@lilshortwun - Here is some information that may help you get your vehicle repaired to your satisfaction:

1) A liar is someone who says something untrue to gain a benefit. All insurance adjusters are liars. LIARS. Their job is to say anything that will reduce their company’s liability. Don’t ever forget this if you choose to talk to an adjuster. Remember . . . LIARS.

2) There is no need for you to talk to an insurance adjuster when a body shop is repairing your car. Body shops have a lot of experience dealing with insurance companies . . . it’s their job, let them do it. Adjusters tend to lie less frequently to body shops because they’re not as ignorant as you or I when it comes to the cost of repairs. Tell the body shop you want them to deal with the insurance company and repair your car. If they’re not willing to do that, find another body shop.

3) If the adjuster was “encouraging” you to select another body shop, that means
- you have a choice (some states allow insurance companies to mandate where repairs are made, some don’t)
- the other body shop does cheaper work

4) If the insurance company of the at-fault party tells the body shop your car will be totaled, you may want to pursue a claim against your insurance. This is called subrogation . . . your insurance pays for someone else’s mistake and then goes after the at-fault party to recover their loss. The downside is that some insurance companies may rate you - increase your rate - as a result.

Glen

 

I am going through a similar situation. First quote from a shop (only one in the area that has both Lotus experience and a good reputation) for around $15k. USAA sent out a third part adjuster (this is their standard policy for a quote over $7,500) who came back at just under $4k. He even asked me to pop the hood to see the damage on the front clam, and I had to explain to him that it can't be done. To say he is clueless is an understatement. Nonetheless, the next step in this racket is to have a shop start work, file for a supplement, and then pray it is enough to actually cover the work. If it is not, that's between the shop and insurance to sort out. My shop wasn't worried and believes they can work it out. In the end, you should expect to not be out of pocket for anything, and if the repair is guaranteed then you should be delivered something as before the damage.

 

Appreciate the advice both of you. Very helpful information! First time dealing with insurance so i honestly didnt know what to expect

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Different insurance companies apparently have different ideas about how to handle claims and customer relations. I have had several claims and repairs done to my Elise and AMICA has always been excellent to work with. On my first repair they recommended a body shop that declined to work on the Lotus. When I told the agent that he told me to go the the Ferrari dealer. The Ferrari folks actually provided a reasonable estimate to repair the car, but I did go to a different shop that does restorations of British sportscars that cost a little less. Two repairs since were done with a local body shop that has a good working relationship with my insurance carrier. My 05 Elise was totaled after one accident, but Amica paid enough that I actually came out ahead when I purchased my 06 considering the work that the 05 needed before the accident. AMICA was good too about letting me transfer upgrades I had done from the 05 to the 06 before they took the car for salvage. Based on my experience I would say if you trust your agent work with him/her.

 

Based on my experience I would say if you trust your agent work with him/her.

This hits another nail on the head that I never see discussed. The key to a good time dealing with insurance is up to the adjuster, not the company. I have dealt with insurance wayyyy too much (https://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f259/insurance-can-helpful-sometimes-185098/) and in the end, it all comes down to what the adjuster is like. Some are good, some are downright terrible. Currently I am dealing with two USAA claims - both my Elise and my daily were hit by other drivers. In the case of the mini, it has been great. In the case of the Elise, a nightmare. With the mini, I can call and easily reach my adjuster, but with the Elise I have not had a single returned phone call.

 

i just went through this process, so i'll provide my recommendation based on my experience.
A truck rear ended me early this year, I got his insurance info (AAA) and filed a claim to AAA. AAA got back to me and said they cannot reach the driver that hit me. They gave me two options, file a claim with my own insurance (GEICO) or wait until they find the driver which can take months. I decided to file claim with my own insurance. I dropped my car off at a local lotus specialist, total repair cost was $18k (just replacing the clam, engine lid and lights, no frame damage at all). GEICO told me my car might be totaled if the damaged is over 80% of the car value, which they had to get a 3rd party estimate with limited data on lotus, my car came back value at $29k, which will not total the car. GEICO adjuster approved the repair and they work directly with AAA.
Two months later, AAA finally got in contact with the driver and admitted they are at fault and paid GEICO back for the repair.

My suggestion is to file a claim with your insurance ASAP and let them deal with USAA directly, this will save you a lot of headache and time.

 

. . .
A truck rear ended me early this year, I got his insurance info (AAA) and filed a claim to AAA. AAA got back to me and said they cannot reach the driver that hit me. They gave me two options, file a claim with my own insurance (GEICO) or wait until they find the driver which can take months.
. . .

This is an example of an insurance company lying to you. The driver isn’t liable, the insurance company is. AAA is obligated to pay whether or not they can “reach” their insured. They probably judged they could reduce their total cost by having your insurance company do all the leg work of administering the claim, even though they knew they’d eventually have to pay up.

It is always your option to submit a claim to your own insurance company - for any reason. It seems likely you made that choice, at least in part, based on lies presented by the at-fault party’s insurance company. I hope you weren’t rated for filing a claim.

Glen

 

I like the advice here. Two more items that I didn't see mentioned (forgive me if they were). 1-I wouldn't start any work at the body shop until their insurance has paid out. If they total the car, you're stuck with the bill and a title with a brand. 2 - You don't have to deal with the other party's insurance at all. Sue the other party for the estimated damage. Even if this is a friendly coworker, you can't get satisfaction from his/her insurance and this is your only avenue. The insurance company is obligated to cover their insured and it takes the power of deciding what's covered and what isn't out of the insurance company's hands and into the hands of the court.

I've done this twice when the other's insurance wouldn't pay the full repair bill (based on estimates, no work was done yet) but they were clearly at fault. Colorado is a no-fault state and allows insurance to split the repair if both parties are partially responsible. The other's insurance tried to argue that there was fault on both sides, but there clearly wasn't. In both cases I won in court and insurance paid out.

 

. . .
Colorado is a no-fault state and allows insurance to split the repair if both parties are partially responsible.
. . .

This was of interest to me since I live in Colorado. The state law changed in 2003 and Colorado is no longer a no-fault state. Still, an interesting story.

What an awesome system auto insurance is when you have to take a company to court to make them pay their obvious contractual obligations.

Glen

 

I had a friend who was a claims adjuster. For their customers, he was supposed to get the claim processed as quickly as possible for the least amount of money. For claims against their customers, he was to get it processed for the least amount of money, period. Dragging out the claim usually works in the insurance companies favor because the owner of the car needs/wants it back and will take a lower offer if it gets the work done. When he had to work with another insurance companies adjuster, he had the same problem that you had, hard to get returned calls and stalling.

 

Lot of good advice here on how to deal with Ins. companies. Remember insurance companies first priority is profits for their stock holders. Second is find any way to deny your claim. I just had a claim for my new outboard motor, hit a rock hard. Ins. said I only had $1500. engine coverage. My documentation, they sent me, said I had $15K. They said it was a misprint! My sister is a Federal judge who deals with Insurance fraud issues and told me to put a complaint with state Insurance Commisioner and tell my Insurance co. this . Insurance companies do NOT like to hear this she said. Next day told them what I was doing. That afternoon they paid me. Gotta admit every time I've dealt with Amica they settled very quickly no BS.

 

Yup, "Bad Faith" is the term that gets your insurance company moving. However, this is a strategy when it's your own insurance company, not the other guy's.

 

Fellow Lotus lovers, remember one fact about insurance. Its not there to repair a vehicle. It is there to make you financially whole after the incident. Meaning (this only applies to cars say 2 years old and newer - and no record of being painted on) their responsibility - and what you're paying for is, to restore you to the same value you had just a split-second prior to the damage.

A painted on car, regardless of how good the work is - never has the value it did prior to the new paint. Its called Diminished Value. Insurance companies will not discuss it. They'll give you excuses as to how all the repairs were done with OEM parts, etc. Typically you will have to sue. And have an accredited appraiser's report to go to court with.

Having grown up in the car business, this is old knowledge. Used it once myself - for my yellow Elise. In San Diego, December '07, less than 6 months old and a gentleman backing out of his parking space, didn't see me & crunched me at maybe 2.5 mph. Front right, just at rear of headlight assy. Drove it immediately to the La Jolla Lotus dealer. Only mechanical damage was a cracked radiator support/bracket (if you can call that mechanical). New clam shell, headlight assy, bracket replacement, clear bra - something like $15K. Service writer at dealership hooked me up with a nationally accredited appraiser out of Fresno.

His report showed that I took a $10K hit in value with the new bodywork. The man's insurance company, USAA of course denied it. Couldn't find a San Diego atty. who would take the case - amount too small. One of them suggested I go to small claims court (San Diego) and if I win, I'd get the maximum for small claims - $5K. Which I did and won. USAA mailed the check promptly. They also covered a rental car, which was good as I was living in Albuquerque then.

All this to say, if you have a relatively new car - remember what you're paying for when you buy insurance.

Now 10+ years later and 120,000+ happy miles on this street legal go-kart, I'd have hell with any diminished value claim. FYI - the paint work was excellent but it now 'shows' if you know what you're looking at - all to prove the validity of diminished value. And there was no police report but there was a witness, so no grief with his company taking responsibility.

My apologies if this has been covered in other discussions.

 

Fellow Lotus lovers, remember one fact about insurance. Its not there to repair a vehicle. It is there to make you financially whole. . .

False. You are perpetuating a commonly held fallacy. Insurance - yours or theirs - never makes you whole for anything, it simply reduces your loss. All the consumer-grade policies I’m aware of specifically exclude loss of value claims and they have done so for many, many years. As your very own story illustrates, you had to go to court to get half of what you thought would make you whole . . . your loss was only reduced and you were left without being made whole. It is very likely that USAA paid their insured's $5,000 liability under some other policy, such as an umbrella liability policy.

Do you have a right to demand being made whole after an injury? Yes. Is insurance likely to make you whole? No. Insurance is just one of many financial tools people use to account for their liabilities.

Glen

 

Interested to see how this works out. I picked up USAA with the Replacement assistance that lists that if the agent lists the car as totaled that they will pay %20 over what that value is calculated at. Its a 2008 Elise SC in the USA so not easy to value but should make out if it ever happens. Let us know what what you get done.