Insurance Companies Suck!

[Flyin96M]

Ok long story short some dumb mo er decided that red meant go and T-Boned my Honda. Anyway after doing a Christmas Story re-enactment on his a$$ it hit me that my perfect daily driver was totaled and I would be looking for another one. So I did what anyone in my shoes would do and did another Christmas Story re-enactment on his ass.

Ok so now it is two weeks later and the offer I got on my car will in now way replace it. The insurance company won't budge no matter how many recipts I produce. It is now a matter of principal and I am begining to think I should find a lawyer to speak with before proceeding any further. The amount of money I am talking about is not huge, but would make a big difference in the type of car I can get.

Ok I can't belive I am going to ask this but does anyone have any advice in dealing with these crooks? Or does anyone know an lawyer I can speak with that has experience in these things?

[Titus]

Have you talked with YOUR insurance agent? He may be able to help. You may also be able to file a suit in small claims court against the guy that hit you. What is the model/year/mileage of the Honda and what are they offering?

[Treibenschnell]

I can't help you with any advice, but just out of curiosity, what does it mean to do a "Christmas Story re-enactment on his ass"? Did you freeze his tounge to a pole? Shove him down a Christmas slide? Send him a box with a leg lamp inside and mark the outside FRAGILE? (FRA-Gee-Lay, must be Italian...)

Just curious...

[Titus]

Found some good info here.

[cam76034]

Been there. Done that. Same scenario with a drunk driver.

The insurance company will offer you a $ figure based on a (supposed) average of recently totalled similar Hondas in your area.

As for the suggestion that you hint to them you might file a personal injury claim...the folks that do the vehicle adjustments could care less. That's another department and they only handle vehicle claims.

After getting screwed over by Progressive just like this, I wish I had gone ahead and seen a doctor immediately after the accident, and filed a big fat claim against them to make up for the way they shorted me on my vehicle claim.

You never told them you didn't receive any injuries, did you?

[cam76034]

[quote=Flyin96M;106143]Anyway after doing a Christmas Story re-enactment on his a$$ it hit me that my perfect daily driver was totaled and I would be looking for another one. So I did what anyone in my shoes would do and did another Christmas Story re-enactment on his ass.
quote]

You did this?
http://wilstar.com/midi/fudge.wav

[Flyin96M]

Have you talked with YOUR insurance agent? He may be able to help. You may also be able to file a suit in small claims court against the guy that hit you. What is the model/year/mileage of the Honda and what are they offering?

I did and the result was me firing his A$$! He was useless and had been useless for some time. I have hired another agent since then, but have yet to discuss this in depth.

The car was a 93 Accord 10th Anniversery with 131K miles. I bought the car from a friend who bought it new and it was always garaged day and night. No problems of any kind and both the interior and exterior showed little signs of wear. I have records for @ $1,300.00 in parts within the last year alone. The insurance company has offered me $3,200.00 which seeems to me to be low as when I look at similar cars in the paper they go between $4K-5K. This insurance company said they do not pay dealer prices eventhough their own appraiser rated my car as "dealer read" in all catagories.

As for the small claims, I doubt the guy has anything to take and I was impressed that he actually had insurance.

I did go see my personal doctor the day after the accident, but he found nothing wrong with me other than the same mental illness I have always had. Oh and yes they did try to trick me into saying that I was ok and had no injuries. My resoponse was it is probably to early to tell, but I am very sore and have a bad headache.

[Flyin96M]

I can't help you with any advice, but just out of curiosity, what does it mean to do a "Christmas Story re-enactment on his ass"? Did you freeze his tounge to a pole? Shove him down a Christmas slide? Send him a box with a leg lamp inside and mark the outside FRAGILE? (FRA-Gee-Lay, must be Italian...)

Just curious...

Remember when Ralphie beat the crap out of the bully and suffered from tourettes syndrome? Well that was me sans the beating the crap out of the guy. I think I cussed at that guy for a solid 20 min to the point he would not get out of his car.

[POS Racing]

Remember when Ralphie beat the crap out of the bully and suffered from tourettes syndrome? Well that was me sans the beating the crap out of the guy. I think I cussed at that guy for a solid 20 min to the point he would not get out of his car.

Ya gotta love that!

I did that a few years back and got to sit in the back of a North Richland Hills Police car in air conditioned comfort until I "cooled off".

Have you offered to take it to the next level, sometimes the threat can motivate folks. 99% of the folks just take the money they are just playing the odds, but I feel you will not follow the trend.

[Titus]

I did and the result was me firing his A$$! He was useless and had been useless for some time. I have hired another agent since then, but have yet to discuss this in depth.

The car was a 93 Accord 10th Anniversery with 131K miles. I bought the car from a friend who bought it new and it was always garaged day and night. No problems of any kind and both the interior and exterior showed little signs of wear. I have records for @ $1,300.00 in parts within the last year alone. The insurance company has offered me $3,200.00 which seems to me to be low as when I look at similar cars in the paper they go between $4K-5K. This insurance company said they do not pay dealer prices eventhough their own appraiser rated my car as "dealer read" in all catagories.

As for the small claims, I doubt the guy has anything to take and I was impressed that he actually had insurance.

The price does seem to be in-line with NADA (which someone from the link above said is used buy adjusters). It lists Clean Retail Value as $3,425 and High Retail as $4,150. Based on that, I would be surprised if you could get the insurance to go past $3500.

As for small claims court, The insurance company will be responsible for paying any judgment against the driver. I was sued for $250k from someone I rear-ended when I was 16 after the insurance company refused to budge on a claim. Even though the claim was filed against me, the insurance company provided a lawyer, hired a detective, and made it clear that they would cover any judgment. Thankfully, the case was thrown out a week before the trial when they presented evidence that the "victim" had been rear-ended on freeway cloverleaf exits 7 times in a one year period, had been paid-off by 3 insurance companies, and had suits filed in the other 4 accidents.

[Flyin96M]

Ya gotta love that!

I did that a few years back and got to sit in the back of a North Richland Hills Police car in air conditioned comfort until I "cooled off".

Have you offered to take it to the next level, sometimes the threat can motivate folks. 99% of the folks just take the money they are just playing the odds, but I feel you will not follow the trend.

Yeah I ended up calling my wife and asked her to give me good reasons why not to drag his sorry a$$ out the window and beat the crap out of him. When I got home she said that is the most pissed off she had ever seen me. Honestly I think it WAS the most pissed off I had ever been. Luckily for me the cop arrived, with donut, after she talked me down.

As for the next level that is about where I am ready to go. If they won't budge on the value, then it is on to pain and suffering which is why I would like to talk to a lawyer. I would like to get this settled, but I'm tired of getting from these insurance companies that think they can force you into accepting what they offer.

[Flyin96M]

The price does seem to be in-line with NADA (which someone from the link above said is used buy adjusters). It lists Clean Retail Value as $3,425 and High Retail as $4,150. Based on that, I would be surprised if you could get the insurance to go past $3500.

As for small claims court, The insurance company will be responsible for paying any judgment against the driver. I was sued for $250k from someone I rear-ended when I was 16 after the insurance company refused to budge on a claim. Even though the claim was filed against me, the insurance company provided a lawyer, hired a detective, and made it clear that they would cover any judgment. Thankfully, the case was thrown out a week before the trial when they presented evidence that the "victim" had been rear-ended on freeway cloverleaf exits 7 times in a one year period, had been paid-off by 3 insurance companies, and had suits filed in the other 4 accidents.

This is what I got from NADA:
- Average Retail $3,500.00
- High Retail $4,225.00

Not real far off, but far enough.

You know if the guy did not run a red light I would not be near as pissed, but this is the third time this has happend to me. Running a red light is not an accident because the decission to do so produces a known result. I did get three whitnesses that stopped to give me their cards and one even commented that he did not even see his brake lights come on. Seems like some lawyer could have a field day with this.

[Treibenschnell]

Remember when Ralphie beat the crap out of the bully and suffered from tourettes syndrome? Well that was me sans the beating the crap out of the guy. I think I cussed at that guy for a solid 20 min to the point he would not get out of his car.

Nice!

I've done that on 35 near the office. I had a jackass almost take us out and end up hitting the delivery van in front of us. The guy wouldn't come out of his car. I was standing at his window cussing him out.

[Flyin96M]

Found some good info here.

Yeah there is some good stuff there. I used that to follow a link to the Texas Department of Insurance website. More good stuff there. I ultimatly found this site: autoloss.com This looks like the type of help I have been looking for. I filled out the free quote form and I will see what they say. They may say I'm SOL, but hey it is a FREE quote afterall