I hate insurance companies!!

[BBenz]

I am so mad right now that I cannot think straight. Let me give you a little background:



I have been a customer of (name purposely not put in) since 1978. My current truck is a 1996 Extended Cab Ram 3500 (with a CTD of course!!) Anyway, last year I turned in its first ever claim because of the right rear fendor getting cracked (my fault - damn tractor got away from me!). Because of a claim my oldest daughter made (who by the way, has been OFF my insurance for 6 years now) 8 years ago, the insurance on my truck went up and will stay that way for 3 years! #@$%!



Anyways, what really has me hoping mad though, is my current situation. I have a 1984 Camaro Z28 that I bought new, fully loaded,and it currently has just over 40,000 miles on it. This car sits in a heated garage, has never seen rain or snow, and for the past 5 years has had less than 1,000 miles put on it. The paint and interior are perfect and it starts and purrs just the like day I bought it. Because of a current project that I am working on, I had to move the car out of the garage and park it on our back driveway turnaround.



We had a really bad storm come through 2 weeks ago and a tree fell across the car, damaging the hood and drivers side fendor and door. After wiping away the tears :{ I called up my favorite (haha) insurance company to start the claim process. We got in contact with a tree company, and last week they came and cut the tree up to get the car out. Two days ago, the insurance company sent out a flat bed to pick the car up and yesterday they faxed me an authorization to utilize used and/or aftermarket parts on it.



Today, they called up and said that because the repairs were going to be $1,900, the car was considered a total loss and that they would be getting back to me next week after their loss adjuster comes and personally examined the car. I said "Are you kidding me - that was the last year for the four barrel HO engine and that style before they came out with the Iroc Z28". He said that he was sorry but that is what his computer told him - the repair was going to be more money than what the car was worth.



I looked at nadaguides, along with ads within about 100 miles and it appears that my car is still worth over $5,000. In some instances - far more. I saw some ads in the 10K-12K range and one guy even had one with 36 miles on it (claimes that it was in a sealed environment since purchased) that he had listed at - get this - $39,500 :--)



Does anybody have any idea what I can do to keep the insurance company from totaling my baby? I have never run into anything like this before and don't know quite what to do. One thing I do know, after this latest episode, I will be shopping around for a different car insurance company! Thanks in advance for any help the great readers of the Turbo Diesel Register can provide!



8/31 Update:

Just was told that they made a mistake and that my car is valued far more than the original person had valued it. So now they are going to fix it and bring it back to my house next week. I will let everyone know how it turned out. Thanks for all the great tips and comments. I had so much good information ready to go, plus I picked a fight with the wife before hand so that I would be good and primed for the loss adjuster...

 

[loncray]

Could you let them total it, take the settlement and buy it back as salvage? Dunno what the implications are title-wise though.

 

[RustyJC]

If the insurance company doesn't recognize NADA or KBB valuations, advise them that your next communication with them will be through your attorney - and get a good one!!



Rusty

 

[nps]

Sounds like Geico. They wouldn't take me on as a customer in '86 because the car I was driving had 'high miles' - a 5 year old Toyota with 120K!



Do you know where your car is? Get down there, take pictures, and get it back home (no tellin what may go missin after word gets out that its a total).



Tell the adjuster that you want a settlement on a repair and will be keeping the car. Have the comparable prices you cited ready in case the adjuster claims ignorance. Expect them to drop it from the policy after they write a check - but sounds like its time for a new one anyway.



You can always report them to your state insurance commissioner. Maybe they can get involved and help you out.

 

[jmeehan]

The problem with letting them total it, and buying it back, is that their idea of a fair value for the car may not be enough to repair it. Then you eat the repair bill and the insurance co. is off the hook.

And for something like your Camaro, I wouldn't let them use used and/or aftermarket parts on it. It was all Chevrolet when you bought it and insured it with them. It's a collector car and will probably loose its value with some made in china crap sheetmetal or other parts installed.

Just my 2 cents. Good luck.

 

[d906670]

I had a similar fight with my insurance company when some Yuppie took a corner to sharp and hit my 66 Cornet ( 2nd owner w/ 24,000 miles) on it, told them OK you replace it for that or you fix it. They did fix it, cheaper than getting a different one.

 

[GFrance]

Man I'm with you. I hate insurence co. & lawyers, they control everything. Hope you get this resolved in your favor.

 

[GFritsch]

Why the hesitation to tell us who the carrier is?

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

Not that it's going to help now but for the future for any car like your camaro you need to purchase a stated value policy for it. A normal insurance policy from a normal carrier will devalue the car down and it won't be insured for squat. In addition your normal policy is probably costing you far too much because they assume it's being driven like a normal daily driver. You can get collector car policies for far less that will cover you to a much higher amount (you state the value). My 69 GTO for example is insured for $38,000. If I bought a regular policy for that car it would probably be just like yours - $1,900 or so. I have heard stories such as yours A LOT!



I'm surprised about your accidents causing the problems they are too. State farm keeps records on claims for 3 years - after that it's gone like it never happened. They also give you a get out of jail free card after a period of time (I think it's 5 years) - where one at fault accident or ticket doesn't count against you.

 

[BBenz]

The only reason that I did not post the company was because I thought that it was not allowed. Since it appears that it is - the company is Allstate. We have life insurance, 2 cars, 2 trucks, a boat and our house through them. Once this thing is settled I will be shopping my business elsewhere.



Thanks for all the great responses thus far! You guys are great. Steve - my brother-in-law has been after me for the past few years about getting the collector car insurance. For my car it would have been cheap. Oh how I wish that I would have listened :{



I will let everyone know next week what the Loss Adjuster has to say. I will be prepared for him too! :-{}

 

[Paychk]

I would get your writing agent involved with this, tell him/her that "It will cost you; because if I'm not satisfied, it will be bye bye time for my premiums" and see what happens.

 

[E7mack96]

When you start shopping, look at Liberty Mutual. THey have treated me great for 18 years new (since I was 17). That bad wreck I had in Feb '03 (pics in reader rides) cost then 300,000. They didn't raise my premiums, or cancel me. I can't say enough good about them. They insure all my cars, and my house. They also carry life ins.

 

[Scot]

I would not let them total it, if possible. In TX atleast, your title will then show "rebuilt" and it will hurt the value of the vehicle.



My thought is to just say"give me as much as you can w/o totalling it" and then eat the rest.



And get it home ASAP!

 

[hammersley]

And juts wait till they give you all of that

$1900 and see what they do to your insurance rates!!!!

 

[GAmes]

My daughter totaled one of our cars (her fault) and the ins co tried to lowball me. I told them to find me one in the same condition at the price they were offering and buy it for me. A couple days later I received a check for the amount I thought it was worth... ... ... ..... and my rates didn't go up.

 

[CFast]

insurance companies are like a legalized MAFIA. I HATE THEM almost as much as I hate daimler.

 

[mberry]

insurance companies are like a legalized MAFIA. I HATE THEM almost as much as I hate daimler.

Yeah! Didn't you love it when CA made insurance mandatory, but didn't regulate how much the company's could charge you? I loved that! I think that is a great analogy CFast!