Help! My adjuster wants to total my car, what are my options?

[ard]

Here's what you do to fix the wife problem: Get her into competitive German Warmblood horses...it will make your car mis-steps laughably small in comparison. A

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[liquidcool]

Originally Posted by ard

Here's what you do to fix the wife problem:

Get her into competitive German Warmblood horses...it will make your car mis-steps laughably small in comparison.

A

Actually she's into American Saddlebreds - costs as much as a boxster lease to house and feed and could founder at any time, which unlike a blown motor, can't be repaired and her custom riding suit was as much as an ECU tune... I guess we all have our vices...

thanks again and be sure to read my update after I get my check cashed - you wouldn't believe how this played out and what they tried to pull on me - I now understand the term "blood boiling mad" after dealing with this guy.

[ard]

Originally Posted by liquidcool

Actually she's into American Saddlebreds - costs as much as a boxster lease to house and feed and could founder at any time, which unlike a blown motor, can't be repaired and her custom riding suit was as much as an ECU tune... I guess we all have our vices...

thanks again and be sure to read my update after I get my check cashed - you wouldn't believe how this played out and what they tried to pull on me - I now understand the term "blood boiling mad" after dealing with this guy.

Ah, my condolences. (on the horse husband thing)



You should have done the subbrogation where they treat you really well.


j/k

A

[95RogueM3]

Originally Posted by IUkid

I'm interested to hear the update!

Me too. As long as the check is in the mail I say you air the laundry.

[vntperformance]

Originally Posted by MARKSKI

Tell the adjuster that you will take off everything reusable thats aftermarket.... take the 47K and get a new one. Run as far as you can from that car.... it will be worth 20K less after you put it back together next year.
OR,
take the 27K and make sure its still not deemed salvaged and fix it for a lot less..
markski

^I agree.

But in addition; have you ran a carfax on it to check to see if it was reported?

[Vandit]

Any update?

[liquidcool]

Okay, here's what happened (I assume the check is in the mail)

On Monday my adjuster told me over the phone that they wanted to total the car and that his appraiser said my 01 turbo with 28k miles was worth $47k (NADA price was $50k, but I had a chip on the front bumper so they took off $3k for that).

I asked if I could take a check instead and he said for $24k you can keep the car and get a salvage title. Repair estimate was $33.5k. I asked him if I could get a check for $23,999 and not have a salvage title and he said "yes, you *could* do that". So now I know he's not going to offer me anything without me asking. After a minute or so I got him up to $27k and no salvage title. He then added that the check would be for $26.5k because my $500 deductible had to be paid. I told him I'd think about it.

I started researching and found that the cheapest 01 turbo in the country was ~$47k and had 60k miles on it and no options and in an ugly color. I started making my case for cars and value. The cheapest silver on black turbo in the country with 30k or fewer miles is about $55k plus they would have to pay me tax and shipping because it was 2000 miles away.. now were getting up to $60k or so they'd have to pay to total it. My policy allows for arbitration to determine a value, so I was preparing for that contingency.

Then I read my policy and found the following:

“…, this deductible shall not apply:”

1.….; or
2.Providing all of the following exist:
a.Loss to “your covered auto” is greater than the deductible amount; and
b.The owner operator of the other auto has been identified; and
c.The owner or operator of the other auto is legally liable for the loss to “your covered auto”; and
d.A valid property damage liability insurance policy is in force at the time of the accident with respect to the person or organization legally responsible for the loss to “your covered auto”.

All 4 of those conditions were true, so I sent him this language in an email on Tuesday and asked why he told me I'd have to pay the deductible. This guy has 20 years of experience as an adjuster so I found it odd that he wouldn't be aware of this clause that removes deductibles when you're hit by an under-insured motorist.

His reply came wednesday night: " It is my understanding, for that provision to apply, the wrongdoer’s coverage must fully cover your loss. In this case, it does not. I will have my manager review this."

So now I'm 100% sure he's lying to me. He's been doing this for 20 years, he's aware of the provision and the language is clear and he's telling me he doesn't know if it applies, but told me it did. I called shenanigans on him and fired this back on Thursday morning at 7:30am:

If the other party had enough coverage to fully cover the loss, I wouldn’t be dealing with you at all. The language is plain on its face that the deductible does not apply and I find for you with your 20 years of experience to claim not know this to be unbelievable. I mean that literally – I don’t believe you - I think you’re lying to me now and interpreting the language of my policy unreasonably.

I now believe you’ve lied to me in an attempt to reduce the amount of my claim and after the undue delays and other misrepresentations, I think you’re now bordering on bad faith in handling my claim so do two things for me:
1)Don’t call me again – I don’t want to speak to you because I don’t trust you. If you have something to say, write it an email so I can have an attorney review what you’re writing and ensure my rights have been exercised.
2)Provide me with your manager’s name and number. I would to speak to him or her to discuss how you’ve handled my claim up to this point.

To demonstrate my good faith, I continue to be amenable to a settlement for a negotiated amount less than the estimated repair costs.

I look forward to a reply with your supervisor’s contact info


His reply came at 9:06am, presumably just after he got to the office:

Sorry you feel the way you do. I have not lied to you. I have verified with my manager that the deductible will not apply in this case and that my interpretation was wrong. Mr. ------ has emailed me and states that the $33,000.00 payment to your direct would be fine. I stand ready to pay you direct $33,000 after a signature on a proof of loss form at this time. Please advise if you wish to settle in this manner.

I accepted his offer for $33k to settle it and the check should be in the mail by now. With some used/aftermarket parts I should have the car in pre-accident condition for less than $10k. So that's the whole story.

I was really surprised to see him fold like that. I read up on some bad faith causes of action and tried to point all of those out in my claim like: delays, denials, unreasonable interpretation of the policy, and finally doing anything to reduce or induce you to reduce coverage. All of those are actionable for bad-faith. Although, I am not a lawyer.

So thanks again for everyone's input on how to handle this and I hope somebody else will read what happened to me and benefit from it. My main advice would be to stand your ground, hound your agent and adjuster every day, read your policy and don't settle until you're sure you've gotten every penny your policy entitles you to.

[ard]

Way to start with a cricket bat upside the head....

Not surprised he folded- once he saw this was going to turn into a spitstorm, he nipped it in the bud.

Do be careful they don't still total it on you... I don't know how that works, but it would sure suck to find a brand on the title down the road...

[thumbsup]

A

[liquidcool]

Originally Posted by ard

Do be careful they don't still total it on you... I don't know how that works, but it would sure suck to find a brand on the title down the road...

A

I made sure first that there would be no change to the classification of the title. So as jimmer23 said above, I have 33 g's and a need a new bumper. I guess that's a good problem to have.

[95RogueM3]

Originally Posted by liquidcool

So as jimmer23 said above, I have 33 g's and a need a new bumper. I guess that's a good problem to have.

You might also "need" some K24/20G turbos, headers, switzer exhaust, UMW tune, etc.

[Mikelly]

So I'm assuming you're planning to keep this car for the long run. Based on how this has turned out, I'd really be concerned that it isn't totalled and that you don't end up with a salvage title. It may turn out well, but I'd not sleep well until it's done...

Mike

[liquidcool]

Originally Posted by Mikelly

So I'm assuming you're planning to keep this car for the long run. Based on how this has turned out, I'd really be concerned that it isn't totalled and that you don't end up with a salvage title. It may turn out well, but I'd not sleep well until it's done...

Mike

I verified with him specifically that there would be no change in classification of the title so it shouldn't be a problem. Although I'm still not sleeping well - I want that check so I can start the repairs. I'll have been without my car for about a month by the time this is done - and the whole time I've been driving a Hyundai rental car - not quite a 911 turbo and the fun-driving days of summer are slipping away.

[zotbot]

Interesting read - glad things have worked-out for you so far.

[Myallroad]

wow, nice job. Hopefully you have her back soon. rentals do suck, last time i had the audi in, i got a Chevy HHR. Hated it!

[liquidcool]

Originally Posted by Myallroad

wow, nice job. Hopefully you have her back soon. rentals do suck, last time i had the audi in, i got a Chevy HHR. Hated it!

I'll tell you what though - it may be a piece of crap, but the factory radio plays mp3 cds, and it gets like 35 mpg, so I've been taking all sorts of road trips in it. Trying to find the bright side here.