by robinhood » Fri Nov 07, 2008 03:15 am
My wife was involved in an accident with an individual who was not the owner of the vehicle. The owner of the car was on vacation and the driver was staying at their house while she was away. (These are very important points). Here is the problem: After several days of calling Trader's and leaving messages on the claim examiners voice mail I am finally able to speak with her. She immediately claims to not have received my message because of phone issues. She then proceeds to inform me that Trader's was "probably" going to deny my claim against their insured because the vehicle owner reported the car stolen. I informed the examiner that the driver was staying at the owner's house while away on vacation and that the car was not stolen. I also asked if I could receive a copy of the police report or case number verifying that the vehicle had been reported stolen and she said "no, I dont have it".
After several minutes of getting the run-around I decided to hang up on Shana Bailey because of her non-sense. I then proceeded to contact a friend of mine that works for the local police department and he informed me that the vehicle was NOT reported stolen. Trader's just got caught in a lie and I want to know what the best way to proceed would be.
Thank you in advance for your advice.
Robin Hood
After several minutes of getting the run-around I decided to hang up on Shana Bailey because of her non-sense. I then proceeded to contact a friend of mine that works for the local police department and he informed me that the vehicle was NOT reported stolen. Trader's just got caught in a lie and I want to know what the best way to proceed would be.
Thank you in advance for your advice.
Robin Hood
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 04:38 am Post Subject: insurance commissioner
the best thing to do at this point is to let traders know you are planning to send this issue to the Insurance commissioners office. If they do not act on that proceed to send it the issue to the commissioner.
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 06:05 am Post Subject:
It's not a denial until it's in writing. While I understand your point, most likely their insured is telling them he/she reported the vehicle stolen. "Traders" (I'm guessing that is being sarcastic for Travelers?) is giving you the heads up that it _appears_ they might deny the claim. This lets you know that you may want to file the claim under your own policy if you have collision. I know you may not like that, but they are doing their job in letting you know that there is an issue. I'm guessing if you hung up on the adjuster that the conversation was adversarial. As such, it sounds like not much was getting accomplished.
With that said, it's _very_ difficult to deny a claim as a stolen vehicle in these situations. First, if the police are worth 1/4 their weight, they should resist taking the report and second, unless the owner specifically told the person not to drive the vehicle and somehow secured the keys, they are going to be liable. If the person in the house had access to the keys, they should be treated as a permissive user no matter what the owner thinks. The owner trusted this person enough to let them stay in the house alone, then they trusted them enough to be responsible when they took the vehicle.
Does the driver own a vehicle or are they listed on someones auto policy? If so, their carrier would probably address the loss of the owners did not.
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 06:24 am Post Subject:
I'm in agreement with anonymous agent, you need to file a complaint with the state insurance department. However, try to contact the claim department directly and talk to the supervisor.
The claim isn't denied until and unless the insurance company offers you the reason in writing. Hence, you should go ahead and file the claim with Traders Insurance Company and ask the adjuster to investigate into the matter. if the insurance company acts under ‘bad faith' i.e. make a wrongful denial, you may have to file a complaint against it with the state authority.
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 06:38 am Post Subject:
Tcope's response is very comprehensive and has covered every aspect of your worry. I'd suggest that you inform your carrier also regarding the incident. Filing the claim with your carrier would settle the claim process faster. However, you may have to pay the deductibles, which the insurance company will recover through subrogation from the insurer of the car owner.
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 01:27 pm Post Subject:
Robinhood, if you haven't put your company on notice or filed a claim with your carrier you need to do so....In this situation I think you would be well advised to use your collision coverage and let your carrier subrogate...as Tcope said, this eventually is going to be covered, I can all but gaurantee that...pretty hard to deny based on these facts...BUT it could take a very long time....your carrier does not have to investigate anything other than verifying your policy is in force to proceed with your repairs...
(todd, there is a 'traders' ins. company)
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 03:47 pm Post Subject: everyone that replied......thank you so much for your reply'
everyone that replied......
thank you so much for your reply's.
Here are more details I have found: the driver of the car was driving with a suspended license.
I just can't believe that a claims examiner would blatantly lie to avoid paying a claim.
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