Insurance Claims

Most all of us probably have some sort of insurance, some of us might have filed a claim. What I want this thread to be about is what people must do to file a claim, and to get what it takes to replace the property from the insurance company.
Point being is the companies will always try to Wiesel out of paying what it will take for the property, or possibility of not paying anything because you can't prove you owed it to begin with.

So if you have an experience you like share please do. If you have information we should all have please share that.

reply to post by RedGolem


Most insurance companies will tell you to photograph all of the contents in your home and to keep the receipts for purchases. If you don't do that they will weezle out of it. Keep the records in a safe place.

If you have all of the above, call them everyday to find out what the status of your claim is. Give them no mercy!

Also remember, they are in business to make money and will come up with every excuse they can not to pay you what they owe.

Sometimes it takes having an attorney fire off a letter to get satisfaction.

I had an accident claim once. The other driver was at fault. My ex was driving and she was pregnant at the time. No one was hurt. The thing is, I had a car with a market value of $1200. The insurance company wanted to keep the car (totaled) and give me $400. Now does that seem fair?

I called them a few times to try and explain why I thought I should get blue book value, but to no avail.

The solution was I simply called the local ambulance chasing lawyer and he began his work on them. He advised that even though my ex had not been injured that she get many routine checkups (adds up health costs) and also physical therapy. These were all submitted to the insurance company. In addition the lawyer began a campaign of threat letters of filing a lawsuit if a settlement was not reached.

Needless to say, after about a month and a half, the company settled for $12,000 and medical expenses. The lawyer got his cut of 1/3. We ended up with $7000. That was not bad for just wanting them to pay the fair price to replace my car.

All in all I can see somewhat why insurance companies drag there feet over claims, but I think when they deliberately downplay the value of a claim or find ways not agreed to in a policy to not pay, then I think they are hurting the industry that they represent and certainly hurting the customer.

reply to post by ben91069


Ben,
thanks for the experience. It was a good read. As to the settlement though. You gave the lawyer one third. I think I saw on a news report once that you still pay taxes on the full amount. So that in the end you end up with much less then the two thirds left over. Is that correct in your case?

Our house burned down last Valentines day and honestly, our Insurance company has been absolutly fantastic.

The office was right down the block from our house, our insurance lady saw the burning house and had the claim filed before we even called in the next morning to report what had happened.

They have been pretty good with paying for our personal property, sure they take a little off for things that have been purchased a long time ago but overall I think they have been pretty fair. They have also compensated us for cost of living for up to 6 months after the fire including gas for our vehicles, food costs and other expenses.

We have already purchased and furnished a new home with everything we have gotten from our insurance company. I can honestly say that I have no complaints.

reply to post by snowflake_obsidian


Snowflake,
wow that is some high praise
I am very happy it has worked out that well for you. Despite your loss.
Do you mind if I ask who your company is? With praise like that coming from a customer who had to file a claim I think it would be good for all of us to know.

Sure, we have State Farm.

They even gave us adjusted some things for us so that we could get even more money. My fiance brought in all our Gas reciepts and the insurance representative said he was going to go by daily milage instead of recipets which allowed us to claim quite a bit more.

They only questioned one item but only because they didn't know what it was. My fiance is a musician and it was some kind of recording equipment. As soon as my fiance told him what it was he said "Oh, ok" and approved the claim for it.

reply to post by snowflake_obsidian


Snowflake,
Thanks a bunch again. Right now I am thankful that I also have State Farm. I did have to file a claim not long after I moved in. I did not really like the way I was treated then. I feel I was just low balled from the get go. After hearing what you had to say, I hope that if the unthinkable ever happens to me, that the insurance company will treat me as good as it did you.

Car insurance is the worse. I have plenty of coverage, plus my home owners and a couple of life insurance policies.

My Insurance guy is also a friend of mine, so I don't think he's doing anything other than whats good for me.

We've had one accident this past year, my wife, everyting was cut and dry... they paid for my wifes car and the other car, no problems.

The main thing I wanted to say was... if you're driving a car that you still owe money on, get the Loan Gap / Lease Gap insurance coverage. I have it and will not finance another car without it. At the rate cars lose thier value today, this insurance is a good thing to have.

It only cost me about $3 more per month for the coverage. Should I get in an accident and the car is totaled but not worth what I owe on it, no problem, I'm covered, it will get paid off. Especially since I have the LG / LG insurance through my agent and on the auto loan itself.

reply to post by RedGolem



To be honest, that was about 14 years ago, so I don't recall anything about how much taxes we incurred on the settlement.

Originally posted by elevatedone
Car insurance is the worse. I have plenty of coverage, plus my home owners and a couple of life insurance policies.

Yes car insurance is the worst, when it comes to cost. Insuring my car cost more then my house. And when I have filed a claim, generally speaking everything went very smooth. But then when I look at the cost, comparatively speaking, it should go smooth.

Originally posted by Enthralled Fan
Most insurance companies will tell you to photograph all of the contents in your home and to keep the receipts for purchases. If you don't do that they will weezle out of it. Keep the records in a safe place.

A photographic or video record of your personal property is actually recommended by many insurance companies. Keeping the receipts for big ticket items is also a good idea. The primary reason for the receipts is it provides a purchase date for the item.

The purchase date is used for determining the depreciated value of the property. If your policy doesn't have a replacement cost clause attached then they will pay the depreciated or "actual cash value" (ACV). It also plays a role if you have replacement cost.

First, the company pays the ACV until you replace the item and provide proof of replacement at which time they reimburse for the difference. Second, a little known fact is that most replacement cost clauses have a limit of, IIRC, 200% of the ACV. So if the ACV is $50, then they will pay up to $100 for replacement.

If you have all of the above, call them everyday to find out what the status of your claim is. Give them no mercy!

To use an old saying... you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. If the company is being unreasonable, then absolutely give it to them with both barrels. However, it is always best to first give them a chance to take care of things. Auto accident claims with no injuries generally can take up to a week or two to fully settle. If your car is stolen, then you're looking at 30 days or so -- it's written in the contract. Home fires and such will vary widely depending on the extent of damage and circumstances. As for life insurance, they have up to six months to pay, but most companies will pay in a matter of a few weeks.

Also remember, they are in business to make money and will come up with every excuse they can not to pay you what they owe.

Yes, they are in business to make money. As for coming up with excuses, your mileage may vary. Most companies don't play games at claim time because of the potential for bad press. Also they have to answer to the state insurance commissioners for any claims of unfair claims practices.

Sometimes it takes having an attorney fire off a letter to get satisfaction.

Sometimes, most times an attorney is not necessary. Notable exceptions are when serious physical injuries are involved. It also helps to be a well informed consumer. For example, most companies these days do not go by the traditional blue book value when they settle claims for total losses on vehicles. They go by the average cost to replace in your area. So if used vehicles of similar year/make/model/condition are selling for less then they pay less.

I know these things because I was an insurance agent for 20+ years. While things do change over time, the basic principals remain. It's always best to consult with your agent to get answers to your specific situation.

I've only had to make a claim once ... my car got rear ended by an unmarked Police car ... entirely their fault.The officers were ever so apologetic as we surveyed the damage ... the rear end of my car was bashed right in ... and by the time my car had limped home, with bits hanging off the back, there was a senior Police officer waiting at my home to take a statement.

I phoned my own insurance company and I can't fault them at all. The Police had admitted liability right away ... so my insurance company knew they'd get all their costs back. They arranged to collect my car for assessment & repair and a shiny new hire car arrived the following morning. The only complication I had was that my own car was made by the UK manufacturer, Rover, which had only just gone into liquidation ... spare parts were difficult to source due to problems in the supply chain.

So the insurance company & I had a discussion & we agreed between us that my car was uneconomic to repair and off to the scrapyard it went. I got £6,000 ($12,000 ?) in compensation from my insurers, which they fully recovered from the Police ... and off I went and bought a far more robust car ... a 4 y/o Volvo S80, which is built like a tank with lots of airbags & safety devices.

And that's really the only real lesson I've learned as a result of my accident ... when you go buy your next car, sure, have a look at all the sexy cars in the car showroom. But before you part with your cash, consider how it would cope in an accident. Because no matter how careful a driver you might be, there's a lot of idiots on the road, Police included.

reply to post by Niall197


Niall
Good experience share, thanks. I know how a car is built means a lot if you get into trouble like you did. The car I am now in the process of getting rid of has been in two in the past, this third one totaled it. Each time it has held up pretty well. Another way to get an idea how well its build is what the insurance rates are on the car. I did not make a broad comparaison, but they can differ.