Property damage policy only while lawsuit goes on

by Guest » Mon Dec 23, 2013 07:39 am
Guest

I got hit while parked about a year ago. $13,000 in damage.

I picked up the car from the body shop and 2 supplements. First one was for suspension problems. Second one was for both rear wheel bearings. After getting the car back, more problems came up, so I took it to the dealer who found both rear axles had -- "galled threads are more likely than not a result of using a pneumatic impact wrench to remove and reinstall the retaining nuts" so that was not covered and I fixed that and got a full examination done. The adjuster said to file a comprehensive claim to get it covered.

After that I took the car to another body shop, got the adjuster back in, and the supervisor and they said to take it up with the body shop who did the work.

After getting a report done, the car was found to be dangerous to operate because severe torque steer. The all of the welds on the rocker panel are substandard. The A & B pillars were not sectioned correctly. The uni-body of the car is not aligned. The SAI is way of in the tire that was pushed 40ft and over a curb. I have evidence that no uni-body pull was attempted.

Also found a bunch of items such as the engine cradle that the reptile hasn't paid for yet.

Sorry for being long winded but I guess the question is, does anyone now of a property damage only policy I can put this car under? I only owe $19k left on the note, and I just want to keep it in my garage with out having to pay for full blown insurance.

Second question, Would the Gecko just default? I wouldn't think he would be the lawsuit was filed early summer, and they haven't even sneezed at us.

Everyone else is trying to work this out. We finally defaulted them.

Total Comments: 4

Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2013 01:50 pm Post Subject:

Most likely your lien holder would not allow liability coverage only. You can always call and ask but I doubt they will allow it. If you have filed a lawsuit against the insurance company you should have your attorney add in the cost of comprehensive and collision coverage into your damages.

I think you are saying you filed suit against your the insurance company and they have not filed an answer? If so, speak to your attorney about this. If you filed for default and you obtain it, then the insurance company would most likely only be able to argue damages at this point.

Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2013 07:55 pm Post Subject:

I was asking if there was a property coverage only option. That was what finance said I needed to keep them happy. I don't care about liability since I am not driving it. The state can have the plates back too.

I have 2 cars, and its been a year, so I need to get another now and I can't afford to keep 3 cars with full coverage. That is one of the issues.

Yes, we filed suit against body shop and my insurance company. The insurance company hasn't filed an answer after being served 4 months ago and they were defaulted.

Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2013 08:50 pm Post Subject:

I don't know if any company that would write 1st party coverage without liabilty. I'm sure there are non-admitted carriers that would but I suspect those premiums would be higher then with liability coverage. You can certainly call some agents and see if they can locate that coverage. Lacking that, I think you have a good claim to include any insurance premiums charged on the vehicle that you cannot use.

If your attorney filed a motion for the default and it's been granted then the carrier has 2 options... show good cause for an waiver of the default or file an appeal or just argue about damages at this time. An Answer can be in default however, it's still up to the plaintiff to file a motion for the default and have it granted. I'm not sure where you are with this. It's extreemly unusual that a carrier would allow a default judgement to be obtained. Though it does happen (usually at the fault of the adjuster). At that point the carrier can only argue against damages and not liability. Your states Joint and Seveal laws may also come into play. Some states J/S is 1%. This means if one party is 1% then 100% of the loss can be collected from that party (its then up to that party to collect what another party owed directly from that other party. So this usually only comes into play when one of the parties is unknown). I'm not attorney but it seems if J/S is 1% then you only need to prove damages against anyone and you could collect 100% from any of the parties. These are really issues for your attorney to address.

Posted: Tue Dec 24, 2013 07:37 am Post Subject:

I figured it would be an adjuster screw up that led to the delay. I wonder what excuse it will be this time. I have heard so many from both the adjuster and body shop I went to. I did not go to a direct repair shop.

The adjuster told my girlfriend to take the car back to 'his' guy at the dealership. Now I knew that was a bad idea but gf insisted. After the axles, they found nothing else wrong. I had a feeling they were going to find nothing wrong in the first place except the wheel was falling off.

Then I went to take it to another another shop, and I called the adjuster, and he said, I shouldn't bother, nobody will fix bad work anyway. He said he will call the shop first and let them know what is coming. And he had to get approval from his supervisor who was on vacation.

So I had to find a shop 20 miles away, get there first then had it looked at. The adjusted did not return phone called or respond until we filled a second claim. That finally got them out to the shop. I haven't heard a peep from them since.

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