Ripped my ins. co. HELP!!!

[JLinder]

Ripped by my ins. co. HELP!!!

I wrecked my truck about a week ago, I was the only rig involved. Most of the repairs are not to big a deal, but my bed is trashed. The whole drivers side is caved in, the floor is tweaked and ribs underneath are also tweaked and a bunch of the spot welds are broken. The adjuster came out the other day to take a look, and when he turned in his estimate to my ins. co. he put an estimate to replace only the bedside. Now, keep in mind that my truck is only 4mo. old and has only 7500mi on it. Even my body man (who has been known to work miracles) says he can fix it to look nice but as bad as the box is tweaked it will never be the same. I called my insurance co. to voice my opinion about fixing vs. replacing my bed and pretty much got blown off... Don't these jerk's realize that it's guys like me who pay their salaries? The are sending a check based on the adjusters estimate that I am refusing to cash until I can get this resolved. In the current situation I will end up paying out of pocket to have my truck fixed correctly (buying a new bed). Is there anything I can do? I thought briefly about a lawsuit, but that won't do me any good against an insurance company.



Oh yeah, I my insurance is through Progressive... If you have your insurance through them I'd suggest a change.



What a bunch of B. S.

 

[DEZLPWR]

Good luck....

JLinder,

I feel your pain, but you are probably screwed. I used to be a claims adjuster for Progressive, and I quit after 9 mos because I couldn't sleep at night the way they taught us to rip off our own policyholders... . It was a very stressful and adversarial job: My objective was to settle the claim for as LITTLE $$ as possible for Progressive. The policyholder's goal is to get the MOST out of Progressive for their damages. Guess who usually ends up with the short end of the stick? You... . It made for some very unpleasant phone conversations.



Good luck & don't take no for an answer!

 

[RKohn]

Point them here...

and ask how much how much nationwide bad PR costs vs a new bed.

 

[JLinder]

The insurance adjuster was an independantly contracted person that does this for a bunch of insurance companies... Anybody know how these guys are paid? I wonder if they get a kick back for undercuttting the estimates from the body shops...

 

[Deezul1]

Not sure what the laws are in your state but some places require the ins co to settle with in a set time period and if you dont sign release papers they cant settle. I believe you can also get estimates from 2-3 body shops and use them to dispute the settlement. If not then find a place that sells/installs service bodies they usually have beds that are like new very reasonable.

 

[Bill Lins]

Here in Texas we have a Department of Insurance that regulates insurance companies. If your state has such an agency you might contact them and file a complaint. Couldn't hurt.

 

[Jim Fulmer]

Deezel and Bill, the only reason Texas has that is because we won't take and I TRIED TO BY-PASS THE CUSSING FILTER from anyone and the Insurance adjuster probably would have taken an a$$ whippin, Sorry Mr. Linder had to go there cause I hate this kind of stuff, stick to your guns with this and if worse come to worse you can get a full bed like Deezel was talking about, being around rebuilder for years when the floor is tweeked to much you salvage what you can and chunk the rest.



Jim(Texas boy by heart)

 

[JLinder]

I pretty much figured I was screwed... I guess I'll at least call my ins. co. and raise a little hell (at least I'll feel better) and file a complaint with the BBB.

 

[24V-DSL]

Don't cave in......

Contact State of Oregon Insurance Commissioner. Have them spell out your rights... . you do have some. If they still blow you off, then tell them you're going to file, and do it. Insurance companies HATE having to deal with these complaints.



Your truck is essentially new. Fight like hell.

 

[Power Wagon]

We have had some difficulties with Progressive, not in getting something paid, but customer service related. After changing our payment method from automatic withdrawal to paper bill, they tried about 3 weeks later to withdraw money from our old checking account that was now closed. They then cancelled our insurance based upon the failed payment. That would have been "normal" except that they had already been paid by mail!



Their reasoning? They canceled it because a $20 "NSF" fee was now due. Never mind that 2 weeks before they tried to withdraw money, we recieved the confirmation letter and a paper bill confirming our changeover to paper billing... Anyway, the wife DID send the $20, but it took nearly 3 weeks to get there. well, 2 weeks in the mail and 1 week waiting for them to post it. In the meantime they kept promising our coverage would be restored ONLY if the $20 payment were received and postmarked before a certain date.



Trouble was, the premium WAS paid (and they readily acknowledged it, but claimed that they had no obligation to cover us as long as that NSF fee was unpaid), and now the next month's was already due, and there was no way on earth I was sending them money if they were just going to keep it and refuse to give me coverage AGAIN.



After wrangling several times with various customer service representatives, my wife was able to get the vice president's email address. She wrote him an email detailing the incredibly ridiculous chain of events that occurred and within 3 hours, they had it all corrected. Even refunded the "NSF" fee, and credited it against our future bill.



All that confusion resulted in us getting 3 different "due" dates for the next payment. Since the last one was the earliest (Dec 7) and we got it in December, the wife decided to not take chances and used Western Union quick collect. Sure enough, the day after sending it in, they did not show any payment. In fact, they still don't. We have confirmation from WU that the money was indeed paid, before the due date, but apparently Progressive has somehow screwed up their quick c ollect processing and hasn't processed any payments made on that particular day.



Anyway, if this isn't resolved tomorrow, it's back to the VP with another email.



Perhaps you might get farther if you tried something similar.



Otherwise, I think your options are limited to hiring a snake oil sale... . I mean lawyer.

 

[JohnE]

No experience with Progressive, but I recently learned Safeco isn't the best to deal with either.



My wife got rear ended while driving the Mommy Van. Woman driving a pickup slid on ice and hit her. The pickup's tow hook punched a hole in the bumper and the bumper dented the tailgate. We got an estimate from the local Dodge dealer and sent it to the claims agent. My wife had told them the dealer's body shop would bill them for the repair when the claims agent said they would mail a check. About a week later we get a written counter estimate from some adjuster wanting us to use non Mopar parts. Another week and my wife gets a check from Safeco stating <small>&quot;IN PAYMENT OF: FULL AND FINAL PROPERTY DAMAGE&quot;</font>.



If you get a check with this statement it is the same as a <em>cash in lieu</em> waiver. Do not sign the waiver by endorsing the check. Make them pay the repair shop directly.



Here's a thought, if your truck is still under factory warranty take it to your local dealer. See if they will continue the warranty with the repair job suggested by the adjuster. If not, then you should have rights to get it fixed to the dealer's satisfaction.



-John

 

[DEZLPWR]

Insurance Commisioner Complaints

Insurance commisioner complaints didn't seem to do a damn bit of good, at least when I worked for Progressive. Our branch manager was very used to handling to complaints forwarded by the IC, in fact he would often handle 5-10 complaints per week! He just blew em' off like they were no big deal. At least in WA, the state insurance commisioner is a joke!



Good luck...

 

[Pit Bull]

I've been with Liberty Mutual for 35 years and have alway been treated well. Also had good rates. I would not put up with the cr*p that you guys are dealing with, I would change Insurance companies!!!

 

[JLinder]

I do plan on dropping Progressive as soon as all this is over with. In the mean time, I'm staying with them until I get my truck fixed correctly. Whenever that happens... .



I did talk with a claims manager yesterday and told him that the other gal had brushed me off, and I was concerned about the way they wanted to fix my truck. He said he would contact the adjuster again on Monday and have him talk to my bodyman again... If they couldn't resolve anything on the phone, then the adjuster, my body man and I would all meet and take a second look at my box. If that doesn't work, I don't know what next... Wish me luck.

 

[JLinder]

Just had a thought....

With a membership as large as the TDR, anyone ever wonder if we could get a group rate at a real insurance co? I would think with 10,000+++ members we could start our own company.

 

[JR2]

I have had State Farm since the first day I could drive. My parrents have had state farm for as long as I can remember. We have never had a problem with them. They have there own adjusters that actually work in a state farm office. The two times I have had a vechicle fixxed with state farm the body man was able to fix way more then just the problems with estimate they made. It may cost you a bit more a year than brand X but the last thing I want to do if my truck is wrecked is deal with I TRIED TO BY-PASS THE CUSSING FILTER like mentioned above.



I wonder if we could get a group rate for insurance, is there an insurance man on here that could set us up? I wonder who you would contact??

 

[Randy J]

JLinder,



You do have rights. The 1st step is to determine if the bed can be fixed after replacing the one side, and you just don't want it fixed, or if it indeed can not be fixed. If it can be fixed, the insurance company has no obligation to pay you for a complete new bed. I would suggest taking the money and finding a "recycled" bed assembly. Enough people put flat beds on, a bed assembly should be easy to find. However, if the rest of the bed can not be fixed to the equivilent of "pre-loss" condition, they owe you for a new bed. Most insurance contracts have an appraisal clause that states in the event of a disagreement you can hire your own appraiser. Then your appraiser and the insurance company appraiser meet with an independent mediator to try to resolve the dispute. The route you are currently taking, meeting with the manager and appraiser however is probably the best approach. Remember keep it friendly. There's a lot of personal judgement in involved here, and it's more likely to go your way if they like you. Good luck.

 

[Larry Willard]

The last problem I had with an insurance company (it was my own insurer) I simply went to my agent (he gets a commision from my policy payment) and he immediately started making calls, in no time an agreement was reached to re-do repairs I wasn't happy with. It might be worth starting with your agent.

Larry

 

[BV]

Progessive

I don't know if this would help but AAA is a Progessive agent and that adds to their client base if your going to raise a stink about PR. If you have AAA, maybe you can work through them instead.

I always got good customer service on my Progessive Insurance when I dealt through the AAA office.



Just a thought - And like the others said - "you do have rights" - It's just a matter of who you need to contact. Start by looking in the Government pages of your phone book. Contact your District Attorney.

 

[Rotty]

FYI, Do not cash any checks from the insurance company until you are happy with the work. If you do, it can and will be considered payment in full. You will SOL.

good luck.