by COUNTRYCOY » Tue Jul 21, 2009 03:43 am
I RECENTLY HAD MY 2008 MAGNUM vandalized at my job. I am a domestic violence teacher for court ordered abusers and i recently left my car in my jobs parking lot because i went out for drinks after work with a friend. After having a few drinks with my friend at our local applebees we were driving back to get my car and saw alot of county police out that night. Beeing that my drivers license was suspended at the time i decided not to take that chance and drive a lil intoxicated with a bad DL. So after a brief discussion we decided that my friend would take me home and me and my wife would come back and get my car the next day. I last saw my car round 11:30 pm with no damages or problems. I get awaken at my apt round 1:50 by my local police that my car was found in the next county at my job on fire. i speak to the police that night and was waiting on another call by the police when i fell asleep. i woke up and call progressive the next day and reported the claim. a fire and theft agent came to my house and took my statement. the police called me and asked a few questions but that was it. The next week the claims adjuster asked me for my phone records and stated that it was a suspicious loss, i asked him what that meant and he said it was just suspicious. i provided them with my phone records and the name of my friend who i was with. they eventually got me setteled into a rental after i got my DL reinsatated the same week. A special investigator showed up un announced at my job after looking at the scene of the vandalism. i answered his questions and was very cordial. My friend was eventually called as well as my wife and asked to give a recorded statement over the phone. they both did with no problem, recently after about three and a half weeks i recieved a RESERVATION OF RIGHTS LETTER from my claims agent and when i called him his voice mail said that he was on vacation for 10 days. in the letter i was asked to call and scheduled another recorded statement with another special investigator at there office. i checked my claim online and it said they had complete the at fault liability part of the claim but didnt give any other info but to contact my claims adjuster. it also showed that the payment part had not been completed and was ongoing. MY QUESTION IS WHAT IS GOING ON?? DOES THIS LETTER MEAN THAT MY CLAIM WILL NOT BE PAID OR THAT I AM A SUSPECT IN THIS SUSPICIOUS LOSS? I GO TALK TO THEM NEXT TUESDAY THE 28TH AND I AM WONDERING DO I NEED TO DO ANYTHING IN RESPONSE TO THE LETTER. more info available if needed to answer question. I am very confused and i am starting to get frustrated.
Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 03:43 pm Post Subject:
@tcope..thanks for replying...yeah i can see how somebody can say red flag red flag but stuff happens and its not always FRAUD.. i understand there are people out there trying to get over on the system but truthfully i have waaaaaayyyy to much to lose in future earnings with my degree to try and get over by burning a brand new 2008 dodge magnum i got with under twenty miles on it. Not to mention a lifetime warranty on the power train that put my mind at ease when i was buying the vehicle. I appreciate the view from the other side of the fence i really do, because it answers alot of my questions as to what the hell the insurance company is doing. It just sucks when your car is the one broken into and you have t go through all these hoops to get back to your normal life...I had a big car for a reason and now i am stuck in a vw jetta as a rental, grateful i am for the free rental but all this is just a big ass inconvience that is ruining my summer.
Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 03:52 pm Post Subject:
i am stuck in a vw jetta as a rental
Keep in mind that the claim might not be settled within 30 days (probably won't) and your rental is only going to last (about) that long.If your making good money and your wife makes even more, you should not need to roll over any debt into another vehicle. To be honest, financially if you needed to do this you should not be buying a new vehicle. You can buy an extended warranty for a used vehicle as well. I mention this as if you are left with a debt on this vehicle after the insurance pays, don't roll that over into another vehicle.
Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 04:18 pm Post Subject:
@tcope...just got married in april and was living by myself at the time working two jobs at that point to have some extra play money so in my mind if i wanted a new car and i did then why wouldnt i get what i want. i bought the magnum in april of 08 and the car i had was starting to act up and the tranny was about to go (2001 dts caddy) so instead of buying a new tranny with a short term warranty i got a brand new magnum to ease my mind..i would rather pay a lil bit more a month and know the car will be taken care in case of problems than to keep going back to get it serviced over and over..which was my thought process in not getting the tranny rebuilt or buying a new one...i drive ALOT and the warranty on the trannys i saw would have only lasted me a year max and what would have happened if i had to pay another 3 grand in less than a year for another tranny??
as far as the rental i already know hat and have made arrangements to have some transportation a couple of days before i have to turn in the rental...
Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 04:26 pm Post Subject:
Here was my point... when you roll over a prior loan into a new one your paying interest on that money you rolled over. What do you have for that money you rolled over? Nothing. So your paying years of interest on... nothing. Another way to look at it is your are buying a $15,000 car for $20,000. Is that a good deal?
Rolling over owed money into a new loan is _never_ a good idea. The only reason I can see anyone rolling over a prior loan is if they cannot afford the old car and the new car (I think I just added another red flag to this claim). If you can afford a new vehicle, you should be paying off the old loan before hand.
This is a little off topic, I just thought I'd mention it since you might not be getting the old car paid off by the insurance claim.
Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 05:01 pm Post Subject:
@tscope...i understand where you are comming from and i am thankful for your candor.... i made a choice to roll it over because in my mind i planned on keeping the car 4ever and the life-time warranty made since to me rolling over the 6g's was a point i thought about but i decided to run with it. You can throw all the red flags, yellow cards, or technical fouls you want, but when it all boils down to it i know that i had nothing to do with any of my cars being stolen or vandalized and i hope that the people who are investigating can come to same conclusion
Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 05:07 pm Post Subject:
If there is no _proof_ that you had anything to do with the loss, then it should be paid. Yes, these "flags" just initiate a more in depth investigation. A note... most states _require_ insurance companies to have a staff of special investigators based on the volume of business in that state. The main job of these people are to investigate suspicious claims. One reason why the state mandates this is because insurance is needed (and in some cases, required) in order for commerce to flourish. as such, premiums need to be as low as possible. If carriers just paid claims and increased rates to compensate, many people would not be able to afford insurance. So the state has an interest in insurance companies keeping rates as low as possible... and they also regulate those rates. So this is all a normal process.
As Lori pointed out, the fact that there was a prior fire loss is enough to start an investigation of this type.
Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2009 11:29 pm Post Subject:
my car wasnt stolen in this present claim. It was broken into and my head unit cd/dvd player and 2 "12" inch sub-woofers and amp were stolen and then the car was set a fire. In the eyes of the cliams rep is that not a little bit different? just wondering...
No, it won't make any difference, other than, if you didn't have rental on your policy with a full vehicle theft most policys still provide a rental up to 30days. I apparently mis-read your OP I thought it was stolen then found burned up. Really though it will make no difference.Tcope is just trying to help explain why there is a special investigation going on surrounding your claim...It's all the red flags. I understand too that some people just have really bad luck...And they will too. I'm sure you had nothing to do with the claim, they just have to make sure they've turned over ever stone. This takes time...Be as patient as you can, offer to assist in anyway you can to expedite the investigation.
RE: Your rolling over that other loan...it's never a good idea, but what's done is done. The problem you are going to have is (as t pointed out)...even if you have gap coverage, assuming your vehicle is a total loss, you're going to be left oweing 6k and no car..
If you'd like post 'which' magnum it is (SRT-8, R/T, R/T AWD,) the mileage, and all the options and I'll run a value for you...also the state you are in...and we'll see how you're setting ACV wise.
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