JIM73240Z Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 i really hate to say it, but an ambulance chaser might be the way to go now. especially with the condition of your gf. some of them wait to get paid so there might not be out of pocket for you. sorry to hear about this. life sucks sometimes. jimbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsunlover Posted April 20, 2007 Author Share Posted April 20, 2007 AAAHAHAHA ha ha ha ha ha... ha... Holy freaking crap... My ins. co is going to get a very irate phone call from me tomorrow... Yesterday, after leaving FOUR voicemails over 6 hours, I finaly got a call back and apparently, they got the proper policy # now, and got a hold of the other company.. guess what? They havn't had a claim reported on that vehicle... Hmm... Guess the old lady is afraid of her rates going up? Whatever, NOT my problem. I get them to FINALY put a call in to have someone appraise my truck, so I know where I stand. Today, this guy calls me and we arange a time to meet at my house. I get home, and the guy has parked his car (a hyundi?!?) just before my driveway, one the road. With no signal or hazard lights on. Did I mention my road is a BUISY 4 lane road and it is 3pm?!?! So I get backed in my driveway and say hello to the guy. He askes if his car is ok there.. At this point, a minivan blares the horn, locks the brakes and barely swerves around his car. Two more vehicles narowly miss it. Horns honking, fingers fliping us off, you know. I said "Um.. maybe you should pull in my driveway?" Then I notice the bungee cord that is holding his hood shut. Thats right, a bungee cord. He looks over my truck, and askes if I can please open the drivers door so he can get the serial #. I explain that, well.. I CANT!! I point out that the fender has been pushed into the drivers door, and in fact I had to get out throught he window after the crash. I said I could probly shove it open, but it's going to damage/buckle the door (which I didn't want to do BEFORE the truck was apraised) He says its ok, and gets the vin from the window/dashboard.. I point out the steering wheel wobles all over the place now, as if the tilt is broken, which it did NOT do before the crash. He said "Oh no, the crash didn't do that. Look, the tires are fine and the steering didn't get hit. That wasn't caused by the crash" Um, excuse me.. NO.. it wasn't like that before!!!! I don't think this guy knows his arse from a hold in the ground.. Anyway, he says he'll put it through and see if they will fix it, with a decent used front 3/4 clip (evrything from the passenger fender over) , and match the paint/pin striping. I already know from talking to my friend (who is a licenced body man at a local dealer) that will cost around $3000. This appraisal guy thinks $1500.. Yah right. So he leaves, and as he backs out of my driveway his bungee corded Hyundi stalls, almost causing ANOTHER accident. I feel REALLY confident that this shmuck knows wtf he's talking about, and I'm not impressed at all. Either way, if they decide to fix it, it's my call WHERE it's fixed, so I'll make sure to get the higest quotes I can from local shops, and see what they say then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moridin Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 Don't put up with any of their B.S. Take your truck to have it appraised now. Usually only takes 30 min or so, and its good if you have a few quotes. Call the lady's insurance company and find out where their "approved" body shops are. Don't tell them you were in an accident with one of their customers though. I just went through this with my brother's car, so I understand how frustrating it really is. You also need to notify them that about your girlfriends medical situation immediately if you have not done so already. Let them know its a neck/back injury and that she is in a good amount of pain. It will get things moving much quicker. Did you do what I suggested as to obtaining a rental car? That's something I've learned from my own experience and the that of other's who work in the insurance claims field. Telling them that you will be suing for lost wages, because you can not get to work will motivate them to get things rolling for you. Works wonders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsunlover Posted April 21, 2007 Author Share Posted April 21, 2007 Well wouldn't you know it, I called today THREE times and got bounced around from voice mail to voice mail.. Finaly got to talk to a REAL person on the third try, and this one told they would get a claim's rep to call me back (she was basicaly a receptionist..) but it never happened. I have a bone to pick with them about the joke of an appraiser they sent up here, but mainly wanted to tell them about my girlfriends medical issues and see what they would do about that.. My girl went to her doctor today, and she's going to have to go to physiotherapy, probly for 6-8 weeks. That is NOT going to be cheep, and she shouldn't have to pay for it as far as I'm conserned. Problem is, due to a very rare genetic abnormality, her collar bone is not the same as the average person.. actualy, it's almost non-existent in her case, so she can actually can touch her shoulders together! (yah, a little weird, but not normaly a problem...) So the average person wearing a seat belt would not have been hurt at all by a crash at 45 kph, but in her case the force caused her shoulders to be shoved together quite violently, causing some pulling of the muscles in her back and neck area. If she had been prepared for such an impact, she would have probly been able to hold her self together, but this lady pulled out in front of me right at the last second with no warning and I simply reacted by slaming the brakes.. I was death griping the wheel and knew the hit was comming... but it was a rather sudden decelleration and then a pretty good hit, which she didn't have time to brace for. Anyway, I can see this beeing a cheep 'out' for the insurance company, as they will say "Oh well, that's a pre-existing condition and we're not responsible for it" so this 'minor' car crash could turn into a legal battle in the end anyway. Problem with that is I don't have the cash flow to pay a lawyer to fight it out for weeks and months in court with an insurance company.. This whole thing has got me pretty depressed and angry... By law, we have to carry insurance on our vehicles, and pay a LOT of monney for it... but it doesn't seam to do any GOOD... it just makes some people a lot of money. I'm phisicaly ok, but the stress of the whole ordeal is getting to me, and my girlfriend is STILL having dificulty turning her head side to side...oh yes, and two weekends in a row now, I'm without a truck to drive. Yes, accidents happen, but trying to get compensation for these problems is very trying... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moridin Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 Just start threatening legal action. Then find yourself an attorney that finds your case strong enough to work without pay until the case is settled. Some will do this. Make sure to negotiate their percentage and then have them factor that into the equation. Another thing to do is start riding your insurance. They should authorize you a rental car and paid medical attention for your girlfriend. It will be then be their responsibility to sue lady's insurance for the money. Fault has been proven by the police report. The most important thing is that if someone isn't being helpful, ask to speak to their supervisor. Just keep going up the list until you find a person that is willing to do a little work for you. It was the only way my brother got a check for his car and a little more money for opting out of a rental. That didn't happen until he spoke to the lady that managed the whole office and oversaw all the claims. Don't take no for an answer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ledphoot Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Oh and dont forget. Your GF can also sue the lady herself seperately for injuries if all else fails.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsunlover Posted April 23, 2007 Author Share Posted April 23, 2007 Well, I'm calling them tomorrow and raising some hell, thats for sure! I got a line on some legal rep. if I need it, although I hope it doesn't have to come to that... I'll threaten it anyway. Oh, and talked to my body man friend too. He also thinks this appraiser is full of it. I told him that the guy's saying $1500 or so, and my friend laughed for 5 minits. So, It is totaly MY chioce where it will be fixed (thats IF they deam it worth repair).. guess I will take it down to the dealer my friend works at! Actually, one of their guys will come here to have a look at it for me, and give me an estimate. And they're going to go high. I'm also going to get another estimate from a body shop in town which is notorious for charging quite a bit. (They do nice work though, lots of clasics and hot rods, high dollar stuff) Either way, if they fix it, or tell me it's write off, I'll fight it out for decent $$$ and as soon as I'm paid out, I'm cancelling them and putting stop payments on the automatic withdrawl from my bank. I already have another company lined up for my house and whatever daily driver I have/get next. (the one my Z's insured with) And on to week two.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbk240z Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Your situation sounds like a real headache for sure. Dude, forget going up the ladder, go to the top. Speak to the head knockers in charge, the big dogs. You need to be extremely agressive, rude if need be, a pain in their a$$, irritate the heck out of them. If they don't get back to you within the hour, call them again, and again, and again, and so on. Anyway, good luck on getting this resolved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Oh, and my ins. broker has been of little to NO help.. They will take my money evry month for the house/truck policy but if I have a problem, well.. thats not what they do; I have to deal with the actual insurer for a claim.. blah blah blah. So why the hell am I using them? what does it do for me? Heh... I think I'll be changing companies in the near future. This is the part I don't understand. I had a run of back luck some years ago and got in 3 significant' accidents. After each accident Gieco asked me if I wanted to pursue a claim though the other insurance myself or let them handle it (I know, I know, Gieco sucks, not the point). I told them to deal with it, even though none of the accidents were my fault. Of course no one was hurt in any of my accidents. Not sure how that would complicate things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsunlover Posted April 24, 2007 Author Share Posted April 24, 2007 Well, I made an angry call today and wouldn't you know it, after leaving a voice mail AND calling back and telling a real person I wasn't happy, (and someone should realy call me back or my LAWYER would be making the next call!) , I got a call back around 2pm. So they finaly got their arse in gear, and figured out I'm NOT at fault, and have allowed me a rental. I punched out on break, and promptly went and rented a 2007 GMC truck. It's only a 2wd reg. cab, but it'll do for now. I also had some not nice things to say about the joke of an appraiser they sent here, and they're getting someone else to come and do a PROPER appraisal. Should get a call tomorrow. As for my broker, I've been running their name into the dirt whenever I talk to ANYONE about this whole mess, and it's a small town; dirt flies around pretty quick. Once this mess is all settled, I'm going down there and causing a stink. I'll probly piss off a few people, and (hopefully) make any other clients in the office think twice about going through them for insurance. I've also told them my girl friend is STILL in a bit of pain, and has another appointment with her doctor to figure out the extent of injury, and what/how much phisiotherapy is going to be required. She's going to get a signed letter from her doctor stating exactly how injured she is, and what it's going to take to fix her up... Oh, and dont forget the time she's going to be taking off work for this whole mess. (doctors appointments, phisio sesions) Obviously, they're going to want to drag their feet on this too, as it could get expensive but I'm through playing the 'nice guy' with them. I'm prepared to get quite nasty if need be, In the end however, I/we may have to sue the lady that caused the accident ourselves.. so be it. Either way I'm not letting this thing go, and I'm makign DAMN sure the next insurance company I use will cover me better if this kind of thing happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ledphoot Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 Squeaky wheel gets the grease!!! Good job so far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsunlover Posted April 25, 2007 Author Share Posted April 25, 2007 Indeed.. I'm not done squeeking yet though! Yesterday REAL profesional showed up to appraise my truck. He explained how it would probly go, and was very polite/understanding. He told me he'd wait to send his report untill I faxed all the bills I could come up with, to PROVE I have invested close to $2000 in this truck, less then 8 months ago! Evrythings a mess right now, I have to get mroe organized.. my 'office' desk has a computer and a bunch of music gear on it, I have drywall and other materials in the dining room, the kitchen still isn't done, the garage is a disasterous mix of building stuff, personal things from the truck, a Datsun and other car parts, ect...Neesless to say, I didn't have anything on hand to show him that second.. Anyway, I faxed them this morning, and made a call to confirm a half hour later. I actually got to talk to HIM and he got the bills, and put it in the report. ALSO; He discovered that someone else had already appriased this vehicle.. I explained the whole affair, and he actually thought the other guy was 'a bit off' on several things in his report, and he'd make sure this was done PROPERLY this time. Should get a call tomorrow from the ins. and hopefully and offer to write off, or fix.. we'll see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moridin Posted April 27, 2007 Share Posted April 27, 2007 Funny how the mention of attorney tends to "clear" things up. Glad to hear that things are starting to move along. I really dislike the insurance business, and more importantly, the many idiots that seem to be involved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsunlover Posted May 2, 2007 Author Share Posted May 2, 2007 So I FINALY get a call today from the insurance people. Seams that they were having a little problem figuring out a value on my truck. From the first (dipshit) adjustor, they ended up with $2000. Yup. Even THEY thought that was a little low! So, after the second adjustor filed his report, and some more reaserch (apparently there arn't many trucks like mine around anymore, making it hard to figure a market value out) they offered me $4200. Now, that was better than 2K but frankly, not really enough to buy anything worthwhile IMO (I have to replace a 1 tone dually for crying out loud!) So after I got a little upset, and they put me on hold for 5 minits, they came back with an offer just over $6200... I decided to take it. Lets face it, this is a 16 year old truck, with 350+km's and a bunch of other problems to boot, and it's a little more than I actually have invested in it, so I removed my plates and signed off on it. They will drag the hulk away tomorrow, and I have the rental truck untill next monday. The cheque should be arriving at my brokers tomorrow by lunch time, so with any luck it will clear at my bank by friday and I'll probly be buying 'something else' this weekend. I know this whole thing has been a HUGE stress out, but I'm trying to look at it as a learning expiriance as well.. If this kind of thing ever happens again, I know what to expect now, and will DEFINATLY be better prepared.. Make sure all the info is correct, know what questins to ask, ect. BTW, Thanks guys, for all the advice and support on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ledphoot Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 How about your GF? did they offer anything for her or is she gonna pursue it? $6200 not bad at all for a worn out dually. I've seen some decent gas fueled duallies here in the southern US for 5-6 k. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsunlover Posted May 2, 2007 Author Share Posted May 2, 2007 How about your GF? did they offer anything for her or is she gonna pursue it? $6200 not bad at all for a worn out dually. I've seen some decent gas fueled duallies here in the southern US for 5-6 k. Well, it's probly gona be her lawyer against the other ladys lawyer.. I don't get the feeling they will do anything worthwhile for us, and in the end, will just be more crap.. but I'm gona try anyway... We'll see. All this happened tday while I was at work, (and I actually had to take a long lunch to get evrything taken care of) and work is CRAZY this week, so I didn't even ask about the girlfriend's situation. She still has to go for her next appointment anyway, so I don't know much at this point.. Oh, but she decided to try and 'work out' today, and of course she's really sore now.. I kinda freaked out at her a bit, as it's probly more harmfull than good right now. Keeping in shape is good, but sometimes you need to CHILL and take it easy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240zV8 Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 is the $6200 Canadian? If it's USD, then u got a great deal on the truck, because even retail value is $5700, private party is way less. If it's Canadian than it's about a fair price for it. Isurance companies have no problem hounding you if u miss a payment or somthing, but once u actually need them they stutter like crazy. Since i've been driving we've paid the insurance company about $7200, I should have just got the physical side of the insurance for medical bills and if I hit someone else, which would be alot less and put money in a closed account the value of my truck, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsunlover Posted May 3, 2007 Author Share Posted May 3, 2007 Yah, thats canadian money. I agree it's a pretty good settlement, especialy since I personaly only have about $5000 invested in the thing! (I got a pretty good deal on it when I bought the truck) But IMO, what I have into it is not neccesarily what it's actually worth, and to be honest I was going to put it up for sale (before the crash) and ask $6500 obo.. Probly would have taken $5500 or so... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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