Tweet
Sorry this is so long, couldn’t find a way to shorten it
My accident occurred at 421 pm on Friday, September 27th. My Insurance Company, Farmers (Farmersclassic car policy) sent an adjustor to see the car Monday, 9-30. As it turns out he is someone I know fairlywell and a straight shooter. He photodthe car and we discussed the twist in the chassis, and he asked me directlywhat was my desired result of all this. Itold him I was not comfortable with repairing the car, as there is no one knownto me, outside of Hansen race cars in east L A, who is capable of fixing it andthey would certainly absorb most if not all of my coverage. (25k policy) also, where would the parts comefrom? The radiator support is welded inand has the vin stamped into it-in my opinion a donor car would be needed, tocut the straight radiator support out and graft the vin section into. Thegrille and headlight surround are completely unobtainium, NO repros availableand these were cherry, pre accident.
He then told me thebad news, he was not allowed to handle the value/repair part of this claim,Farmers would hire an outside company for that. He would be required toadminister their findings, only. Farmershired a company called Material Damage Appraisals out of Long Beach California,who sent an adjustor on October 8th to look at the car. WHAT AN IDIOT-this is where the troublestarts. As we go forward, we will refer to him as Idiot 1 or I1. I1 spends a total of 15 minutes shooting 5pics of car, writes down NOTHING I have to say, has zero interest in copies ofthe 2 inch thick file of receipts that I offer him, which I feel help todocument the cars value. He drives off and I have a sinking feeling in mystomach and I immediately call both my agent and the local adjustor to tellthem how I feel about it. They both saywe have to wait and see…
For The next 10 days I called my agent daily who then calls everyoneinvolved (by the way, my agent was fantastic) but I am getting a bad vibe fromall this so I hired the auto appraisal group (www.autoappraisal.com) who sent out avalue appraiser who was very thorough in inspecting and establishing a preaccident value of 24k. This would helpsave my butt later. Then, on oct 28thI receive a call from IDIOT 2-posing as Idiot 1-who states he came to see mycar and his notes are not clear. Could Itell him if this car has a/c, power steering and is it FRONT OR REAR WHEELDRIVE!!?? I tell him “YOU are a f king idiot” and hang up on him, not realizingthere is now a new idiot involved. OnOctober 29th my agent receives a repair estimate for 8600.00 listinga wrecking yard in Ridgecrest, Ca as the parts source. I start demanding to know WHO is going to fixthis car for 8600.00 and what is the quality of the parts sourced and how didI1 arrive at this number? At this point in my life, things are busy and I don’tneed this aggravation, so I shove it to the side and get on with making money,(shop is very busy) enjoying Thanksgiving etc while trying to figure out whatto do. I have a pretty good relationshipwith a body shop a block away from my mechanical shop who is a Farmers contractshop as well (DRP in California speak) and they agree to take the car in andwrite an ACCURATE repair estimate although they have ZERO desire to repairanything this old. I have the car towedthere on December 2nd and they determine the only correct way tostraighten a 46 year old uni body willbe to FIRST cut out those great 2x3 channels tying the subframes together, thenreweld them back in once the floorpan is correct again. This adds 7k to the original estimate immediatelyand then they dig into the parts issues as well as REAL prep and paint timesand values. The parts source, whencontacted, says they MIGHT have a 67 Fairlane nose, or might not, it is winterand cold and we are not looking right now, and you pay shipping and if youdon’t like it when it arrives tough, NO REFUNDS. In the end, the supplement at North RanchBodycraft, who went way above and beyond in this deal, is 14,400.00 added to the original 8600 estimate. I am now complaining to the supervisor abouthow the entire thing has been handled and now that they know what it reallycosts, what are we going to do. SHE(Farmers supervisor to local adjustor) bounces the entire thing back on-youguessed it-IDIOT 1 who has to AGREE with the bodyshop estimate before anythingmoves forward. Bodyshop contacts I1, whothey are on record as disliking strongly as he is an incompetent idiot and heknows they do not like him, but he will have to show up and go over car withshop.
On December 30th, IDIOT 2 shows up at bodyshopand tells owner of said shop “I have never seen this car before in my life”.Shop owner says that cannot be, I have an estimate you wrote and Farmers paidfor in my hand-it has your state license id number on it as well as yourfarmers adjustor id on it. Idiot 2 thensays he actually wrote that estimate for idiot 1 as a favor as idiot 1 has ZEROautomotive experience and after sitting on his hands for 3 weeks was in hotwater with Farmers and needed help. SO Idiot 2 wrote an estimate from 5 shittypics and hoped the yard in Ridgecrest might have what we needed-he never evencalled them! At this point shop owner goes over car with Idiot 2 and tells himto do the right thing and move this problem along through the system. I was out of town and when I heard this storyon Thurs, Jan 2nd I called my attorney who assured me this was absolutelyinsurance fraud on Farmers part, asking me to accept an 8600.00 repair estimateas an accurate settlement when it was written by someone who never inspectedthe vehicle. I then called the supervisor who had shoved this thing off herdesk for 4 months and told her my atty would be adding several zeros to thesettlement in one week, get off your ass and get this thing cleared up. OnFriday Jan 10th my agent calls to tell me the total loss departmentis going to contact me; I ask him “nowwhat?” and he says “they are another group of people designed to hold up yourclaim as long as possible and beat down how much you will accept”. Great. By lunch the total loss dept calls meand states they have determined car was worth 21k pre accident and will beworking from there. Not so fast I tellthe lady, I have a REAL appraisal written by a man who actually INSPECTED thevehicle and determined its value in October nearer the loss date and with realevaluations of paint and trim and interior and driveline in it. She asks for a copy which I immediately emailto her as well as the bill for that appraisal telling her I expect them toreimburse me for that appraisal too, since I had to do their work for them.
On Friday Jan 17th Ireceived adequate settlement money based on the 24k appraisal I had done,reimbursement for that appraisal, as well as retaining the salvage (I kept thecar which is now/still for sale) minusmy deductible and their salvage value.
What would I like others to learn from this mess?
Use a classic car insurance company who actually deals inclassics and have an AGREED value policy going in, which will require anappraisal. Do not accept theirappraisal, get one of your own and see if they agree-the guys I called weregreat.
DO NOT accept some adjustors damage evaluation as accurateand MAKE them show you ID and proof they are qualified to look at your car
NEVER accept any first offer, always push back. Be nice but firm and have something todocument why your settlement should be more than their offer.
My accident occurred at 421 pm on Friday, September 27th. My Insurance Company, Farmers (Farmersclassic car policy) sent an adjustor to see the car Monday, 9-30. As it turns out he is someone I know fairlywell and a straight shooter. He photodthe car and we discussed the twist in the chassis, and he asked me directlywhat was my desired result of all this. Itold him I was not comfortable with repairing the car, as there is no one knownto me, outside of Hansen race cars in east L A, who is capable of fixing it andthey would certainly absorb most if not all of my coverage. (25k policy) also, where would the parts comefrom? The radiator support is welded inand has the vin stamped into it-in my opinion a donor car would be needed, tocut the straight radiator support out and graft the vin section into. Thegrille and headlight surround are completely unobtainium, NO repros availableand these were cherry, pre accident.
He then told me thebad news, he was not allowed to handle the value/repair part of this claim,Farmers would hire an outside company for that. He would be required toadminister their findings, only. Farmershired a company called Material Damage Appraisals out of Long Beach California,who sent an adjustor on October 8th to look at the car. WHAT AN IDIOT-this is where the troublestarts. As we go forward, we will refer to him as Idiot 1 or I1. I1 spends a total of 15 minutes shooting 5pics of car, writes down NOTHING I have to say, has zero interest in copies ofthe 2 inch thick file of receipts that I offer him, which I feel help todocument the cars value. He drives off and I have a sinking feeling in mystomach and I immediately call both my agent and the local adjustor to tellthem how I feel about it. They both saywe have to wait and see…
For The next 10 days I called my agent daily who then calls everyoneinvolved (by the way, my agent was fantastic) but I am getting a bad vibe fromall this so I hired the auto appraisal group (www.autoappraisal.com) who sent out avalue appraiser who was very thorough in inspecting and establishing a preaccident value of 24k. This would helpsave my butt later. Then, on oct 28thI receive a call from IDIOT 2-posing as Idiot 1-who states he came to see mycar and his notes are not clear. Could Itell him if this car has a/c, power steering and is it FRONT OR REAR WHEELDRIVE!!?? I tell him “YOU are a f king idiot” and hang up on him, not realizingthere is now a new idiot involved. OnOctober 29th my agent receives a repair estimate for 8600.00 listinga wrecking yard in Ridgecrest, Ca as the parts source. I start demanding to know WHO is going to fixthis car for 8600.00 and what is the quality of the parts sourced and how didI1 arrive at this number? At this point in my life, things are busy and I don’tneed this aggravation, so I shove it to the side and get on with making money,(shop is very busy) enjoying Thanksgiving etc while trying to figure out whatto do. I have a pretty good relationshipwith a body shop a block away from my mechanical shop who is a Farmers contractshop as well (DRP in California speak) and they agree to take the car in andwrite an ACCURATE repair estimate although they have ZERO desire to repairanything this old. I have the car towedthere on December 2nd and they determine the only correct way tostraighten a 46 year old uni body willbe to FIRST cut out those great 2x3 channels tying the subframes together, thenreweld them back in once the floorpan is correct again. This adds 7k to the original estimate immediatelyand then they dig into the parts issues as well as REAL prep and paint timesand values. The parts source, whencontacted, says they MIGHT have a 67 Fairlane nose, or might not, it is winterand cold and we are not looking right now, and you pay shipping and if youdon’t like it when it arrives tough, NO REFUNDS. In the end, the supplement at North RanchBodycraft, who went way above and beyond in this deal, is 14,400.00 added to the original 8600 estimate. I am now complaining to the supervisor abouthow the entire thing has been handled and now that they know what it reallycosts, what are we going to do. SHE(Farmers supervisor to local adjustor) bounces the entire thing back on-youguessed it-IDIOT 1 who has to AGREE with the bodyshop estimate before anythingmoves forward. Bodyshop contacts I1, whothey are on record as disliking strongly as he is an incompetent idiot and heknows they do not like him, but he will have to show up and go over car withshop.
On December 30th, IDIOT 2 shows up at bodyshopand tells owner of said shop “I have never seen this car before in my life”.Shop owner says that cannot be, I have an estimate you wrote and Farmers paidfor in my hand-it has your state license id number on it as well as yourfarmers adjustor id on it. Idiot 2 thensays he actually wrote that estimate for idiot 1 as a favor as idiot 1 has ZEROautomotive experience and after sitting on his hands for 3 weeks was in hotwater with Farmers and needed help. SO Idiot 2 wrote an estimate from 5 shittypics and hoped the yard in Ridgecrest might have what we needed-he never evencalled them! At this point shop owner goes over car with Idiot 2 and tells himto do the right thing and move this problem along through the system. I was out of town and when I heard this storyon Thurs, Jan 2nd I called my attorney who assured me this was absolutelyinsurance fraud on Farmers part, asking me to accept an 8600.00 repair estimateas an accurate settlement when it was written by someone who never inspectedthe vehicle. I then called the supervisor who had shoved this thing off herdesk for 4 months and told her my atty would be adding several zeros to thesettlement in one week, get off your ass and get this thing cleared up. OnFriday Jan 10th my agent calls to tell me the total loss departmentis going to contact me; I ask him “nowwhat?” and he says “they are another group of people designed to hold up yourclaim as long as possible and beat down how much you will accept”. Great. By lunch the total loss dept calls meand states they have determined car was worth 21k pre accident and will beworking from there. Not so fast I tellthe lady, I have a REAL appraisal written by a man who actually INSPECTED thevehicle and determined its value in October nearer the loss date and with realevaluations of paint and trim and interior and driveline in it. She asks for a copy which I immediately emailto her as well as the bill for that appraisal telling her I expect them toreimburse me for that appraisal too, since I had to do their work for them.
On Friday Jan 17th Ireceived adequate settlement money based on the 24k appraisal I had done,reimbursement for that appraisal, as well as retaining the salvage (I kept thecar which is now/still for sale) minusmy deductible and their salvage value.
What would I like others to learn from this mess?
Use a classic car insurance company who actually deals inclassics and have an AGREED value policy going in, which will require anappraisal. Do not accept theirappraisal, get one of your own and see if they agree-the guys I called weregreat.
DO NOT accept some adjustors damage evaluation as accurateand MAKE them show you ID and proof they are qualified to look at your car
NEVER accept any first offer, always push back. Be nice but firm and have something todocument why your settlement should be more than their offer.
Comment