by annmariza » Mon Mar 15, 2010 09:46 pm
my husband wrecked our truck last friday and had it towed to a wrecking yard per insurance instructions then they wanted it moved to their yard and now they wont answer the phone or return our phone calls. it has now been over a week and still no answers.
Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 10:03 pm Post Subject:
You need to call and ask for a supervisor. It should only take a couple of days to have the vehicle inspected, perhaps 3 if they are busy. It might be that they have inspected the vehicle, it's a total loss and they are obtaining the value... but they should still be returning messages.
Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 11:51 pm Post Subject:
Or it could just simply be one of those companies that do not have adjusters in the area, and are attempting to steer you to a shop that they have special veiled agreements with. In exchange for writing an estimate with certain criteria factors and possible concessions, the insurer promises to send as much work to their preferred shop as possible. Guess who that shop thinks is their customer. :wink: I'd do your homework on picking a shop in your area and find out what written guarantees the shop offers and what your friends, relatives, and peers think of shops in your area. There are some that would say the second accident occurs when you allow the insurer to steer you to their shop or select the shop.
Since insurers do not repair cars, how can they guarantee the work. :lol: They can't, they simply will find a shop to do it for their price and the shop will have to guarantee the repairs. The only time an insurer is liable for the repair is when they take control of the repair and name the repairer. If you look at the fine print, all most insurers are guarantying is that you will be satisfied with the fit of their imitation parts, and the quality of the repairer they have negotiated the repair with. When you have a problem with the repair, they will just make you continue to keep going back to the shop that they steered you to.
Of course this is just my opinionated opinion.
You could ask that the insurer put it in writing that they will pay to have it towed back to your preferred shop since they are recommending you move it. Some shops take authorization from the vehicle owner for a partial disassembly for purposes of inspection, save the parts, document the vehicle with pictures before disassembly and send notice to the insurer that the vehicle will be available for inspection as reqired by policy for 48 hours as a courtesy. If no one from the insurer contacts the shop or owner of vehicle within that time, repairs will proceed based on the shop's estimate and it will serve as a proof of loss and documentation or if they insist that no repairs begin until they examine the vehicle, then the shop has the right to assess stall tie up time or move it outside to temporary storage area and assess fees.
Posted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 12:08 am Post Subject:
are attempting to steer you to a shop that they have special veiled agreements with
wanted it moved to their yard
I'm pretty sure this is a "salvage yard", as in the vehicle is a probable total loss. if it was a preferred shop, the shop would have written an estimate and could start work on the vehicle right away. This does not appear to be the case.... so I did not bother to read he rest of the long post/statement. :?
Posted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 04:38 am Post Subject:
I'm pretty sure this is a "salvage yard", as in the vehicle is a probable total loss. if it was a preferred shop, the shop would have written an estimate and could start work on the vehicle right away. This does not appear to be the case.
.... so I did not bother to read he rest of the long post/statement
could be, but then there are a lot of companies that have towing arrangements where vehicle owners are instruced to take their wrecked vehicles directly to a salvage pool and then moved to shops after it has been determined it is repairable or the insurer is trying to mitigate storage charges simply because they are going to take their leisure in getting around to inspecting.
Posted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 12:28 pm Post Subject:
Wait a sec...
my husband wrecked our truck last friday
three days ago..then you sayit has now been over a week and still no answers
so to start with did this accident occur March 12th or March 5th?When did you actually report it to your insurance company?
I'm with T..I think it was towed to the responding wreckers lot, then the carrier
per insurance instructions then they wanted it moved to their yard
which is likely a storage free lot..to stop storage, and to complete an inspection....OP if this happened last friday, or they just got notice of the claim they are probably moving it to a storage free lot, and if necessary will have tear down completed, so they can write an estimate and/or determine if it's totaled or repairable...either way they will call when this is done to see where you want it repaired if repairable, or discuss the total with you.I hear stuff like this some times, but when you drill down you generally find out something different..
now they wont answer the phone or return our phone calls
First..'who' are you calling? Are you calling your agent? or a claims adjuster? If an adjuster is it your carriers claims office, or an independent? When did you call? Have you left messages? If so how many and when....what was the last conversation you had with the rep and what was said at that time? maybe, something like, 'once your vehicle is moved, we will have it torn down, and an adjuster will then inspect it and then call you back'...As T said, if it has been a reasonable amount of time, call the ADJUSTER (not your agent), if you get their voice mail hit 'zero' that usually will route you to someone else..when that party answers, ask to speak with your adjusters boss..if you get that v/m zero out again, and keep going until you get someone on the phone...
Posted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 12:41 pm Post Subject: Vehicle Storage Fees
Annmariza,
The insured (you/your husband) is responsible to mitigate the damages to your vehicle, which can involve controlling/reducing the amount of storage fees that may be accruing on your stored vehicle. In addition to calling your adjuster to relay the difficulties you're having in contacting the tow/salvage lot operator, I would put in writing to your insurance adjuster your attempts to contact the lot in which the truck is being stored.
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