79CamaroDiva
07-15-2010, 04:45 PM
Long story short: Allstate tried to screw me, but I r too smart for them.
Backstory:
Back in March, my HHR was hit in the passenger quarter by a race car (a 2nd gen camaro of all things) who's throttle stuck in reverse at Island right behind the concession stand. The guy came in and asked whos car it was, information was exchanged, police report was written, and the guy said that he had actually just put collectors insurance on it less than a month ago, and he would get me that information when he got home.. Meanwhile, I got his insurance information from his tow vehicle, just so I had SOMETHING.. Since he was nice enough to come and get me, I figure the guys really gonna make good on this, especially since its a track operators car...
Months go by, I call him a few times, no answer.. no response. Finally I decide to file the claim with my insurance company, Allstate. I get told to get an estimate from a shop of my choice, fax the estimate and police report over, and they would call me. They do, I give them all the info I know of, and tell them that I want this to go under uninsured motorists, NOT my collision, and I get told that it would take some time to prove it was in fact a UM (uninsured motorist) claim. I said thats fine, I've waited this long, just don't want to pay the deductible. She says there's still a deductible on UM, I ask how much, she says $100 for UM or $350 collision. I told her $100 is a whole lot easier to pay than $350.
Last week I get a call from the adjuster, basically knocking the estimate down almost $1000, and telling me that he found a "recycled" quarter for $500. total cost of the estimate was $2576.97, from $3300ish originally quoted, but my body shop accepted and I would get a check in the mail.
I get the check yesterday in the amount of $2226.97.. wait a minute! this looks as though they took my collision deductible out... so back on the phone I go, and the lady I've been dealing with says that they were unable to prove that it was a UM incident, and I say well have you tried contacting the guy? She said yes and there has been no response, we have not been able to find any previous insurnace information for the vehicle, and in order for it to be a UM claim the previous insurance must have lapsed and they can't prove that. I said the vehicle was a race car, it happened on private property, not on a street. She tried telling me that race cars still have to be registered and insured in NJ and I had to explain to her that no, in fact, they don't..
So anyhow, she tried explaining to me that they were "in the process" of getting the information to prove that it was a UM claim, so in the mean time they took my collision deductible out so that I could get it fixed. I said ok, what's going to happen if I bring this check to the body shop? Someone is going to say that by using this check, I agree to its terms, correct? She says well, yes.. so I say but I don't agree to the terms.. This is an uninsured motorist claim and I don't want it reflected on my collision policy. She says well it will take a while to get the information, I said I've waited 4 months already, I can wait longer. So in that case, I have to send the check back.. big surprise.
Backstory:
Back in March, my HHR was hit in the passenger quarter by a race car (a 2nd gen camaro of all things) who's throttle stuck in reverse at Island right behind the concession stand. The guy came in and asked whos car it was, information was exchanged, police report was written, and the guy said that he had actually just put collectors insurance on it less than a month ago, and he would get me that information when he got home.. Meanwhile, I got his insurance information from his tow vehicle, just so I had SOMETHING.. Since he was nice enough to come and get me, I figure the guys really gonna make good on this, especially since its a track operators car...
Months go by, I call him a few times, no answer.. no response. Finally I decide to file the claim with my insurance company, Allstate. I get told to get an estimate from a shop of my choice, fax the estimate and police report over, and they would call me. They do, I give them all the info I know of, and tell them that I want this to go under uninsured motorists, NOT my collision, and I get told that it would take some time to prove it was in fact a UM (uninsured motorist) claim. I said thats fine, I've waited this long, just don't want to pay the deductible. She says there's still a deductible on UM, I ask how much, she says $100 for UM or $350 collision. I told her $100 is a whole lot easier to pay than $350.
Last week I get a call from the adjuster, basically knocking the estimate down almost $1000, and telling me that he found a "recycled" quarter for $500. total cost of the estimate was $2576.97, from $3300ish originally quoted, but my body shop accepted and I would get a check in the mail.
I get the check yesterday in the amount of $2226.97.. wait a minute! this looks as though they took my collision deductible out... so back on the phone I go, and the lady I've been dealing with says that they were unable to prove that it was a UM incident, and I say well have you tried contacting the guy? She said yes and there has been no response, we have not been able to find any previous insurnace information for the vehicle, and in order for it to be a UM claim the previous insurance must have lapsed and they can't prove that. I said the vehicle was a race car, it happened on private property, not on a street. She tried telling me that race cars still have to be registered and insured in NJ and I had to explain to her that no, in fact, they don't..
So anyhow, she tried explaining to me that they were "in the process" of getting the information to prove that it was a UM claim, so in the mean time they took my collision deductible out so that I could get it fixed. I said ok, what's going to happen if I bring this check to the body shop? Someone is going to say that by using this check, I agree to its terms, correct? She says well, yes.. so I say but I don't agree to the terms.. This is an uninsured motorist claim and I don't want it reflected on my collision policy. She says well it will take a while to get the information, I said I've waited 4 months already, I can wait longer. So in that case, I have to send the check back.. big surprise.