by traciea » Fri Jul 22, 2011 02:50 am
I recently filed a claim for hail on my Taurus and I was paid minus salvage value. One day later my vehicle was hit again with hail and they told me to file another claim. I did and they found more hail damage. Now, they say that they do not owe me anything because the salvage value the first claim was $996.00 and the new hail was over $2000. I did not fix the hail the first time and I am not going to fix it. Is this correct or should I call and question their findings?
Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 03:59 am Post Subject:
What damages were caused that required more repairs then the first loss? I'm guessing none.
But what you say about the value being $1000 and that they owe you nothing only makes sense if you have a $1000 or higher deductible.
What should have happened is your carrier should have removed comp/coll from your vehicle or you should have. My guess is that they did not have time to remove it. They should have removed it as they knew they would not be paying you on a 1st party loss so they could not justify charging you a premium for this.
The first part of my post stands as the underlying question. Did the second hail storm require any additional repairs to correct the damages.
Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 05:28 am Post Subject:
Yes I did still have full coverage on it and my deductible is $500.00. I was paid $2098 on the first claim because the damages were over $3000. But, being that the vehicle still had comp/collision on it shouldn't they pay me because it had $1100.00 or more worth of new damages? Or do they subtract the $996 salvage from that also?
Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 05:37 am Post Subject:
They don't owe you for panels that were damaged, paid for, and not repaired... as there is no additional repairs that need to be paid. That is, if they paid you already to replace the hood because of dents and it's damaged again without being repaired then there is no additional repairs needed.
At least this will be their view on the matter.
Could you press the issue? Yes. Would you win? Perhaps. But I can tell you... you'd probably need to file suit against your carrier for breach of contract in order to win.
Your argument is what your policy states... that they will pay for damage to your vehicle from hail, up to the repair cost or value. In this case the value is $1000 less your $500 deductible.
Do I think you could win this argument? Perhaps... it's not without merit. At least you could press the issue and also file a Dept of Insurance complaint to the matter. But you can be sure that your carrier is going to drop 1st party coverage on that vehicle quicker then anything.
Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 05:58 am Post Subject:
I did drop comp/coll a week after the 2nd claim. The manager at my insurance company said that they don't pay after they salvage a vehicle. Let me tell you, they had 3 different estimates done on my vehicle and they made me bring it to the shop. It was a big waste of time for me to end up without anything after I was told that I had to file another claim before I could fix it because there were more damages. Now, I am not going to fix it because it isn't worth it. So, they are telling me that now that the vehicle was a total loss, it isn't worth anything and I won't get anything out of it.
Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 03:22 pm Post Subject:
So, they are telling me that now that the vehicle was a total loss, it isn't worth anything and I won't get anything out of it.
Break out your policy and read what their promise to pay is (under the Comprehensive/Collision portion it will be at the start of that section. Call them up and ask them to explain why the vehicle has no value. If it does not, why did they deduct $1000 from their last payment when they allowed you to keep it. This will be a short conversation as obviously it does have value. Then read off the part of the policy that states when they will pay for a loss. Ask them why they are not going to honor that agreement in the legally binding contract.
Have they sent you a written denial on this claim? If not, ask for payment within 30 days or a written denial, as the claim is still pending if they have not paid or sent a written denial.
If they deny the claim (or you an do it now) file a complaint with your states Dept of Ins as your company is not honoring the contract.
What they should have done was to remove 1st party coverage from the vehicle effective on the date of the 1st hail damage. That way they would not be in this situation. But as it is, you are _paying_ for coverage that they are not offering. Actually, you want to make this part of your argument as it carries the most weight! They are collecting a premium and offering you nothing for it. They can't do that.
They may tell you what I mentioned in my first post (and I would tend to agree)... that there is no additional repairs need from this second loss so there is really no additional damage. A court may look at this and see that you could take the original money, have the vehicle repaired, and no more damage would exist. In that you won't/don't do this does not mean the insurance should pay all over again. To break it down... if I have a covered loss that results in a dent to my fender and the insurance company pays to have that fender replaced. Then a have another covered loss which results in a dent right next to the prior dent. Well, what additional "damage" do I have? The insurance has already paid to replace that fender. Does not having it replaced mean that any additional damage was done from the second loss? The first payment compensated me for any damage done to that fender (as they paid to have it replaced). So they could argue that no additional damages (no additional loss) were actually caused. Does the policy state it will address a loss or damage? Even then, I think it's a legal question.
You can make the arguments I mentioned above but at the end of the day I don't know that the carrier is going to pay. It will cost you nothing to argue your point. Setting legality aside, you really should not be paid twice for the same repairs. What you are doing here is exactly that.
If nothing else, the carrier needs to refund your comp/coll premium back to the date of the first hail damage. They need to do that if they are not going to cover this loss and not provide you the service that premium is being paid for.
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