Geico Auto Insurance Won't Play Fair

J

jinxu

Hi

My car got hit with a tornado and I'm insured with Geico. I have comprehensive. The day before meeting with the adjuster I went to a few shops to get an estimate and they quoted me at $9000. But when I met with gecio, the adjuster gave me a $3000 quote.

I looked through the report and I notice geico left a bunch of damages off for example the PDR repair for hail damage on the roof ($1000) which should have been obvious,a big dent on on the the side ($400) again obvious, the back window need to be replaced ($800) and ignoring the paint scratches ($2000).

Not only that but I pointed all of them out to the adjuster and even showed some pictures. It was cloudy and raining that day. And the adjuster didn't even bother to turn on the light inside the garage.

I'm trying to contact him but he's not answer back. I called their customer service number but they kept telling me to contact the adjuster. What I don't understand is why they can't just schedule a re-estimate themselves like the first time around?

How can I get Geico to play fair and pay up? Do I have to get a lawyer?

Do I have a reasonable case for a lawyer if that ends up happening?
 
Wait till you lose your house in a hurricane like I did. State Farm gave me half the value of the insurance. The federal judge threw my case out of court and I think they bought my lawyer.
regards
 
I'm not sure what this has to do with "career trader" but I'll go with it.

We had a lightning hit on our house last year. The biggest ticket item was the hot tub (fried electronics). It took over a year to get this settled after lies, threats, accusations of lying, etc. Finally had to write a nastygram to the insurance commission about the mess which seemed to do the trick.

This was Kemper. Very disappointing. All I can think is insurance companies are under some kind of pressure after the 2008 financial crisis.
 
Quote from jinxu:

Hi

My car got hit with a tornado and I'm insured with Geico. I have comprehensive. The day before meeting with the adjuster I went to a few shops to get an estimate and they quoted me at $9000. But when I met with gecio, the adjuster gave me a $3000 quote.

I looked through the report and I notice geico left a bunch of damages off for example the PDR repair for hail damage on the roof ($1000) which should have been obvious,a big dent on on the the side ($400) again obvious, the back window need to be replaced ($800) and ignoring the paint scratches ($2000).

Not only that but I pointed all of them out to the adjuster and even showed some pictures. It was cloudy and raining that day. And the adjuster didn't even bother to turn on the light inside the garage.

I'm trying to contact him but he's not answer back. I called their customer service number but they kept telling me to contact the adjuster. What I don't understand is why they can't just schedule a re-estimate themselves like the first time around?

How can I get Geico to play fair and pay up? Do I have to get a lawyer?

Do I have a reasonable case for a lawyer if that ends up happening?
More...

I was just about to switch to Met Life from Geico. I haven't notified Geico, but I will mention this (for all the good it does) when I tell them my reason for switching. If you want to PM me specific details so I can mention those, I'll do that too. Otherwise, I'll just mention it generally.
 
Quote from jinxu:

Hi

My car got hit with a tornado and I'm insured with Geico. I have comprehensive. The day before meeting with the adjuster I went to a few shops to get an estimate and they quoted me at $9000. But when I met with gecio, the adjuster gave me a $3000 quote.

I looked through the report and I notice geico left a bunch of damages off for example the PDR repair for hail damage on the roof ($1000) which should have been obvious,a big dent on on the the side ($400) again obvious, the back window need to be replaced ($800) and ignoring the paint scratches ($2000).

Not only that but I pointed all of them out to the adjuster and even showed some pictures. It was cloudy and raining that day. And the adjuster didn't even bother to turn on the light inside the garage.

I'm trying to contact him but he's not answer back. I called their customer service number but they kept telling me to contact the adjuster. What I don't understand is why they can't just schedule a re-estimate themselves like the first time around?

How can I get Geico to play fair and pay up? Do I have to get a lawyer?

Do I have a reasonable case for a lawyer if that ends up happening?
More...

First write a detailed letter with photos, bills, etc. This may get a better response. Or hire a public adjuster to negotiate with them.
 
Quote from comintel:

Or hire a public adjuster to negotiate with them.
More...

Dont do that. Hiring a PA will instantly make your adjuster roll his eyes and loathe working on your claim. You can probably do better on your own and not have to give a PA a chunk of your settlement.

Im a property adjuster and I meet with contractors all the time to come to an agreed scope if they or the homeowner feel I made a mistake. Its just part of the job, especially on large claims.

Gather up any repair estimates you have and call your agent first, insurance companies take complaints coming in from agents seriously. Tell them your adjuster isnt allowing enough money to carry out the necessary repairs and you dont appreciate it at all. You have a pretty big discrepancy, dont waste your time calling some Geico 800 number, call your agent and tell them you need assistance asap.

If Geico is being a super ass they might want an adjuster to do a re-inspection, but if you presented me with multiple estimates all basically saying I was incorrect Id handle the supplement for you over the phone and just pay the difference and be done with it.

Some of the procedures for auto claims may be a little different than Im used to on the homeowners side, but dont let Geico dick you around. If you need 9k to be made whole they owe you 9k. You have recourse in this matter. If you need to, file a complaint with your states department of insurance (some states this goes though their chamber of commerce, not a DOI). Those are taken serious and the state will follow up on the matter. Those complaints dont just go away.
 
Quote from stevegee58:

I'm not sure what this has to do with "career trader" but I'll go with it.

We had a lightning hit on our house last year. The biggest ticket item was the hot tub (fried electronics). It took over a year to get this settled after lies, threats, accusations of lying, etc. Finally had to write a nastygram to the insurance commission about the mess which seemed to do the trick.

This was Kemper. Very disappointing. All I can think is insurance companies are under some kind of pressure after the 2008 financial crisis.
More...

During that ordeal did anyone tell you to get a lightning affidavit from your repair guy? If a professional was able to determine that the cause of loss was lightning and not an artificial power surge there should have been no question as to whether or not it is covered damage. Did you have an HO-3 policy?
 
Do some due diligence before choosing an insurance company. In any field there seem to be 2-3 that actually do what you expect [good payouts, good service] and hundreds of others that are scams used by some traders to raise capital for trading or some such... Consumer reports rated insurance companies the last time I looked.
 
I deal with this everyday, it's my business with out going into personal details.

Insurance Companies always write the initial estimate low but usually in the ball park. National average is about +30% will not repair their vehicles..... that spread on the third is never paid out in claims.

When you take it to a repair shop, if the estimate is low, they will write a supplement repair order for any additional repairs not listed or under-priced on your estimate. The Insurance company will pay them/repair shop the additional....... you might have "prior damage issues" if your adjuster feels some of the damage may have been on the vehicle prior to the storm, you didn't specify any details about the vehicle, year, mileage, make/model.... they wont cover them.

If you're wanting to just pocket the money, good-luck almost all insurance companies work this way they'll pay the repair shop for actual repairs but they wont pay you full value...... specially your cut rate insurance companies. The poster above hit a good point, just a low insurance premium isn't always the best route, specially when it comes to making a claim.
 
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