Well, the Insurance told us the other day that the car IS totaled.
>From what I understand from several people on this list, as well as people
around where I work, this is a very common practice with Insurance
companies. What else , right?
It's their job to collect premiums, not give any money out. So when it
comes to that time, they keep the purse strings pretty tight.
We have armed ourselves with Consumer Reports Used car prices, Newspapers
car ads, Dealership quotes, Pace used car reports, and Edmunds.
Our policy is full replacement value. That means, what ever our car was
worth at the time of theft, is what we get. AND, not to forget to include
the TTL figure to be added to what the car was worth, over and above. In
theory, we get all the money it will take to buy an exactly copy of the car
we had from a dealer, once again.
Now having said that, thats the tough part when dealing with insurance
companies. They have't met my wife yet. :)
We simply won't take anything until they live up to the letter of their
policy. Full Replacement Value. We have done an extensive amount of
homework on that car. This means we will have a car picked out indenticle
to what we had on a lot with it's price tag matching what we had stolen.
We have found a couple real close, but we are still looking. Having done
that and armed with written documentation of many other used cars prices...
They will have to live up to it, or we don't accept.
This has been one big pain in the ass.
Car insurance has got to be the dirtiest business, just below used car
salesman.
Q
At 09:50 PM 12/9/97 +0100, ctp wrote:
>Jay,
>
>Your insurance company may, and probably will, offer you a ridiculously
>low amount of money as if that's your only choice. Don't take it if it's
>not right!!
>
>I had a perfect diesel Rabbit. Straight, excellent paint, 5 speed, AC,
>regular dealer service, you could have eaten off the engine. I bought it
>from the original owner for the bargain price of $1300. Then, someone
>drove into it while it was parked and totalled it.
>
>My insurance company (State Farm) called me with 'great news'. My claim
>person said she talked to her boss and even got me a little more than
>normal. I thought, "wow, I can go get another one as nice".
>
>That's when reality hit. She said, "we can give you $650"...$650?!?!?!
>I couldn't even get a rolling chassis from a wrecker for $650!
>
>I pressed them until they gave me $1300, still too little to get another
>Rabbit nearly as nice.
>
>It wasn't until I had spoken with several other people that I figured it
>all out. The insurance companies we trust to take care of us when things
>go wrong, will offer us appalingly low offers because most people trust
>them and take that first offer. We have to remember that they are only
>in business TO MAKE MONEY!! THAT IS IT, PERIOD!!
>
>Remember also, your agent is often not very connected to your claim
>adjuster. If you aren't happy with the offer, tell your agent. Let them
>know that you have a lot of choices for your insurance, but you chose
>them for a reason. It's your agent's job to get and keep your business,
>it's your claim adjusters job to write AS SMALL A CHECK AS POSSIBLE.
>Your agent sometimes will call the adjusters office. Mine did, and I got
>my money.
>
>Hope this helps everyone, especially LBC owners,
>
>Christopher Palmer
>
>ps - also, ask your agent if they will give you agreed price coverage. A
>Spridget Mk2 or 3 tops out in the books at around $5000. When was the
>last time you tried to buy a 100 point Spridget for $5000?? I've got
>more than that in my Midget, and it's not even close to being showable
>yet.
>I told my agent I wanted $7500 dollars Coll/Comp, and got it. If it ever
>got totalled I know I could replace what I have.
>
>
--
Jay Quinn - Business Systems Analyst
Personal Email: jpquinn@cyberramp.net
Work Email: jay_quinn@bcbstx.com
2 Way Pager Email: 9120238@skytel.com
http://www.cyberramp.net/~jpquinn/index.htm
1962 Austin-Healey Sprite MKII HAN6L2874
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