Ripped off on my insurance claim, any ideas?

[SilverSleeper]

I am getting ripped off big-time by my insurance company, and it keeps dragging out longer. Ive talked to a few people, but from what I can tell, I am basically without any recourse. Maybe somebody here has some ideas...
Heres what happened: (Its been a month now...!)
July 3rd, Im driving my Astro, doing 65 on the interstate, and my rear wheel studs snap. All 5! Kept it out of danger, with the exception being the rear axle housing dragging for a good 100'+. I had it towed to a shop here in town, that had a rental car desk also, so I could actually get to work for the weekend. They said they would look at it on tuesday (6th) after the holiday. I reported my claim to insurance on tuesday, after the shop estimated the damage at $700. No body damage, just the housing, wheel and tire.
The adjuster came on thursday (8th) to look at it and left. he didnt call me, or the shop, just told the shop they would get an estimate faxed. I called him, his voicemail says hes on vacation!! So no estimate, no fax, no one hears from him. I call my agent and they told me a check was being sent along with the estimate to me. I got the estimate, and it looks like took all of 5 minutes to do it. He had all the wrong parts written up, wrong gearset, an alignment for a fixed axle, a labor rate of $40/hr for a dealer shop, etc. Basically he wanted to swap a junkyard rearend into it, without regard for the condition of the parts inside, since he made no allowance for brakes, seals, gear fluid, or anything else.
So I called the shop, and the service mgr that was handling this was on vacation (12th-16th) and the other service writers told me they had no idea of anything and to wait a week until she came back! Turns out afterall, the estimate came into the shop on wed the 14th. When I called, they said the parts would be ordered. When I called monday the 19th, my service writer told me no parts had been ordered. She tried to locate the parts the adjuster was using, but I told her they were wrong on his estimate. So she scouted a correct rear end for it, and got the adjuster on the phone to approve it. Turns out the original total estimated cost for the rear jumped from $530 to just about $1500!! They had to special order it and it was scheduled to arrive last monday the 26th. It actually came the friday before, and the service writer called to say it was done on monday (26th).
Tuesday morning (27th), I take a 1/2 day off from work, and wait and wait there to pick up my van. She now tells me of the increased cost of the rear end, and that the adjuster has sent me a check to cover the increased cost. Of course, I didnt get a check, and I had to leave my van there because I didnt have an extra grand laying around. As of today, sunday the 1st, I still have no check!!!

As if this wasnt bad enough, as you may recall earlier in this novel, I rented a car to get me through the holiday weekend. Well, as you may have guessed, I still have the POS! After the weekend passed, I called my agent to see if I had rental coverage, to which they said I dont. As I see it, the van has full coverage, including no fault, which includes "other needed expenses". I took this to mean a rental. I argued with the agent over this, and she tells me the adjuster would be able to write it into his check to cover the cost. Well, the check comes without any money into it for the rental cost. I called my agent, and they told me that again I have no coverage, and there isnt much they could do, even though they had already told me the adjuster would put it into the check. Now everyone from the service writer, to the rental office says I am getting hosed by my insurance company on this, and that I need to get on their case. As of tomorrow morning, I will owe nearly $850 in rental car fees out of my own pocket.
The way I see it, they owe me big time for the rental, seeing as their adjuster was incompetent, and cost us a lot of time by screwing up his estimate, and not calling me, or the shop or doing anything until I called my agent to lean on him to do something about it.
Its obvious my agent doesnt give a crap about my claim, I emailed the provider on their website last week, but have not heard anything back. Do I have any other avenues of recourse with this mess? As it stands now, I am still waiting on that supplementary check from the adjuster, assuming it even comes at all. With my luck, they probably expected me to pay out of my own pocket to get my van back, planning on stiffing me on the money they pay me. Obviously, I plan on telling my agent and (Nationwide) to shove it when I get my van back....that goes without saying.
I know a few of you in here are agents, and some of you have probably been in similar situations. So, any advice here would be helpful.

 

[XLR8]

I was licensed agent but I gave it up 10 years ago. If you didn't have rental reembursement you are not covered for the cost of a rental car. Most companies point out to the insured that they are not covered at the time a claim is made. You can probably negoaicate a lower rental fee since the rental desk was at the repair shop and the know what happened with the insurance. What is the insurance company? Some agencies may have tried not to pay a claim at all since the damage was all mechanical.

 

[SilverSleeper]

The company is Nationwide.
If they said, no I cant get any rental reembursement without paying for it additionally on my policy, that would be one thing. But my agent told me when I asked, that it could be written into the adjusters check. Not only that, but it is through their own adjuster's fault that I have had to rent it for so long. He made the mistake of writing it up for all the wrong parts, so that we had to go and correct his mistakes in order to get it fixed. If he had taken more than 5 minutes to look at it he would have been able to do his job correctly. His estimate lists the options on the van, lots of things that dont exist, and missing things that do. All he had to do was check the door for the option code. If I hadnt caught it, there would be a 3.23 rear end in there right now. (With a 3.73 front)
Chances are, by the way it played out, it was his last stop before he was off for a week and it rushed it and screwed it up. I was figuring a week or 10 days to rent a car, even if it came out of my own pocket. But the fact that he screwed it up, cost us the time to find the right parts, and now waiting for him to cut me the new check, they should pay for it. I honestly believe that they could care less, because I am paying for the rental. If they were paying for it, it probably would have been done, right, and a long time ago.
The rental company is only charging me the regular insurance rate of $25/day as it is, but she said they might be able to do something to help me out.

 

[turbobuick]

Start throwing around the words Bad faith claim. You will be suprised.

 

[DKREDT]

I think you may have a bone to pick with Nationwide for the slow service on your claim. The rental fiasco unfortunately could have been handled with a but further investigation.

Sounds like your Agent is a weasel and is trying to make the adjuster look like the bad guy. Full Coverage NEVER inlcudes rental. It is always a seperate rider.

My guess is that you are renting from Enterprise? See if you can find a lower weekly rate from a competitor and bring it to their attention. $225 a week is a bit high depending on what you are driving. You can probably get a weekly rate for $175 or so. Bring this to their attention and ask them to give you some credit on the rate.

You can also ask the repair shop to help you with some of the rental bill.

 

[zam70]

Estimate = guess.

It's not the adjusters responsibilty to make sure he has all the correct and accurate parts on the estimate, it's the repair shops responsibilty.

I never order a part with out checking for accuracy (upon ordering and reception). Ordering the right part takes no longer than ordering the wrong ones. Do I still order the wrong ones occasionally? Sure. That's just the way it goes.

As for your rental, it is you and your agents fault that you don't have coverage for it...I don't mean to be harsh, but it's all there in black and white. I would give you r agent an ear full. I have never gotten an insurance policy with out the agent trying to pound rental down my throat. Obviously, yours didn't. Strange.

I would talk to the repair shop about some rental reimbursement. I think they dropped the ball and are trying to push it off on the insurance adjuster.
Why did it take longer for the repair just because the wrong parts were on the estimate? This makes no sense...
The customer authorizes the repair, not the insurance company. As soon as your vehicle was dropped off and you authorized repairs, the repair process should have started. (intial estimate, parts ordering etc...)

Start making calls about the supplement check. If they were slow in issuing it (there fore causing the van to not be released) they should be responsible for rental during the wait time (for the check).

Good luck.

 

[SilverSleeper]

Still waiting on the check.....

So let me understand this, I will put it in GN terms.....

You break the axle studs on your factory stock GN 3.42 posi rear and twist it all apart. The adjuster comes to look at it and gives you an estimate of $200. After all, its a 2.41 open rear end in a plain Regal, isnt it? So then if the adjuster isnt responsible for the accuracy, then you would be happy to pay the extra $4-600 to get the correct one installed then? Its not his job to be accurate

I guess that a Gn posi rear should be worth about $100. Does this mean I can go out and buy one for that?

BTW, we (the shop service writer and I) could not get ahold of the adjuster to tell him he screwed up. It took nearly a week because no one was returning our calls. It took one call to my agent to get the first check, then a second more angry call to tell them he screwed up and to fix it. I have not talked to the adjuster. I have called him repeatedly, and have not spoken one word with him. It took longer on the repair because the wrong parts were a heck of a lot cheaper than the right ones! They werent gonna order the right parts without getting the adjuster to pay for it.
And no, in my case, the adjuster is authorizing the repairs. I get the check to pay for it, but the shop and I are being required to sign off and document every penny of what is done to fix it. So obviously, when the cost of the rearend jumped from $530 to $1500 because the right one is harder to find, the adjuster had to OK it first! They arent billing the insurance co, they are billing me!

 

[zam70]

The adjsuters estimate is a verification of damage.
If he priced the incorrect part, this doesn't matter.
He verified that the part was damaged by listing it on his original estimate.
It is the repair shops responsibility to get the correct part, document the price difference and then charge the Ins Co (or you if the Ins Co is paying you direct). They HAVE to pay for it - no ifs, ands or buts. It's all about documentation.
No additional approval is needed as long as it can be proven/documented that the part used for the final repair was the correct part needed to do the repair correctly (not an addtional part - the correct part). The adjusters approval was given with the initial estimate even though the incorrect part was listed.
NOW
If an additional part was needed that was never listed on the original estimate, (say a transmission was deemed damaged) then the adjusters approval is needed.

I'm not talking out my ass here, this is what I do for a living.

If you are having a hard time dealing with the adjuster assigned to your claim, move up the ladder as far as it takes to get things done. Record names, times and out come of a conversation. Demand they Fed Ex you a check overnight.

I personally give an adjuster 24 hours to respond (any kind of response). No response, I call back. No result, I ask for their supervisor...if they can't help, I move up more.
It takes persistance, but it works.

Believe it or not - I'm trying to help out.
Focus on what you can accomplish but also realize, to some extent, you are screwed with no recourse (like the initial rental).

I still think you could get the rental covered for the time delay caused by the slow payment.











It sounds like your repair shop is unfamiliar with the insurance company game.

 

[SilverSleeper]

I realize you are trying to help, and I didnt mean to jump on you personally. I was stressed out max before this all happened, and the one thing I had that I could count on was having a reliable vehicle. So you can imagine where my head is after a month of dealing with all of this BS on top of everything else.

Still no check today when I got home from work. So, since I have tomorrow off, some people are gonna get a visit.
I cant help but think that if he understood the rearend was a 3.73 gear, that this would have been overwith in a week instead of a month.
The problem comes from the lack of communication between all parties involved. The adjuster doesnt return any calls, I just kept getting voicemail. Same goes for his boss, but his boss didnt leave a number to contact anyone higher up, so thats why I went to my agent. Is there some kind of unwritten rule that adjusters cannot talk to me directly? Because it seems like anytime I want an answer, I have to go through my agent to get it.
I think the approval from the adjuster to get the right parts were a courtesy on behalf of the service writer. Ive known Joan personally for awhile, and it was one of the reasons I took it to this shop in the first place. She got me a rental car after the desk had already closed at 4 pm on a holiday weekend. Im sure she wanted me to get the insurance check before I had to pay for it out of my own pocket. So, if anything, she has been the only one in this mess looking out for me other than myself.
I did go higher up the chain, I emailed Nationwide's home office late last week. They left me a message today to call them tomorrow and explain the problem to them in detail. I am sure that they dont want one agent or adjuster to make them look bad as a company.

 

[TurboBuckeye]

Allstate rented me a mini van for a 2 week vacation because the GM shop ordered the wrong transmission and the car wasn't going to be ready until the day after I was to leave. I had no rental car coverage and it was partially the shops fault...Allstate rocks, switch after ( if ) you clean up this mess. All because I ran over a chunk of scrap metal that fell off Sanford & Son's truck

 

[zam70]

I'm glad Allstate worked out for you. Around here, they are one of the Worst to deal with.
We now refuse to work on any Allstate claims...they've gotten that bad.

 

[SilverSleeper]

Well, I have my van back.
Its been a long month.
I guess my complaining to the home office did some good. I talked to them yesterday and explained my problem. Today I got a call from the service writer at the shop telling me that the agent had personally delivered the check to them and that I could come pick up my van finally.
Turns out that the supplement check alone was for $1300. The original was $930. So I would consider that a big mistake. Joan (the service writer) showed me all the stuff that the adjuster missed and they had to keep calling him about. This guy is a moron. I wonder just how long they would have dragged this out if I hadnt gotten Nationwide to lean on the agent themselves.
I figure if nothing else, they should be paying for the time I waited on the last check, and probably another week on top of that because no one was returning calls to me or the shop.
My total rental bill came to just under $1000!

And of course, what do you think I found in my mailbox this afternoon upon return with my van? Yep, my insurance premium bill for the next 3 months. Im considering going to the agents office, where I will light it on fire in front of them while Im telling them they can shove it!

 

[zam70]

Definitly lean on them for the rental that you had to pay for because of the delay. You are entitled with out a doubt.

After this fiasco - go insurance shopping.

 

[SilverSleeper]

Well, I got a letter today from Nationwide.
Basically, they tell me to take a long walk off a short pier.

Stab #1: The original person I talked to, that told me the adjuster would be able to write the rental coverage into the check denies saying anything of the sort. Now she claims to have told me that I had no coverage, and I should call the adjuster if I had any questions about payment. Which I did, but he has never returned a call.

Stab #2: They tell me they have left me repeated messages and have not gotten a call from me. BS! They called and left me one message, that I couldnt get back to during their 8-4 hours. I called them the next day, so thats total BS.

Stab #3: They tell me both the claims adjuster and the claim manager were unaware of any problems arising from the claim. (Despite my repeat attempts at talking to them, and the several calls the shop manager left them) Wow, its getting deep, really deep in here.

Just for laughs: They bicker about my language in my email to them, when I stated its been a month. They write that the payment was made on august 6th, and thats less than a month from July 7th when it was reported. Wow, and I guess 23 hours and 59 miunutes doesnt constitute a day either, huh?
So they are not gonna cover a dime of the rental, even though they screwed up so many times, and it took nasty calls to my agent, and then an email to the company to get paid at all. The fact that the agent showed up personally to the shop, the day after I bitch to the company, with the supplement check looks really guilty, and they knew it.
It aint over yet....
(we really need some smilies here, the BS, cussing, and swordfighting ones we have over at Astrosafari.com would be very appropriate right now!!)

 

[zam70]

Stick by you rguns and don't give up.
Get all the documentation you can - names, dates etc (get stuff from the body shop too)

You deserve some rental reimbursement.

 

[turboscott]

Good luck getting any money for rental. I worked for Enterprise out of college and for an insurance company now. If you don't have rental they won't cover rental simple as that. If you took it to court the judge will ask why you didn't ask for the supervisor when the adjuster was on vacation. If you want, you could try filing a small claims action so it doesn't cost you money for an atty and see if they will offer to split the bill with you.

 

[SilverSleeper]

Actually I tried the supervisor also. No return call there either.
I just got my phone bill for the past month, and I have the calls to the adjuster and to the supervisor listed on my statement.
Yeah, they werent aware of any problems.... My phone bill says otherwise. I cant prove calls to my agent, since they are local, and not itemized on my statement.
Of course, now my van is back at the dealer cuz they hadnt finished fixing things yet. They didnt buff out the quarter panel, or do the undercoating, or bother to order the centercap for my rim either. Not to mention, the brakes are horrible, the whole van shudders from the rear brakes. Drums are probably warped.... So it spent part of today there, and probably most of tomorrow. I have to have it friday for work, and if they aint done with it by then I am making them pay for the rental car to get me though the weekend!!!