by Christine » Sat Dec 15, 2007 07:13 pm
I had an accident and my car totaled. Since I was told it is totaled I have recieved a letter from my insurance company saying they are in the process of completing the evaluation for my car. In the letter they sent me DMV forms. The bill of sale, power of attorney, Pay authorization form for my finance company. They want me to only sign my name on required areas on the forms and leave the rest blank for them to fill out. But they have not offered a settlement for my car yet, and I feel really uneasy about sending those forms first. The adjuster also told me last time I talked to her I need to get those back to her asap. And nothing can go foward until she gets those forms. Does this sound right? Shouldn't I get some kind of offer first?
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2007 10:07 pm Post Subject:
If I were to mail out just 10 Power of Attorney forms and asked the people to complete all the areas, I'd guess that about 3 of them would come back incorrectly filled out. Heck, I've asked people to _just_ right their name as it appears on the title and sometimes even that is done incorrectly. This is why the adjuster did not ask you to complete all the areas of the forms. Not that you personally would get them incorrect but rather 8 or 9 people out of 10 would get them incorrect. Many state DMV's are really getting tough on having the forms filled out perfectly. If the forms are not perfect, then they need to be mailed out all over again. This could add weeks to the settlement offer being made.
I understand your reluctance in completing the forms without an offer being made. Ideally, the offer should be made and I don't see why it could not be. But don't worry... the sale of the vehicle is _not_ legally completed until you _accept_ the offer. That is, a contract (to sell the vehicle) is not legal until you accept payment. Until then, you own the vehicle.
Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 05:33 am Post Subject:
If I were to mail out just 10 Power of Attorney forms and asked the people to complete all the areas, I'd guess that about 3 of them would come back incorrectly filled out.
If this is true then the insurer is just right to ask the claimant to sign on the required places, and fill up the rest of the form by their own.
Sometimes, one may face problems in understanding the actual verbiage of the documents and thus may furnish the wrong information, which will only lengthen the claim settlement process. Therefore, for the smooth claim process, you at times may have to put trust on your carrier. Best of luck.
Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 06:03 am Post Subject:
Well, although I agree with both of you to some length, also feel that signing on the blank forms are bound to arouse suspicions on one's mind, more so, when the insurance frauds are so well prevailed.
We often come across with news, where the insurers and agents are jointly scamming innocent policy holders. In many of the financial forums, I have read about incidents where the insurers have just turned deaf to the claimant after receiving all the documents from him/her.
I feel that you should ask them to make you an offer before handing out the forms or at least ask for an assurance that the forms won't fall into the wrong hands. Tk cr.
Jeremy
Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 01:57 am Post Subject:
I agree that insurance companies may be worried that you'd make a few mistakes on the forms, but *I* personally would never sign blank forms and just *trust* an entity with those forms. I understand the claim process is lengthy, but they should still start with an offer and then move on from there.
There really should be no reason that the insurance company hasn't made you an offer considering we have many electronic tools at our disposal to find out the ACV of the vehicle.
Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 04:56 am Post Subject:
So once an offer is made this changes what can be done with the forms? Each claimant has the backing of their Dept of Ins to make sure their interests are looked after. If the carrier were not to make a payment that was accepted by the owner of a vehicle and that vehicle was not returned to the owner, it would be pretty simple for the DOI to find this out. The result would be to correct the problem as well as some heavy fines.
Of course the OP can wait on signing the forms... but truth is... it won't change anything. The carrier could still make all he promises in the world, have the forms returned and do the exact same thing as if no promises were made. But they won't... just as they won't use a POA and odometer statement to "steal" anyone's vehicle. But one thing is certain... they won't make a payment until the have those completed forms in their hands.
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