I need to vent because I'm PO'd

[fmj]

Sorry folks but this is the only place I can print something to vent that other than my friends can read. Here's the story. I have a 1941 Willys Coupe called Full Metal Jacket. It was an old gasser that I bought from a Marine Gunney back 12 or so years ago. I worked hard to make this an all steel hot rod and after an eight year project it was (my opinion) and awsome pro street all steel car. Hence the name Full Metal Jacket. Well while at the NSRA Western Nationals in Bakersfield, CA last April, some woman was letting her 13 year old daughter drive in the cruise lane. They missed a turn in the cruise lane and I noticed this so I stopped and left about 50 feet between us so there would be plenty of back up space. Well there was, as the car lit up the tires in reverse and came as fast as you can get a car to hook up going backwards. Yep, slammed into me without touching the breaks. Naturally I'm ready to kill, but when I got to the drivers door I saw it was a kid that couldn't even talk. This is what happened to me, no question it was no fault of mine, plenty of witnesses, insurance, police report to back me up, etc. No problem right.

Wrong! I'm insured with a company called Hagerty's which is supposively known as a great insurance company. I pay twice the normal premium to get an agreeded value with no deductable on my car. This agreeded to value is also for collision. This insurance was sold to me under the premise that no matter what happened I get the agreeded to value. Car stolen, burns totally to ground, crashed into, etc. , gets agreeded to value. Well let me educate you. I reported this accident to them and they say get car to repair point. Hagertys will fix car and go after other party. My spirits soar, an insurance company is going to help me. They send down adjuster and he agrees with value to repair. From here it goes down hill. I start looking for replacement metal for fenders, hood, center section, etc. All of a sudden the adjuster starts talking about some 75% cost and that Hagertys will scrap my car and I will have to buy back as salvage. :-{} I also find out that this will cause my pink slip (proof of ownership) to have SALVAGE stamped across it making the car value worthless. I call my insurance agent, he agrees with me that this is not the way the policy was sold. It turns out that the appraiser also does not understand what Hagertys is doing as he has told them the car is worth more than twice the policy. I and the insurance agent argue to no avail. The salvage bids that Hagertys has are 2/3s the agreed to value, which means that I get 1/3. Sound good to you folks so far. I can fix my car for less than the agreed to value of the policy but they won't give it to me. I am willing to do work myself so I can keep cost down. They don't care.

If you are insured with Hagertys, you ought to REALLY consider another company. My cars torn apart and I now have to go after the other partys insurance and them. When I talked to Hagertys last Friday they said that there was nothing else they would do for me. I've now hired a lawyer to start the process of getting money to fix my car. This is how a fine company like Hagertys takes care of their insured. I guess I know why they don't have the good hands symbol, as it would be up my a**.

I always check my basic policy and think I know what it says. There are no words in it that state what Hagertys is doing. So my message to you, is go somewhere else besides Hagertys. But if you want to stay with them, understand exactly what your insured for, and you'll probably find out that it is cheaper under a standard policy. A cheaper policy will not give you any more grief than they do for twice as much. Your insurance agent will not be able to help you, so get it in writing from them now. Ask for the master policy, question everything.

 

[ETOBICOKE]

Few Things to Consider

It is never very nice when your insurance company is trying to pull something on you. A claim has to be made before we find out how good of a company they realy are. I would have talked to my lawyer long ago. Don't know if you have no fault insurance in your state or not, but in most cases you can easily sue your own insurance company. If you do have no fault, there is usualy some sort way to resolve these problems, for example here in Ontario, there is a fixed time limit for the insurance company to settle the claim, ortherwise they have to send it to arbitration. Your state may also have a watch dog agency that reviews insurance company performance. The other thing most people do not know is that most claims adjusters are reviewed based on their performance, ie how much they can save the insurance company, so it's in their best interest to try to screw you. If you wish to repair the car yourself most companies will only want to give you about 3/4 of the claim amount.



Neil

 

[jandtjil]

Sorry to hear of you problems FMJ. Not only did you loose your rod. but then got a cold slap in the face.



Good luck!



JJ

 

[dmurdock]

Get a Lawyer, quick. If you need to kill a heartless POS, the best thing for the job is another heartless POS.

 

[daveshoe]

Had a fireman hit Mom's car . His fault. Not even emergency run. Nationwide has car towed to their adjuster to ''evaluate''. Car has only sheet metal damage and no damage to any structural framework that is not simple bolt on and paint. Fire dept insurance paid only the deductible and nationwide totalled the car. Every time the car was moved on the lot a giant forklift slid forks under the body-- lengthways and bounced it around the lot

We saved the car by buying new and used parts and having it painted. The state of Ohio had to be paid 50 bucks for various permits and we were told that if the car was driven anywhere until it was inspected [a three week wait] impound would result

The day of the appointment we were instructed to have NO LICENSE plates on the car.

the inspector had to have invoices on all new parts and the VIN # of the car the used parts came from [you had to get this from the salvage yard for each part] . After all this there was all kinds of title work to get a new title

We did fix the car for less than the ins paid us.

NEVER LET AN INSURANCE CO. TOW YOUR CAR UNTIL YOU DECIDE TO SCRAP IT!!!

 

[KPhillips]

I know its probably useless, but if I were you, I would report it to your state insurance board to at least get it in file with them,,,,the two biggest rips in the USA are insurance companies and the IRS, and the insurance companies take the top spot... .



kerryp

bastrop, tx.

 

[Champane Flight]

Salvage title

I bought a Motorcycle once that was on a salvage title (theft recovery). I fixed it up and took it in to the local fuzz for an inspection, no problems. In fact I drove it down to the local police station without plates. I called them and told them I lived three blocks from the station and they said "Bring it down". Nothing was said when I drove it down to the courthouse (another three blocks away) for plates. Sometimes it is nice to live in a small town. I slipped the cop ten bucks for the inspection and away I went.



In our state you can buy a salvage vehicle and fix it up as long as you have it inspected after. It will never loose the salvage title status and will not bring as much as a clean title in trade. But, some good buys can be had. That is how I am buying from now on. For instance a 2000-2500 4x4 Dodge Cummins SLT with frontend damage, grill, hood, bumper, and right fender for $8000. 00 .