by Guest » Sun Apr 12, 2009 01:58 pm
Hi,
I'm dealing with a bit of a complicated insurance claim and I'm not sure what is the next step to take to get things moving along.
The backstory: My car was parked on the street outside my building when 2 cars collided. The collision caused one of the cars (an F150) to slide into my car damaging the door. Both parties claimed the other ran the light and no one stayed to be a witness. I was upstairs in my apartment at the time, so I have no idea who is at fault either.
I've been talking with the F150 gentleman's insurance provider (State Auto). They took my side of the story and have even sent out an adjuster to look at my car. The other person is with All-State, but they have never sent me an adjuster.
State Auto wants to pay 50% of my repair with All-State paying the other 50% since they can't determine fault in the wreck. The State Auto claims rep keeps telling me that she can't get ahold of anyone at All-State to move forward. I called All-State myself and they said they have no liability in my claim.
I contacted my insurance company and the only thing they tell me is to file a claim against my own insurance, pay the deductible and get it fixed, which I am hesitant to do given that I'm not at fault.
At this point, I'm not sure what the next step is. This has been going on for 45+ days now and each week's call to the State Auto rep ends with the same "I can't get a hold of all-state" excuse.
Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated.
Thanks!
I'm dealing with a bit of a complicated insurance claim and I'm not sure what is the next step to take to get things moving along.
The backstory: My car was parked on the street outside my building when 2 cars collided. The collision caused one of the cars (an F150) to slide into my car damaging the door. Both parties claimed the other ran the light and no one stayed to be a witness. I was upstairs in my apartment at the time, so I have no idea who is at fault either.
I've been talking with the F150 gentleman's insurance provider (State Auto). They took my side of the story and have even sent out an adjuster to look at my car. The other person is with All-State, but they have never sent me an adjuster.
State Auto wants to pay 50% of my repair with All-State paying the other 50% since they can't determine fault in the wreck. The State Auto claims rep keeps telling me that she can't get ahold of anyone at All-State to move forward. I called All-State myself and they said they have no liability in my claim.
I contacted my insurance company and the only thing they tell me is to file a claim against my own insurance, pay the deductible and get it fixed, which I am hesitant to do given that I'm not at fault.
At this point, I'm not sure what the next step is. This has been going on for 45+ days now and each week's call to the State Auto rep ends with the same "I can't get a hold of all-state" excuse.
Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 07:15 am Post Subject:
Hi Iconoclast,
This forum is not as well known by adjusters and even many Claim Managers (sad but true) but has been around more than 50 years.
What is the best way to reach to the forum? What the customer has to do to get the forum review his case?
Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 11:36 am Post Subject:
OH Todd, sad, but sometimes seems true..thanks for making me spit my coffee out....again :roll:
Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 01:42 pm Post Subject:
What is the best way to reach to the forum? What the customer has to do to get the forum review his case?
Arbitrations Forum Inc (AFI) is not a forum like this... it's a large company based in Tampa Florida. Thousands of companies belong to AFI (I'm guessing that there is a fee involved) and as such they sign a contract to forgo filing suit against other member companies and instead are required to submit their disputes to AFI to be heard. Non members can also use them but this is very rare. First, those companies are not members for a reason. Second, if a non-member wants to use them then the other company must also agree to use AFI and be bound by their decision.I made a joke earlier about AFI but unless you've been involved with them it's meaning is lost. AFI does not have the same rules as a court of law. There is no discovery and cases are almost never heard in person. These are two huge factors that can easily affect the outcome of a "hearing". I'll mention a case I once had with them that really hits home the difference... my driver made a left turn from a stop sign, right in front of the other person. the adjuster before me denied the other person's claim as the other person had their right turn signal on but did not turn. Well, we all know people leave their blinkers on by accident and that this still does not allow someone to ignore them and pull away from a stop sign right in front of them. There was no police report filed. I called the other adjuster and left a message offering up to 90% of their damages to settle prior to the case being heard in AFI. I did not offer 100% as this is the maximum that could be won in AFI... so why offer it now. If the other carrier wanted 100%, I might as well roll the dice with AFI. The other adjuster never responded. Long story short, I never filed an answer with AFI (I never argued my side). AFI came back and awarded the other carrier 0%. Why? Because they never proved the accident happened. They either did not submit a statement from their insured or if they did, that statement was not enough to actually show that the accident involved my insured. If I had responded I would have admitted my insured was there... as this would have been the only way I could have argued liability against the other person. Now I say that my insured was 90%-100% at fault... no question about that. In a court of law we would have gone through discovery (both parties would question the other person), we would have shared paperwork (so we'd get to see what the other company was submitted to the court), etc. But with AFI, it's always a roll of the dice. They make some wacky decisions. I'm not saying it's their fault... it's just because their rules are different. The company I work for now belongs just for auto claims only. No property claims or to Special Arbitration (as mentioned in a prior post) as those claims can involve $100's of thousands of dollars and we don't want that much money riding on the rules of AFI.
AFI certainly has it's place. I do like it when faced with carriers that make stupid demands and/or don't want to negotiate on any claims. I always mention to them that they never know how AFI will rule... so lets discuss the claim and come to a settlement while we still have some control over the issue.
Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 10:39 am Post Subject:
(IMO) Arbitration decisions hinge 50% on the facts and 50% on the knowledge and ablility of the the adjuster to either 'answer' or 'file' their claim with arb....I'll say I have never 'lost' in arb....in over 20 years..why? Because, (as Todd said) I wouldn't allow one to go that far that I didn't think I could win, or was worth rolling the dice. And because I put the time in to get the claim ready...you'd be surprised how some claims arrive...nothing, (basically) to assist their insured in any defense..
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