It's too bad you're in Pensacola, as I'm in Tampa and I'm an independent adjuster for Grundy and Infinity for older cars. Labor rates for older vehicles generally start at $55 an hour and go up from there.

 

Get an appraisal and submit it to them. Then get your estimates to them. And then to the insurance board.


jerry

 

Thanks for all the advice. I did leg work all day today finding a shop in the area that would even take it for ANOTHER estimate. I found a dependable shop, however, there is a scheduling issue because the owner has other projects, which is more than understandable. This shop is my last option locally. Hopefully, the shop and the insurance company can come to an agreement. Basically, I'm in a position now where my car is "fixable" but no one really wants a long term project and the insurance company doesn't want to pay for one either. Hopefully we can make some progress tomorrow. I appreciate you all taking the time to offer advice.

 

Here are a couple pics before the accident:

 

Here is some of the damage:




Bed seperated from frame:


Cab Corner bent door frame which makes it hard to open and close:



Again very fixable but hard to find shops willing to work on it...?

 

What's with the chain bolted to the engine?

 

I would hold my ground and insist it be fixed, and correctly. Being a fan of th 58-59 (shouldn't have sold my '59) I'd say you'd be looking at $15k plus replacement cost. Especially with the Fleetside trim, that stuff is super hard to locate these days, then it usually isn't for sale.

 

>What's with the chain bolted to the engine?

Normally that is used to restrict the engine from torqueing/twisting towards the passenger side when you stomp on the gas.

 

Or because the motor mounts were broken and the chain was cheaper.

 

Don't settle till you are satisfied. I had a claim in once for a year before the insurance company paid off. A year seems to be a significant time for them, they seem to want it off their books then and get more reasonable. I know most don't have the luxury of that kind of time.

Write EVERYTHING down. I would recommend getting one of those calenders with the really big boxes (like a blotter) and writing in when and whom you speak with. If there is not room in the box to cover what you spoke about (details) then keep a log. That way if they ever try to claim something bogus (i.e. that they offered you something and they really didn't) you can call them on it. I recommend the calender as it is harder to loose than loose pieces of paper.