Insurance company putting it to me! HELP!

[TBusclas]

A while back someone vandalized my truck. Long story short I have lost a set of injectors from contaminated fuel. Lab report from insurance company said it was gas and sugar. I have full coverage on the truck($500. 00 deductible) but they are only going to pay $1200. 00 of a $3600. 00 bill as they are saying something about betterment and what this means is that they have called somewhere and have been told that the injectors were at the end of their useful life and were probably almost gone anyway and they are only paying on useful life left. The truck only has 185,000 miles on it. I claim they have no way of actually Knowing when these injector would actually have failed. Does anyone have any solid information that I can support my claim with or any ideas how to fight this? Thanks, Tom

 

[WyattEarp]

sounds like they are taking a page out of the Pelosi, Obama playbook on quality of life. It will help if you fill out your signature, im sure some of the better informed members will chime in but i don't see how they can say such thats almost like them say well your warranty runs out in 3 days so we can't insure that truck any longer, Thats crap, they don't wanna pay up i would discuss it with them one more time then go ahead and retain council.

 

[24V-DSL]

For starters i'd demand written documentation to back their position of injector life.



How much of the $3600 bill were you expecting? Vandalism is a covered peril under your comprehensive coverage, which is to my knowledge not "replacement cost".

 

[Cummins Cowboy]

they have to pay for you to have a running truck again, you will not have a running truck if they only pay for part of the injectors. I am shocked this is happening. I also wasn't aware injectors had a specific life, or that the insurance company are experts in that field. I would say umm, either pay or I am filing a small claims suit against you the insurance company. this cost 50 bucks to do, they can be served with papers in a matter of a few days. I would imagine this would rattle their chain quite a bit. a running truck is a running truck, 1200 bucks will not get you a running truck again. I also wonder if you said ok then find me some injectors that are in equal shape and put those in, good luck with that. what about the car that crashes and hits the curb and blows out all the tires, do they replace them with used tires?? what about a car thats wrecked and the pain was peeling before in places, do they only pay for part of the repaint?? do they say oh umm you paint sucked already we are not going to pay for all of it, BTW name the insurance company that is doing this.

 

[HBarlow]

The "betterment" clause is a legitimate and routine procedure in the insurance industry. It is commonly used when the item or items that are being replaced under a covered loss are well used and nearing the end of their useful life. A hail-damaged roof on a home is a common replacement item that is often depreciated based on age and wear.

Joe Donnelly, a TDR writer, Ph. D. chemist, and extremely knowledgeable expert in all matters Cummins has written in TDR articles that he feels HPCR injectors have a service life of approximately 100k miles. That is his informed opinion based on his own research and testing. My own previous '06 was still running great and passed a dealer service department engine performance test at over 200k miles but my truck was highway driven, less than two years old, and had used only clean fuel and Fleetguard filters changed regularly. My injectors were certainly worn but were still okay. There is no guarantee that one of them might not have stuck open or failed closed at any time.

Cummins and Dodge engineers and service technicians probably have information indicating HPCR injectors do wear out at some average mileage. Actual service life probably varies with quality of fuel used, fuel filter service history, driving style, etc. but there is no doubt that a HPCR injector can and does wear out.

Your insurance company is not wrong. They are simply saying that with brand new injectors installed you would be in a better position than you were before your fuel system was contaminated. Stated another way they are depreciating your injectors by a percentage based on odometer miles and paying a portion of the repair cost.

Another legitimate way for the insurance company to settle the claim would be to pay for the installation of used injectors but used injectors would be difficult and impractical to find and purchase. They are doing the next best thing.

You can challenge your insurance company in court but you are not likely to win. They will have insurance industry lawyers and automobile service experts testify and you will almost certainly lose the case. Any honest attorney you consult will tell you the same thing I have told you.

An insurance company cannot and will not fully protect us from every misfortune that can occur.

 

[TBusclas]

I thought I had my signature filled out but I guess I didn't do something right. The truck is a 2004. 5 HPCR Ram 3500 Quad Cab DRW six speed. All stock exhaust which is a straight pipe. 195,000 miles. Tom

 

[E7mack96]

i have had that "betterment" statement used on me before too. . and on tires!



They measure tread depth and pro-rate it just like a tire shop does on the road hazard warranties. They have also done betterment on previously damaged components that are damaged further in a wreck.



It sucks, but at least you are getting something.

 

[HBarlow]

Looking on the bright side, your insurance company is giving you $1200 toward the cost of a new set of injectors. I priced them at a Cummins dealer a couple years ago before I sold my '06 Dodge. A "six pack" of Cummins reman injectors was about $1700 at the time.

BTW, I have always used locking fuel tank caps on my main and aux tanks.

 

[fox]

Sounds like the premium should taper off too.

If the truck is, part for part, worth less than new to fix, shouldn't the cost to insure do the same?

 

[jeepit]

Sounds like the premium should taper off too.

If the truck is, part for part, worth less than new to fix, shouldn't the cost to insure do the same?

Unless body shops and repair garages reduce what they charge per hour your rate will not go down only up.

 

[CSkal]

This sounds just slightly better than the "worn glass" adjustment my ins co tried to slip me when I totaled my 96 Concorde. Worn Glass? Duh.

 

[Cummins Cowboy]

my injectors sound like they are making all sorts of noise, my truck has 90k on it, I have towed alot around town, so compared to most guys I am sure I have run more fuel through mine than your average guy would have. so likely my injectors have the equivalent to well beyond 100k miles on them. would the dealer be able to detect these as being bad and replace them under warranty??

back to the injectors, in any event the insurance at minimum HAS to pay the labor of installing different injectors and give you something for your old ones, I still contend if you said put used injectors in that are proven to be just as good or better. YOU HAD A RUNNING TRUCK BEFORE, THEY HAVE TO AT MINIMUM GIVE YOU A RUNNING TRUCK BACK. so if you are at least getting labor and 20% of the value on your old injectors I would think that would be alot more than 1200 bucks

 

[rashwor]

My first thought is that least you are getting something out of this. Good luck. I never enjoy dealing with ins cos. I always feel like I come up short.

 

[AABEN]

Why can the old one's be rebuild ? This way you can have them build to what you want.

 

[RobertHiltz]

Does the insurance company keep track of all replaced parts in the history of the vehicle and prorate coverage based on actual miles then on each component? The ins co should have to pay to restore it to good running condition.

 

[Cummins Cowboy]

The "betterment" clause is a legitimate and routine procedure in the insurance industry. It is commonly used when the item or items that are being replaced under a covered loss are well used and nearing the end of their useful life. A hail-damaged roof on a home is a common replacement item that is often depreciated based on age and wear.



Joe Donnelly, a TDR writer, Ph. D. chemist, and extremely knowledgeable expert in all matters Cummins has written in TDR articles that he feels HPCR injectors have a service life of approximately 100k miles. That is his informed opinion based on his own research and testing. My own previous '06 was still running great and passed a dealer service department engine performance test at over 200k miles but my truck was highway driven, less than two years old, and had used only clean fuel and Fleetguard filters changed regularly. My injectors were certainly worn but were still okay. There is no guarantee that one of them might not have stuck open or failed closed at any time.



Cummins and Dodge engineers and service technicians probably have information indicating HPCR injectors do wear out at some average mileage. Actual service life probably varies with quality of fuel used, fuel filter service history, driving style, etc. but there is no doubt that a HPCR injector can and does wear out.



Your insurance company is not wrong. They are simply saying that with brand new injectors installed you would be in a better position than you were before your fuel system was contaminated. Stated another way they are depreciating your injectors by a percentage based on odometer miles and paying a portion of the repair cost.



Another legitimate way for the insurance company to settle the claim would be to pay for the installation of used injectors but used injectors would be difficult and impractical to find and purchase. They are doing the next best thing.



You can challenge your insurance company in court but you are not likely to win. They will have insurance industry lawyers and automobile service experts testify and you will almost certainly lose the case. Any honest attorney you consult will tell you the same thing I have told you.



An insurance company cannot and will not fully protect us from every misfortune that can occur.

any idea where I can find those articles written by joe??

 

[hsmith]

Pssst, don't tell anyone that locking gas caps can be easily removed with channel lock pliers.

 

[Bob Cochran]

Things like locking gas caps only keep honest people honest. Most likely a person mad at you and make an instant decision to put it to you probably will not think of channel locks or have a pair. Hope mad over by the time he finds some!!! One can hope anyways.

 

[sammidog]

Holy crap. Injector life is only 100,000 miles?! What does a brand new set cost $2400? What does it cost to have them put in $400? Almost $3000?! I would never have bought mine had I known that.

 

[HBarlow]

An insurance company's obligations are clearly spelled out in their contracts. They handle similar claims all over the US on a daily basis. The insurance company in this case has followed well established and correct procedure. The insurance company does not have an obligation to restore the insured vehicle to running condition. No such obligation exists.

If your insured car is in a one vehicle crash, let's say you hit a tree, and the car is damaged what happens? It is towed to a body shop where the repair bill is $5500. If you have a policy with a common $500 deductible, the insurance company will send the body shop a check for $5000. The vehicle is repaired but will not be released by the shop until the insured owner pays his $500 deductible.

The same principle is used in the case of the vandalism and damaged injectors. The insurance company pays the amount it owes, the insured vehicle owner pays the rest.

Threats of lawsuits make no impression on an insurance company. They have lawyers on staff and receive angry threats everyday. It is just another day to them. They will do what they are required to do under the terms of their policy and state regulator policy, often more than they are required to do, and that is all.

The insurance company did what they are supposed to do in this case.

Ask your self if you have a Ram with 195,000 miles on it and the injectors are damaged by an insured peril, would you want used injectors with 195,000 miles on them pulled from a junkyard engine and installed in your truck? Neither would I.

Would I like for the insurance company to install new injectors in my 195,000 mile Ram? You bet I would. I'd figure I made out like a bandit.