Any tips on dealing with the insurance adjuster?

Discussion in 'Off-Topic' started by piddster, Aug 12, 2008.

  1. piddster
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    piddster Lone Wolf

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    My tentative game plan, sicne I'm missing a lot of my receipts for the $23-25k I've spent on goodies for my car, it to have the adjuster treat the car like any other '93 Legacy L, except for my torn up wheel, tire, and bent coilover.

    If I got $1k for the car and the $700 to replace the wheel, tire and coilover, I'd be happy. Minus buyback of course.


    :dunno:




    Other viewpoints?
     
  2. fobiawrx
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    fobiawrx Fabiola

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    make eye contact at all times........


    and speak slowly when you tell them your demands.
     
  3. Dream
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    Dream Well-Known Member

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    Make sure you have a "hello kitty" in your hands at all times.
     
  4. Taras
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    Taras BANNED

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    tell the adjuster you will give him 3 hundred bucks if he does a good job.
     
  5. ShortytheFirefighter
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    ShortytheFirefighter Pokemans. I has none. Staff Member

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    Yes, because they love when you do that. :roll:



    On a serious note, make sure you're as clear as you can be, and make sure you get things in writing.
     
  6. fondune
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    fondune Well-Known Member

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    In communist russia, you don't adjust insurance, insurance adjusts YOU.
     
  7. EggRoll
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    EggRoll Well-Known Member

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    Make sure you cry.
     
  8. fondune
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    fondune Well-Known Member

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    and show a little cleavage.
     
  9. putz
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    putz Well-Known Member

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    ^^this^^


    LOLz, belly shirt?:yumyum:

    uhhh, stay confident, but not cocky!:biggrin:
     
  10. fobiawrx
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    fobiawrx Fabiola

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    keep looking behind you every minute or so. and whisper some stuff every once and while.
     
  11. putz
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    putz Well-Known Member

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    write stuff on papper, then crumple it up and sma**** to your head and whisper "it's nothing, just nothing.... )

    and when he askes if your okay you gotta look to your left and shout "he's trying to help us, just trying to help us"
     
  12. piddster
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    piddster Lone Wolf

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    Show him my assortment of various firearms?
     
  13. fobiawrx
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    fobiawrx Fabiola

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    no dont do that! you will get in trouble. if anything lay out a blanket and bring a basket of food with you and discuss it sitting Indian style while talking threw notes that you fold into funny animals and shapes....
     
  14. piddster
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    piddster Lone Wolf

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    I don't know if I can learn origami overnight.
     
  15. fobiawrx
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    fobiawrx Fabiola

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    use the internet son.
     
  16. piddster
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    piddster Lone Wolf

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    Anyways...

    What I'm trying to get at is whether or not I should claim all my mods and would I come out better in the end from doing that. Does that value stay the same when discussion the buyback? There are basically two avenues to pursue and I'd like to know which one I should take.
     
  17. 02blubru
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    02blubru Well-Known Member

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    call a random insurance company and ask them
     
  18. EggRoll
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    EggRoll Well-Known Member

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    When I crashed my wrx they said I could take whatever I put on the car as long as I replace it to stock. but if you are buying it back then I dunno.
     
  19. TSTRBOY2004
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    TSTRBOY2004 Well-Known Member

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    I would just point out what you have done to it.. and explain/plead how much the mods are worth compared to the car, as you know... then get him to write it off(which is likely the outcome) then buy it back..but tell him to make the worth really low then buy back will be low.. heck if its real low they may pay you to take it off hteir hands ;)
     
  20. nm+
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    nm+ Professional Hypocrite

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    Who's at fault?
    If you are, then read your contract. It depends on how modifications are handled. At minimum, you should be given a chance to take out non-covered parts, with the caveat that parts be replaced with something, if they came on the car (for example, a shock must be replaced witha shock, but if the car didn't orginally come with a strut bar, you can just take that)

    If the other guy's insurance is paying, he must make you "whole." This means paying for all mods. And while reciepts help, they should not be manditory if you can find current prices for said parts. Remember you will still only get fair market for said parts and that includes wear and the fact that it replaced an OEM part. You won't get MSRP for coilovers with 25k mi on them, for example. If the other driver is at fault, thier policy doesn't matter. You don't have a contract with them, and it's simiply a tort claim.

    Oh and next time you dump $20k or mods into a car, get an agreed value policy.
     
  21. piddster
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    piddster Lone Wolf

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    She was at fault making an illegal U-turn into the side of my car when I was doing the speed limit (50 mph) and not looking to see if anyone was behind her. I assume you saw the pics. I have many more of the scene. Thank goodness because the officer did not write a whole lot (most illegibly) on the report.

    The woman was lucky. If I didn't have the suspension I do and the reflexes to boot, a 3000lb car would have hit her door at 50+ mph. Side and curtain airbags don't help when your seat ends up less than half the size it was.


    So you are saying he most likely will want to agree an an actual value of the car? No chance he will treat it like the shell that it is and making me whole with the other couple damages? He would probably come out better that way though.





    I was working on the agreed value part. I just made a CD detailing everything in the car and was sending to a race shop for appraisal. Those were steps outlined by my agent, granted everything was cosh with his underwriter.




    Either way, the car is not leaving my driveway. If I could put four boots on it and completely secure the car to the ground I would.
     
  22. piddster
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    piddster Lone Wolf

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    Also, market value on parts is debatable. Find me a used H&R coilover for a GC/GM impreza.



    I dunno. I am prepared to fight for a decent settlement. A discrepancy of $500 is not worth going to court over for him, and he might as well give it to me. It Am. Fam. and I've heard decent things about them, unlike Progressive.
     
  23. 02blubru
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    02blubru Well-Known Member

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    remove the tires
    hide it behind the garage
    park it at a friends
     
  24. nm+
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    nm+ Professional Hypocrite

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    Well, that's what we call an issue for trial.

    My post can be sumarized as this. The insurance company has to pay you what it would cost to purchase a car exactly like yours. Thats what "whole" means.
     
  25. Deride
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    Deride Well-Known Member

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    Pretty sure when its their fault and they hit your car they just pay you what the damages are for or what your car is worth in this case. I don't think you even have to buy it back cause they are just paying for property damage done basically.
     
  26. Nuke
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    Nuke Well-Known Member

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    +1

    They'll probably cut you a check for the damage and call it a day.
     
  27. piddster
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    piddster Lone Wolf

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    Well, considering the cost of parts, and the ridiculous amount of labor it would take to make me "whole," that would add up to substantially more since the typical hot-rod shop rate is about $150 an hour.


    But my definition of whole is a little different. Give me enough to put everything into a different shell and I'll be happy. A close personal friend has been an adjuster for almost 20 years, and said its up to what I want to do. Claim the car is worth gold and it will cost you gold to get back. Claim the car is worth dirt.... you get the idea.
     
  28. piddster
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    piddster Lone Wolf

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    Update:

    I've talked to the main adjuster handling the case and the field adjuster that is coming out today to look at the car. From the conversations I've had with both of them I'm going to be claiming a lot of my stuff. Namely big ticket items. Apparently aftermarket parts do not affect the salvage value of the car a whole lot. If the mods raise the value of the car enough, they might not even total it and just cut me a check right away as opposed to going through the whole total loss/buyback crap.

    If I got $3k + out of it I'd be a happy happy boy.
     
  29. EggRoll
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    EggRoll Well-Known Member

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    Cross your fingers! I think that you will!
     
  30. Chux
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    Chux Well-Known Member

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    but then you run into the issue of cost to repair vs. cost to replace. If they decide that the damages cost more to fix than it would cost to just buy another car......you'll get what they think the car is worth. which, when I crashed the escort (no-one at fault), we easily got double what it was worth (yea, an '01 escort with 100k miles worth $4k....lol).



    do you want them to total it? or do you want to fix it. if you don't claim the mods, they'll pretty much 100% total it. which means you'll get a check for the value of the car minus the buy back cost minus deductable (with the escort it was like 4200, minus 500 deduct, and minus 600 buy back). and you'll still have all your parts.

    if you do claim the parts, it might raise the value of the car enough to prevent them from totalling it. at which point, you're talking about the value of each part that was damaged...
     
  31. piddster
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    piddster Lone Wolf

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    ^ Exactly. It would cost more to fix my car than to buy another typical 215k '93 Legacy L. But if the car with all the mods is worth $20k, then $4k to fix it is within their guidlines. I would come out better if he wrote me a check to fix the damage, then just totalling out the car and getting paid to replace a stock car.
     
  32. nm+
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    nm+ Professional Hypocrite

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    FYI, exactly like yours includes the mods, condition, even the paint color and tire depth.
     
  33. piddster
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    piddster Lone Wolf

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    So rarity may affect it as well?
     
  34. nm+
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    nm+ Professional Hypocrite

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    Yes, if rarity makes it worth more.
    For example, a manual cavalier (they do exist) still won't be worth **** because even though it's rare, no one wants one.
    On the other hand, a 302 Boss is worth far more a 2008 Mustang gt, despite being a "worse" car (in terms of all performance measure) because it's rare which jacks up value.
     
  35. SubeN'Siren
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    SubeN'Siren Well-Known Member

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    "Any tips on dealing with the insurance adjuster? "

    Yes, bury them 6ft under, or you will smell them later.

    Sorry, had a hail experience where the adjuster said the dimples on my rear spoiler (OEM) were "manufacturers defects" :mad:...I wonder what SOA would have to say about that...:roll:
     
  36. piddster
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    piddster Lone Wolf

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    Well, I got my offer. It would have been about $7k to fix it with used parts, so they said no way to that. He took the VIN off the dash, which is for a Legacy Sport Sedan, not my L, and gave me an offer based on that, my messed up wheel, tire, and bent coilover. After buyback I'll get about $2300-2400. Not bad, IMHO, considering my car is rusty and has 215k on the odometer.




    Nathan, have you driven past that house? :wavey: