SIGforum.com Main Page The Lounge Question re Auto Accident, Repair and the Other Guy's Insurance Company
Main Page The Lounge Question re Auto Accident, Repair and the Other Guy's Insurance CompanyGo | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
| Shit don't mean shit |
I would confirm with your body shop that they are using Original Equipment (OEM) parts. You want OEM, not aftermarket. | |||
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| Member |
Lawyer. You most likely have injuries that won't show up for some time. Wife was rear ended on interstate. Now has all kinds of neurological/muscle issues | |||
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| Member |
I am going through this now for an accident last week. I would at least consider talking to a colleague with experience in this area. I thought everything was going great with my claim, everything was cut and dry, until it wasn't. My lawyer has already helped me out tremendously and we are just getting started. Just my 2 cents. | |||
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Go Vols! |
Exactly. I had to rent a car for several more days while the body shop tried and returned aftermarket crap. Took 3 attempts before my insurance would pay for OEM. | |||
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| Savor the limelight |
You've got pain right off the bat? Get checked out. Last accident I was in, I didn't feel anything for a few days. Then, I had a couple odd pains show up that lasted for about six months. | |||
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| Happiness is Vectored Thrust  |
First, I'm glad that you and your wife were not (or appear not to be) seriously hurt. Yes, something could come up in the future, but it sound like you're already aware and have a plan if it does. I'm with the OP here - people telling you to lawyer up, get a lawyer, etc. Geeze - we wonder why insurance costs so damn much. All lawyers are going to do is jack up the payout Progressive makes and they in turn pass it on to their customers. I suspect people who always want to lawyer up right of the bat are playing the poor mans lottery and hoping they've scored the golden ticket. There's time for lawyers if needed in the future, but why muck up the process if you don't need to other than hope for a large settlement???? Icarus flew too close to the sun, but at least he flew. | |||
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| Eschew Obfuscation |
My thought as well. I appreciate everyone's input, but being a lawyer I know that engaging a lawyer is going to bring things to a standstill. I am not looking for a windfall, I just want my vehicle fixed properly and for them to pay medical expenses if/when any treatment is necessary. Of course, if things go south, I will sic the meanest, nastiest bulldog of an attorney I can find on them.  _____________________________________________________________________ “One of the common failings among honorable people is a failure to appreciate how thoroughly dishonorable some other people can be, and how dangerous it is to trust them.” – Thomas Sowell | |||
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אַרְיֵה |
Some of you are saying NOT to use a lawyer. I just got slammed by a woman who ran a red light. I had the dash camera video to prove it. Flo from Progressive admits 100% responsibility, but is still trying to low-ball me on the repairs. Insurance company vs. individual. The odds are stacked way in favor of Flo. I am going to make one more attempt to arrive at a fair and reasonable settlement, but if I am not successful, I would like to hear one valid reason -- just one -- that I should not use a mean and nasty lawyer to try to level the playing field. הרחפת שלי מלאה בצלופחים | |||
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| Member |
I hired a mean and nasty Attorney when a GEICO insured driver rear ended my motorcycle, then GEICO refused to pay. Case took over a year to settle, but I accepted a nice $10K settlement, after lawyers cut, from GEICO. Bastards could have settle for around $1,000 to fix the bike. ********* "Some people are alive today because it's against the law to kill them". | |||
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| Conveniently located directly above the center of the Earth  |
OP: after decades of zero claims, within 12 months we had 2. Both were parking lot incidents, 1 with no one in the hit vehicle. One of the at-fault drivers had 'Progressive'. Despite having heard otherwise, the entire performance by their agents was example of perfection in contact, communication, timeliness, and dare I say.....pleasantness, as well as being good example on how to properly run a business if you want to impress potential customers. Anticipated all our concerns and had the RIGHT answer each time. Overall score for them: 10+!!! Second claim was teenager backing his pick up out of his parking slot INTO the vehicle moving thru the lot. His own mother witnessed the incident. The kid admitted & made proper apologies. Different company was slow to contact, poor at returning calls, inept at balancing what the victim needed vs have the agent actually follow up with resolution of unsettled issues. Authorization for repairs/slow; payment/slow; question/answers/SLOW; process very different and basically stooopid compared to the prior incident. They took WEEKS to get around to actually paying for the rental car, AFTER they insisted WE pay for it & 'would be reimbursed'/ etc. Company grade: maybe 3 1/2; they'll never see us looking to hire them. These are both on repairs of around $2000 each plus car rental. Just for comparison of one great experience and one totally opposite experience for similar type claim. No injuries other than auto body.- Difference company, something like "Wawaneesa" or some such. **************~~~~~~~~~~ "I've been on this rock too long to bother with these liars any more." ~SIGforum advisor~ "When the pain of staying the same outweighs the pain of change, then change will come."~~sigmonkey | |||
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| Happiness is Vectored Thrust |
I’m only saying that it appears the OP doesn’t need a lawyer. If things should come to that then lawyers are available. My issue is with those who say “get a lawyer” before they’ve even tried to work things out themselves or with insurance. Are there times when a lawyer is needed? Absolutely! Yours may be one of those times. Icarus flew too close to the sun, but at least he flew. | |||
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| Eschew Obfuscation |
V-Tail, I hear what you're saying and definitely appreciate the perspective. But, to paraphrase mojojojo, there's a time and a place. Right now, the guy from Progressive does not even know that I'm a lawyer. He's playing nice so there's no need for him to know. Similarly, so long as they're continuing to play nice, I see no need for me to get a lawyer. But you are 100% correct. If they start to jerk me around, they will soon learn that I can reach out to my network and find the biggest, nastiest son-of-a-bitch of a lawyer to represent me. But, I also know if that happens my vehicle will sit there collecting dust while I make do without it. So, that sword stays in its sheath unless and until it's necessary to draw it.  Thanks again to everyone for their input. You are making this process a lot less stressful for me and the SWMBO. (By the way, she is a Sigforum "convert". She used to laugh when I'd say "I'm going to ask about this on Sigforum." Now, she prompts me and asks "What do the guys on Sigforum say about this?" )_____________________________________________________________________ “One of the common failings among honorable people is a failure to appreciate how thoroughly dishonorable some other people can be, and how dangerous it is to trust them.” – Thomas Sowell | |||
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| Page late and a dollar short |
Time for you to change agents. Your agent is supposed to "be there for you" not just collect his commissions. -------------------------------------—————— ————————--Ignorance is a powerful tool if applied at the right time, even, usually, surpassing knowledge(E.J.Potter, A.K.A. The Michigan Madman) | |||
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| Member |
This is what I am saying. Insurance companies are the scum of the earth and you can only fight fire with fire. I had the other guys insurance try to buy a $200 headlight from an off brand manufacturer in China to avoid the $800 OEM one. One call from the lawyer and that was straightened out pretty quick. I would never trust an insurance company to due the right thing, fair thing, or any thing to benefit the consumer. | |||
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| I have not yet begun to procrastinate |
^^THIS^^ You've already given a statement of what happened --> to the police. (get a copy of the report and MAKE SURE IT'S CORRECT. I had AZ DPS completely screw up a report because they were using a trainee that had recto-cranial inversion) Your insurance company is being paid for a reason. It's time for "premium boy" to earn his keep. -------- After the game, the King and the pawn go into the same box. | |||
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| Thank you Very little  |
I hear a bunch of "Accept OEM only" well, you need to read your contracts, because unless you choose a plan that specifies that OEM parts are to be used the Insurance can pay for whatever type of parts they deem proper. If you want OEM you will pay out of pocket for the difference without the ryder that specifically provides for OEM replacement cost. State Laws allow this practice, so those who want OEM need to be sure they are paying for OEM coverage, btw it is more expensive. Your other claim may be for diminished value, that seems to be a trend, since the advent of electronic accident/claim reporting your cars value drops significantly over a non accident vehicle of the same make and model, year. | |||
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| Go Vols! |
He is not repairing through his insurance. In most states you can repair how you choose and sue for damages if the at fault driver’s insurance will not. Michigan has the BS system where your own insurance has to pay for your repairs or you do. At most the at fault party pays your deductible when it comes to the property damage. | |||
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| Member |
Lawyers don't make money magically appear. They are experienced negotiators with expertise. Don't hire one. Eventually you will see the wisdom in hiring one. You probably beat car dealers in negotiations | |||
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| Eschew Obfuscation |
Update: Well, this has been an interesting experience so far. The good news first: I had selected the body shop based on a small job they'd done for me before. They spent a lot of time walking me through the damage, the estimate to repair, and showing me all the work they'd be doing. They also said I could come be anytime to see the work in progress or ask questions. That gave me a huge comfort factor that the vehicle is going to be properly repaired. They also told me that, unless I had paid extra for OEM parts on my policy, I'd be wasting my time trying to get Progressive (the other driver's insurance) to pay for OEM part instead of aftermarket. However, once they got Progressive's quote (which was mostly for aftermarket parts), they "shopped" the quote and another supplier agreed to match the price and provide OEM parts. So, the vehicle will be repaired with all OEM parts. That made my day. The not surprising news: For the most part, Progressive has been great. They're very friendly, seemingly reasonable, and very responsive. They got the vehicle into the body shop right away and arranged for a rental to be there. Even though we hadn't incurred any medical expenses, they offered us $1,000 for the "aggravation and inconvenience". Not surprisingly, the check came with a release absolving them of any liable for any and all medical claims. To my wife's dismay, I tore up the release and the check. While I don't plan on making an injury claim, I'm not signing anything that lets them off the hook.The bad news: My insurance company (AAA) totally sucks. They have done absolutely zero -- which, so far, has been fine. Progressive seems to be doing what needs to be done (getting our vehicle fixed quickly), so I haven't needed them (although some guidance would have been nice). However, we got a letter in the mail from them about our "claim". We called and asked what claim they were talking about. The adjuster told us it referred to the claim they were handling for us. We pointed out that all we did was notify them that we'd been in an accident (which is what their insurance card said to do), but we never opened a claim and they certainly hadn't done anything for us. They said they'd close their file, but hemmed and hawed when I asked if having a "claim" would result in our premium increasing. I'm taking that as a 'Yes'. So, even though the other driver was 100% at fault and AAA has paid nothing and done nothing, it looks like they will use this as an excuse to increase my rates when my policy comes up for renewal in November. In October, however, I will be looking for another insurance company. _____________________________________________________________________ “One of the common failings among honorable people is a failure to appreciate how thoroughly dishonorable some other people can be, and how dangerous it is to trust them.” – Thomas Sowell | |||
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| Raised Hands Surround Us Three Nails To Protect Us  |
Granted only a few weeks away but why wait?? Shop now and switch. ———————————————— The world's not perfect, but it's not that bad. If we got each other, and that's all we have. I will be your brother, and I'll hold your hand. You should know I'll be there for you! | |||
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SIGforum.com Main Page The Lounge Question re Auto Accident, Repair and the Other Guy's Insurance Company
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