Quote:
Originally posted by Fugee
For years my extended family blithely ignored what I did. I do a couple favors and BOOM!, I'm the consigliere.
During a nasty snowstorm here a couple weeks ago, my aunt and uncle totalled their car. It's 6 years old but loaded with lower than average miles and tires that were 6 days old at the time of the accident. Adjuster gives them a number that is 25% below blue book and says that's the value here. Not surprisingly, he's calling them daily to get them to agree to their offer.
Any good tips on how to make the adjuster prove the value he's putting on the car or otherwise increase his offer?
Oh, and my sister told me their homeowners insurance company sent out a guy to do a outside "field inspection" on their house. Despite the fact that all the houses here, including hers, have at least 10 inches of snow on the entire roof, they decide that she needs to have a new roof installed before June 29 or their will drop their coverage. Can they do that?
ETA: I just looked at the Minnesota Dept. of Commerce web site and apparently they in fact can cancel or not renew homeowners' insurance if the condition of your home increases the risks of damage and you don't make the demanded repairs. I'd still like to know how they decided the roof was bad under a foot of snow coverage.
|
The National Automobile Dealers Association, which puts out the "official" Blue Book, publishes different versions for each major market or geographic region. They can demand to know what version the adjuster is using, and appeal to the Insurance Commission or bring a bad faith action if the adjuster is using the wrong Blue Book. OTOH, it will probably not be enough of a difference, dollar-wise to make it worth suing, and if they do sue, the insurance company is almost sure to drop them and the suit will make it very difficult to get coverage by a quality insurance company.
Basically, insurance law is designed to allow companies to screw the customer and win almost every time. That's the main reason I start laughing every time I hear about the current "tort crisis" and how it's the plaintiff's bar that's keeping the cost of insurance high. The industry gets to set its own odds, decide what to charge, and when and if it will pay a claim.
