by Guest » Sat Feb 18, 2006 10:21 am
My cousin Bob and another guy went for a long drive last Saturday evening and got struck by a rash driver from a distance. The bully escaped narrowly but was trapped later in the morning .The repair works for Bob would be somewhat around $4000. Bob's insurer had agreed to support him with aftermarket body parts for his vehicle, to which Bob's reaction was simple and stern. He did not want his insurer to provide him with aftermarket parts. He maintained that it was his insurer's job to collect the new parts from the tormentor. He had a hard time convincing the insurance representative till he revealed his other identity as an attorney.
Of late his insurance company has offered him new market parts, and also expressed their willingness to resolve matters soon. Could we ever look forward to a hassle-free world ?
Regards,
Blackberry
Of late his insurance company has offered him new market parts, and also expressed their willingness to resolve matters soon. Could we ever look forward to a hassle-free world ?
Regards,
Blackberry
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 02:33 pm Post Subject:
Dave, I have had a Geico rep tell an 80 year old man that he had to drive his vehicle 20 miles up the interstate to their estimator at their preferred shop. This car's hood was in danger of flying open and the radiator was leaking. And he was a clamaint! The appraiser said if I have to drive 60 miles down the road to our shop, we expect you to drive your vehicle 20 miles to us. He claimed since they required all their insureds to use this preferred shop, the least this aged claimant could do was comply with his demand.
People in the collision business have countless stories like this every day. People that do not read or understand their policy, nor have a clue where to find their states unfair claims practices acts, revert back to a child like compliance to emboldened appraisers and adjusters that do know better. If you dare attempt to educate vehicle owners, insurers target your business with abandon and ramp up the steering language to keep vehicle owners from using your services.
They always say, they won't work from our estimates and you MAY have to pay more out of pocket at your shop which is not always true. Claimants in most states have remedies for underpaid claims such as appraisal and bad faith, that is unless you are from a state like Missouri that has allowed insurers to drop appraisal from the policy and basically challenge you to sue them.
I've decided to make it my goal to contact as many state representatives or to initiate a petition to require insurers to include appraisal in all Missouri auto policies.
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 11:31 pm Post Subject:
What you should be doing is having each and every one of these people file a complaint with the DOI...they HAVE to investigate them and the carriers HAVE to respond to them within a certain time frame...period...I don't know why you don't do this... :? If you are in any hope to end what you consider a common practice, (which I question the commonality of it)...but if even one of these is true then that should be reported.
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 12:07 am Post Subject:
It's better to compile pattern and practice to eventually file TI cases. The DOI and Attorney general's office look the other way.
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 12:52 am Post Subject:
Well Mike, I gotta tell you I've worked for two large insurance carriers, and DOI complaints are taken very very seriously.
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 01:39 am Post Subject:
So is your company, whether and employer or insurer, among the list at this link" http://www.justice.org/docs/TenWorstInsuranceCompanies.pdf
Do I think many insurance companies fail in some areas? Yup... as does any company, especially the larger ones. There was some information in their that was 100% correct... but much of it was 100% BS.Consider the source of the information... they now call themselves, " American Association for Justice"... I guess injury attorneys or ambulance chasers just sounded a little to one sided. Tell you what... you don't accept insurance companies statements as fact on their own and I won't accept plaintiff attorney's either. They can call themselves whatever they want... who they are remains the same.
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 01:45 am Post Subject:
Lori and T, do you become hardened to these things over time? Do you feel it is becoming harder to give consumers what they are entitled to? Maybe he is in the wrong line of work.
Good question and well put. Over the past 15 years or so I've worked for probably 9 companies. Many of them were non-standard carriers and were not the greatest companies (you can't be when you insure people who no one else will). But I've _never_ really had problems with an insurance company not paying for repairs or trying to get body shops to do anything they did not want to do. About the only thing close to that is an insurance company really putting a heavy hand on betterment/depreciation. But I must also say I've never worked for any of the largest insurance carriers (other then Hartford for a short time).Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 01:59 am Post Subject:
...Dave, I have had a Geico rep tell an 80 year old man that he had to drive his vehicle 20 miles up the interstate to their estimator at their preferred shop.
I've heard the similar things... that people have stated that I told them things _like_ this. It's a running joke that I have because I can spend 30 minutes on the phone with someone explaining everything in detail so that they know _exactly_ what is going on and then the following day they complain because no one has told them anything about what is happening (I'm not exaggerating at all). The joke is that I should just not tell them anything and stop wasting there and my time. Of course, I explain things because I think part of the problem on claims is that people just don't understand what is happening. So I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't. :)No offense to the 80 year old man but... did is it possible that this _80 year old_ man did not understand something or perhaps did not explain the condition of his vehicle very well? Example... if I told a person to drive their vehicle 20 miles and the owner knew the radiator fluid was leaking, how many owners would not know they can't drive the vehicle? How did this guy get it home after the accident if the fluid was leaking (I'm betting he drove it). Also, why motivation would the adjuster/appraiser have in getting the person to drive the vehicle as opposed to having it towed to the preferred shop? I don't know of any adjuster who is scared to pay $35 for a tow into one of their shops.
Oh, I also just told a shop and the owner of a vehicle that I needed to have them break out the frame labor hours instead of lumping paint and frame hours together. Granted, the shop did not speak much English but after I told the owner this simple thing 2 days in a row, he called his carrier and told them I was not going to pay for the frame labor (what ever the shop told me the frame labor was, I was going to just add it onto my appraisal). Sorry, I went on a little too long... but I'm just trying to show that miscommunication happens all the time.
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 02:47 am Post Subject:
The eighty year old man drove his car on the interstate with a leaking radiator and a potentially dangerous hood that could fly open because it would not latch all against my pleadings and warnings because he feared he would not get paid for his damage and did not file with his own company with whom he was contracted.
Too many people believe the addage of He that holds the gold has the power. I could not convince him that he had no duty to take his vehicle for an inspection with a company that he had no contract with. Elderly people live in fear of cancellation of their policies for not doing as their insurance companies command them to do even if the companies aren't theirs.
I will have to concede to you on the point that you made that insurers are poor communicators.
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 05:05 am Post Subject: Probably a waste of time
Lori, as you know, a lot of the steering is done by coached claims handlers telling half-truths. As far as things never changing, I think they are pretty rapidly. I have noticed a lot of my customers are not as trusting and are taking control. Some even say "just fix my car, I'll deal with the insurance company." I'm glad to hear that you follow the "golden rule." It just sickens me to see people taken advantage of. I know you guys see way too much of it here too. Mike, I have seen exactly that same one. I'll bet between the two of us, we could write pages of the different goofy things consumers have been told. Some are even funny, most are not. My customers always seem to understand that it's not about me.
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 11:30 am Post Subject:
It just sickens me to see people taken advantage of.
I'm with you a 100% Dave, I also agree with T people hear what they want to hear, I've spent long long conversations trying to make sure someone understands something, and have been accused of explaining things too much, only to have them misquote or still misunderstand after they said they have. I'll agree there is miscommunication all over the place, on all sides, I'm sure T and I have a many storys about shops and owners as well, however, no question, if I were in your shoes I would take these owners to my office and dial the phone for them to file complaints with the DOI...as I said the company I work for records their drp talk so no one can be accused of steering, maybe all companies should. I wish you all could agree that there are companies that try really hard to make the owners understand that the choice is still and always is theirs...Now if they chose to go to the drp shop because of the 'extra' warranty etc. well, that's just the way it goes...and perhaps that's part of the issue that you guys really have the problem with. I understand your postition on it. But I doubt it's going anywhere to be honest (drp shops)....Personally I would attack the steering issue on an individual basis as I said.Dave I'm sure when your customers say
Some even say "just fix my car, I'll deal with the insurance company."
You caution them about the carriers right to inspection.Add your comment