STRANDED IN LOUISIANA! PLEASE ADVISE.

[Jeff Ramey]

I’m dealing with the truck driver’s ins. Company. I’ve got National General thru Good Sam. I call d Good Sam first and they asked if I was going to claim thru them or the driver’s insurance. As soon  as I said the driver’s, the sorta of “lost interest “ in helping me, although when pressed they did call and ask about the the driver’s policy limitations to no avail. The ins. Company didn’t want us to know how much they would spend. Duh. Should’ve guessed that one. I’ll just find out the good old fashion way how much the limit is by sending in receipts until I reach the limit. There’s more than one way to skin that cat.  I got the distinct impression when talking to my ins. Company agent that there exists a sort of professional courtesy between insurance companies, and mine is not going to represent my best interest against one of its ilk. My agent did let me know that even if the expenses are reasonable and necessary that once the limits for payment have been met, they’re done paying and my lawyer will have to sue the truck company for the rest. So, that’s probably in he works as their attitude has been rather condescending so far.

[Hal Grimshaw]

  From the picture I saw a few days ago you will have a very substantial claim (at least in total).  I'm in Ca. so that makes it harder to do it yourself but I wouldn't even attempt to go it alone.

The ins. co and the truck company are in it for them and do it all the time.  Get a good accident atty. involved in the beginning and it will all go smoother  along the way and the end result will be much better since the atty. fees should also be covered.

Keep a good attitude and good luck on a quick fix.

[Mike Shumack]

I don't doubt that an attorney may be necessary - I just wonder how much it's going to cost OP.

With an accident involving "personal injury" the attorney gets 30+% of the total settlement. There is generally additional money in the settlement for future medical needs - which is the cash settlement part. So the injured party (you) pays nothing out of pocket (just a reduced settlement amount to your bank account).

But with a "damage only" claim, how does the attorney charge? By the hour, as a percentage of recovered funds? (if the latter, it would mean if the repairs and incidental costs were $50K, attorney takes some of that ($15K?) - which means the attorney's charge is coming out of your pocket.

I don't know - how this works. But I did use an attorney once in an accident with injury case and I was surprised how much they took compared to what I received.
Good luck

[Joel Ashley]

The very presence of a claimant attorney changes the insurance providers’ entire viewpoint.  They are more willing to settle and avoid the chance of being responsible for their own extensive attorneys’ and court costs as well as the claimant’s should a court case be filed and instigated.  Regardless, whether just an initial letter of demand or full-blown Torts case, commonly the company is willing to include claimant’s legal costs as an additional 30%.  All an attorney has to do is add the clause to the demand or subsequent court filing. 

Once the company knows there is no chance of pulling the wool over a claimant’s eyes, and minimizing their out-of-pocket, the ball game changes.  Why not let an attorney do most of the work, minimize your own stress, and know you’re maximizing your outcome?  When my wife had medical claims from an uninsured motorist’s negligence, and our company brought in their own Dr. to dispute injuries, we got an attorney who actually used to work for the company.  He knew people.  He knew the system.  He not only got all medical and property damages, he got substantially more than we understood the policy limits to be, plus his 30% above and beyond.  And he recommended Drs. that not only contradicted the insurance hack, but successfully treated my wife.

Jeff has chosen correctly, as long as his attorney is experienced and competent.  I would also look into a different repair facility that can get to the job sooner;  an experienced attorney should be able to advise there as well.  State laws vary, and hopefully he may not be contractually locked to using the shop the company wants him to;  typically the company costs are minimized there, usually by way of the shop using less-than-optimal parts and techs.  Jeff has, under most State law, the right to put his coach back to its original state within his reason and judgement of quality, and within a reasonable person’s timeline consideration.

Joel

[Doug Allman]

I fully agree, that for you to get a satisfactory repair by a proficient RV shop you must have the weight behind you and not the insurance company. The only way you do that is thru an attorney representing you. It is a total game changer when an attorney does the representation as the insurer understands you are expecting everything you are paying them to protect.

I have spoken to my Owner Agent on numerous occasions in this regard and he candidly said that with a Coach of the caliber you own that is most likely the only avenue to pursue. It defines the seriousness of the intent of the Owner to get their Coach completely back to the state it was in prior to the accident.

You may not have to totally use the Attorney thru the time to get your Coach repaired. Use them for the initial contact and letter stating what you expect to be the interval for this repair to be completed, lodging, use of another like coach (if full timing or other plans of use are involved in the time frame for repair) and any other costs involved for you to continue to maintain your lifestyle. Basically get the facts set on what you are going to expect due to this incident and then let it play out. IF that does not come to fruition then get full use of Attorneys time to move it forward.

Insurance companies have a lot of clients and agents. They dont have a lot of Attorneys that they want their agents and claims people deal with. They want that to go away as soon as possible as they know it cost a lot more when it is all said and done.

What ever representation costs it is a benefit to you in the long run. Talk to someone whom didnt have representation and see if you want their results.

[Dan Murphy]

Well I disagree about getting an attorney involved.Especially without any personal injury involved. I would have turned into my own company and ate the deductible until my company surrogated the claim and recovered their losses as well as your deductible.

of course you would need to have had a good company and property coverages but that would be the best way to handle this type of claim. Attorneys just clog up the works and slow things down.

We hit a deer out in Calif. and tore up the front but we were able to drive it home. We put in the shop and it was $34,000 but Our company never blinked they fixed it and they did it right and I got renewed twice since that loss.

If you pick good independent agent to shop for you and you he uses a good A or better rated carrier and you BUY the proper coverage You DONT need lawyers.

[David T. Richelderfer]

I was told to never say, "I hit a deer."  I was told to say, "A deer hit me."  I don't know what the difference means to an insurance company, if anything.

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

I tend to agree with Dan. With a good insurance co, you should have minimal issues. We incurred over $60K in damages in Oct. Ins co covered it with no issues or haggling. if you haven't, suggest checking with Ron or Travis at Overland Ins to find a carrier with good coverage.
Steve

[Stan Simpson]

In October of 2016, while parked in front of our house, unloading from a trip to Maine and back, a young lad, texting, plowed in to the rear end of our coach, and then took off. We had construction style barricades with lights in front and back, along with the orange cones. The electric cord reel bay, and the door to the side radiator were completely ripped off, along with a third of the curbside end cap as high as above the third brake light.

Fortunately, he was apprehended the next day, and we found out he was driving his mother's car, and it was insured with Progressive. Their regional claims manager called me from the body shop and said they took full responsibility for the damages, and would do whatever necessary to put our coach back in the same condition as when it was hit. Eight months, and $26,000 later, we got our coach back, and there is no evidence it was ever hit. The body shop could not find a replacement for the radiator door, so they had a local fabrication shop make a new one. We added several issues during the eight months, and Progressive never batted an eye. They okayed all expense to fix everything. The body shop turned off the batteries while it sat outside as they waited for parts. During the winter, they froze. Progressive paid for new Interstate batteries.

We were lucky. I hope you get your coach back on the road, Jeff.

[Doug Allman]

The reason I indicated I would get an attorney is that few individuals even understand what their insurance coverage is let alone debate with an experienced insurance adjuster or company in regard to a multi thousand $ claim. For those that did and think they came out OK, no problem. For those that did not, they are still trying to get problems resolved.
We just happen to know several that have had trees fall on their coach, accidents by other parties, fire in one, and none of them are at all happy with the outcome of almost 2 years and repairs are not to what the coach was prior to accident let alone no use of it for long time.

THEN when you sell or trade you get to acknowledge if the unit has ever been in an accident. The look on your face tells the whole tale when that question is asked.  GOOD LUCK.