Which States Have Laws That Support Diminished Value?
Filed under: Diminished Value, First Party Claims, Insurance Companies, State Farm, State Specific Information, Third Party Claims, West Virginia
Is diminished value recognized in all states or just in Georgia and California as I have been told?
Diminished value, in my opinion, is a very legitimate auto insurance claim. I am one of a majority of people reflected on surveys who wouldn’t buy a car that had been wrecked unless I received a huge discount to compensate for the added risk and aggravation I would likely encounter. Some folks, I’ve found, don’t share my view. A few days ago my brother-in-law who is a retired insurance adjuster (someone who should know what he is talking about when it comes to auto insurance claims) says claims for diminished value are wrong and shouldn’t be brought against insurance companies. He says the premiums we pay for our insurance policies don’t take these losses into account. Please tell me he is wrong, and tell me which states accept diminished value claims so I can straighten out my insurance-biased brother-in-law.
Jo Ann
Charleston, WV
Insurance Company Direct Pays Body Shop Instead of Car Owner
Is it acceptable for an auto insurance company to pay a body shop directly instead of paying the person whose car was damaged?
I’ve had three car wrecks in the past five years. Only the most recent one was my fault. In every case where I had the damage to the car repaired, the insurance company gave the check directly to the shop instead of paying me. This happened both when my insurance company paid and when I got hit by someone else and their insurance company paid. In the end I never really knew the cost of the repairs, and I always felt like I was victim of an underhanded, backroom deal between the body shop and the insurance company. Is it acceptable for an auto insurance company to pay a body shop directly instead of paying the person whose car was damaged?
Ted
Cincinnati, OH
Auto Insurance Adjuster Blatantly Lies to Third Party Claimant
A dim-witted driver hit me last Saturday causing an auto accident that tied up four lanes of rush hour traffic and nearly destroyed my new 2007 Ford truck. The body shop I had it towed to estimated more than $20,000 in damage and said the truck might not even be repairable.
Of course the accident left me pretty aggravated since it wasn’t my fault. Then the claims adjuster for the other guy’s insurance company took my rage to new highs when he told me the truck WAS repairable, but I couldn’t go to the auto body shop I wanted to go to! I had to go to an auto repair shop the insurance company recommended.
I thought there was a law that gave me the right to choose the auto repair shop instead of the insurance company. Not being certain of my rights I didn’t argue much. But if you tell me to the contrary that I am allowed to go wherever I want to have my truck repaired, I’m going to be calling that insurance company back and eating that guy’s lunch.
Rick
Akron, Ohio
Oops! I Spent Insurance Money for Auto Repair on Other Stuff
About a month ago I had a fender bender with my car, a 1999 Ford Taurus. It wasn’t my fault. Fortunately, there wasn’t much damage and there were no injuries. I signed a release and settled quickly with the other guy’s insurance company. They wrote me a check for $844, the amount the auto repair shop said it would cost to fix. The next day I put the insurance check in my bank account. With school and everything I had a lot of bills to pay and I had to dip into the money I received for the car repair to make ends meet. Now the money is gone and the car isn’t repaired. I don’t want to get in trouble for spending the insurance check and not fixing my car, but I didn’t have much choice. Things were really tight. I wondered how long I have before the insurance company gets upset with me and demands I pay them back or get the car fixed? Eventually I should be able to put the money back, but it will be three or four months down the road. Is that too long?
Brian
Pittsburgh, PA
Insurance Companies Rated by Auto Body Repair Shops
Filed under: 21st Century, AIG, Allstate, American Family, Farmers, GMAC, Insurance Companies, Liberty Mutual, Nationwide, Original Equipment (OEM), Progressive, State Farm, USAA
I live in Ohio where we are required by law to carry auto insurance. Since I am not foolish enough to believe that all insurance companies are cut from the same cloth, I was wondering which particular insurance companies I should stay away from when I shop for cheaper auto insurance, and which companies stand out as being the best?
Ron
Akron, Ohio
Auto Insurance Company Not Paying All It Owes to Claimant
Filed under: Insurance Companies, Ohio, State Specific Information, Third Party Claims
My husband was involved in a car wreck last week with our 2002 Dodge Ram Pickup. The accident wasn’t his fault. He was hit by a teenage driver carrying a carload of friends to school. The boy’s insurance company told us we could get the vehicle fixed for $2407.56. When we took it to an auto body repair shop we know for an estimate, we were told there was more like $4,000 in repairs that needed to be done to fix the truck the way it should be fixed. Do we have the right to dispute what the insurance company adjuster told us or do we have to take what they say it can be fixed for? We are not crooks trying to take advantage of anyone. We just want to be paid what they owe us.
Sarah
Dayton, Ohio
Ohio Consumer Questions Progressive Insurance Claims Practices
I bought car insurance on my Corvette from Progressive. After having a bad experience with another auto insurance company on an auto accident where I wasn’t even at fault, I saw the television commercials that promised a friendlier approach to claims and thought I’d give Progressive Insurance a try.
The insurance quote I received was lower, just as the television commercials said it might be, and I got comparisons on the spot that showed the hundreds of dollars I could expect to save over buying from other insurance companies. My greatest hope was that with Progressive Insurance being headquartered in Ohio where I live, I might stand a better chance of being treated fair than if I bought an insurance policy from a company headquartered in another state. By exploring coverage at other insurance companies, I hoped I might luck into finding an insurance company that really would be on my side, if you know what I mean.
Overall, Progressive Insurance seemed like a great deal. It was certainly better than I had with my previous insurance company, so I bought insurance coverage on the Corvette and another car.
Now, after having this new insurance policy a few months I’m hearing that Progressive Insurance may be hard to deal with after an auto accident. I’ve read some horror stories on Corvette Forum and other websites that give me reason to be concerned. I know you can’t believe everything you read, but there seems to be a lot of people who are not getting their cars repaired and their claims paid as they believe they should.
What is your opinion of Progressive Insurance and their new approach to claims?
Rick
Cleveland, Ohio