Of wrecks and State Farm Insurance

[Brad Johnson]

Spent the morning wrangling with State Farm, the insurer for the lady that ran a red light and totaled my car earlier this month.  I knew they were probably going to be jickey about the whole thing, but this is getting rediculous.

I had installed a very nice aftermarket stereo system in the car.  At the wreck scene I had the presence of mind to remove the sub and the amp from the trunk.  I didn't take the rear deck or front door speakers.  I intended to remove them later, replacing them with the factory units which I had retained, wrapped and carefully stored for when I sold the car (or if something like this happened).  State Farm is claiming they are considered part of the vehicle and will not cover the cost, nor will they allow me to swap the factory speakers back in.  All I want is to return the car to stock trim, reinstalling all the original hardware and body panels in the process. 

I also requested compensation on some tires I bought earlier this year.  I was nice enough to calculate the remaining expected service life based on the mfgs warranty and to prorate the requested amount by that remaining service life.  Heck, I didn't even use the full price of the tire in my calcs, I used the adjusted purchase amount that resulted from a discounted (pro-rated warranty adjustment) replacement of the tires at the time.  They came back with $50 per tire, roughly 1/3 of the requested amount and pretty much a poke-in-the-eye insult in my opinion.

Bastiges.  The way they’re coming across you'd think I was the one at fault!  As much as I dislike pulling out the “It was YOUR insured who ran a red light, hit me, and here’s my attorney’s phone number” card, I may have to unless they perform craniorectotomy pretty soon.

Brad

[Nick1911]

For what it's worth, I know someone who was in a car accident - not their fault - and the other party was insured by State Farm.

Took 3 years of legal action to get them to cover most of his medical costs from the accident + his car. 

[HankB]

You know, I've heard it sometimes takes a while for injuries from a car wreck (whiplash) to manifest.

How's your back & neck feel?

[jackdanson]

Dang, I have state farm and they've been nothing but good from my end.

I also requested compensation on some tires I bought earlier this year.  I was nice enough to calculate the remaining expected service life based on the mfgs warranty and to prorate the requested amount by that remaining service life.  Heck, I didn't even use the full price of the tire in my calcs, I used the adjusted purchase amount that resulted from a discounted (pro-rated warranty adjustment) replacement of the tires at the time.  They came back with $50 per tire, roughly 1/3 of the requested amount and pretty much a poke-in-the-eye insult in my opinion.

No insurance is going to cover the cost of tires, that's part of the car.  The stereo, maybe, but not the tires.  Look up the KBB value of the car, they should give you the "excellent" retail price for it... which would be more than you could ever possibly sell the car for.  I had hail damage on a car that I had bought used 2 or 3 months earlier.  State Farm gave me $4800 when I had only paid 3k for the car.

I had installed a very nice aftermarket stereo system in the car.  At the wreck scene I had the presence of mind to remove the sub and the amp from the trunk.  I didn't take the rear deck or front door speakers.  I intended to remove them later, replacing them with the factory units which I had retained, wrapped and carefully stored for when I sold the car (or if something like this happened).  State Farm is claiming they are considered part of the vehicle and will not cover the cost, nor will they allow me to swap the factory speakers back in.  All I want is to return the car to stock trim, reinstalling all the original hardware and body panels in the process. 

Can't you just go to the place they towed it and pull them out?  It's still YOUR car until they give you some cash to total it out.  I don't see how they can stop you from taking your stereo out.

[Monkeyleg]

I dropped State Farm decades ago. Real pain in the posterior.

[Brad Johnson]

Can't you just go to the place they towed it and pull them out?  It's still YOUR car until they give you some cash to total it out.  I don't see how they can stop you from taking your stereo out.

Nope.  The wrecker service will only let you remove loose items.  There can be no physical changes/removals from or to the car.  From what I understand it's a state law thing regarding the towing yard's liability.  At least I was able to easily remove the truly high-dollar items (the sub and the amp) at the scene, and had the presence of mind to do so at the time.  Otherwise we'd be talking about two grand worth of equipment rather than a couple hundred.

They came up with a better number on the tires.  Still not what I wanted but close enough that it's not worth the bother and any legal expense to try and recover the remainder would wipe out the amount I might get.  I'm headed to the claims office to pick up the check.  Now it's off to try and find a replacement vehicle (and I may have just stumbled on a screaming deal for a dealer-new '08 Buick Lucerne CXS.  Can you say way, way, way, way discounted to get it sold?  I knew you could!).

I'll lbe monitoring potential health issue for the next week or two, just in case. 

Brad

Brad

[Tallpine]

I told you it would not end well 

40 years ago, when my family and I were in a major wreck, my mom had the choice of totalling or getting the pickup fixed.  It had a lot of new stuff on it so she had them (sorta - they never did get the cab back straight on the frame  ) fix it.

Then she took it right down and traded it in for a brand new pickup, and had the dealer swap out the tires, shocks, and the add-on a/c unit.  The camper shell had to be traded in to the camper place for a different one that would fit the newer body style (66 --> 69 chevy).

And the driver of a guy I used to work for laid over his KW log truck.  His ins co wanted to total it for some ridiculous small sum, but it had a recently rebuilt engine, trans, etc.  Not to mention it was a real purpose built logging truck with heavy frame and 54 forward gears!  He finally settled for some cash and kept the truck and fixed it himself.  In the meantime, they were actually hauling logs with it, with plastic and ductape patching the cab! 

[Standing Wolf]

I dropped State Farm decades ago. Real pain in the posterior.

Same here.

[Gewehr98]

Reading Wall Street Journal yesterday, I saw that GM is giving Saturn and Pontiac dealerships $7K per vehicle incentives to move those orphaned vehicles off the lots by year's end.  The article says that will reflect a 46% cut on the window sticker price of those brands.   

[Hawkmoon]

You know, I've heard it sometimes takes a while for injuries from a car wreck (whiplash) to manifest.

How's your back & neck feel?

10-4.

I don't remember who the company was, but a number of years ago I was rear-ended by a young woman driving her mother's new Jeep Cherokee too fast in a snow storm. The accident did a lot more damage to her Jeep than to mine, but I had just had new quarter panels put on mine and had it repainted, so I wanted it repaired. After initially telling me they would cover it, they then found that due to some very minor changes the actual quarter panels to fit my year weren't available, they had been superseded to the newer quarter panels -- which fit the chassis the same but required some other bits and pieces to make it all work.

I basically just threatened them with a whiplash claim. I reminded them that THEIR insured ran into me, and that ALL I was asking was to have my newly-repaired vehicle restored to the condition it was in prior to THEIR insured running into me. I pointed out that I had not, as yet, made any mention of whiplash injuries, but that I was certainly capable of picking up the telephone and dialing a neck specialist for a thorough examination.

They agreed to pay for the extra bits and pieces.

Brad, do you have collision insurance with your own company? If so, just have the vehicle repaired through your own insurance. They'll subrogate State Farm, and when they collect (and it will be "wnen," not "if") they'll refund your deductable.

[Brad Johnson]

Brad, do you have collision insurance with your own company? If so, just have the vehicle repaired through your own insurance. They'll subrogate State Farm, and when they collect (and it will be "wnen," not "if") they'll refund your deductable.

I would have done that if the car had been repairable.  Unfortunately the collision tweaked the frame and body, and both rather badly.  I could buy a clean 2002 Vic for half what it would cost to repair mine (which would basically be taking the cigarrette lighter and building a new car around it.). 

The impact was centered on the front passenger quarter panel with the one of the main structural members on the other vehicle's bumper meeting up perfectly with the a-pillar on the Vic (i.e. the body took a big chunk of the impact energy).  The suspension on the passenger side is completely crushed and the engine shifted so far over that it broke the driver side engine mount and knocked askew the frame on that side.  In addition the the entire front bulkhead and firewall is shifted several inches out of position, buckling it in the center and deforming the dash so much that most of the plastic internal fasteners are broken and the dash is visibly out of position.  The a-pillars are tweaked bad enough neither front door will open more than a few inches. The body itself is tweaked so much that neither of the back doors will close properly.  The body is so generally fubar'd that there is a buckle in the roofline beginning at the  passenger b-pillar and extending about halfway across the top.  Inside the driver's seat mounts are buckled over, the console is crushed, and the steering column is bent.

In short, it's well and truly screwed.

I was very lucky, though.  If I hadn't been driving a beast like the Vic, all the energy spent deforming the body and moving the car around would have been transferred directly to the passenger compartment.  If I'd been in any smaller or older a vehicle, chances are I'd have spent several days in the hospital.  The other driver that was hit benefitted too.  If I hadn't been "in the way" she would have hit him square in the driver's door.  Given her speed and vehicle (a small SUV) it would have likely flipped him completely over.  As it is he's got some shoulder problems from being slammed against the door, but that beats severe internal injuries from being flung around as the truck rolled over.

Brad

[brimic]

If you are a gun owner, you should look elsewhere for insurance, and definately stay away from Progressive.

[Tallpine]

Can you buy back the wreck from the ins co for a small salvage fee?

Then maybe you could find another older Vic, and use your wrecked one for parts 

Besides, everyone needs to have a car up on cinderblocks in their front yard 

[sanglant]

Can you buy back the wreck from the ins co for a small salvage fee?

Then maybe you could find another older Vic, and use your wrecked one for parts 

Besides, everyone needs to have a car up on cinderblocks in their front yard 

this, totaled out you shouldn't be out much to get it back. then remove your property, and sell the rest for scrap

[Brad Johnson]

Pulled the trigger on a clean 07 F150 SuperCrew with only 39k on the clock.  It's a little spartan interior-wise compared to what I'm used to, but that can be remedied with some smart shopping and a few can-do-in-the-garage upgrades.

Was nice to live without a car payment for a while.  Oh well.  Guess everything can't be perfect. 

Brad

[KD5NRH]

Let this be a lesson to you: only get hit by people with USAA insurance 

[Tallpine]

Pulled the trigger on a clean 07 F150 SuperCrew with only 39k on the clock.  It's a little spartan interior-wise compared to what I'm used to, but that can be remedied with some smart shopping and a few can-do-in-the-garage upgrades.

Was nice to live without a car payment for a while.  Oh well.  Guess everything can't be perfect. 

Brad

The eco-nazis and goobermunt control freaks (but I repeat myself) cannot figure out that the reason that ordinary people buy full size pickups and SUVs is that you cannot buy a real car anymore 


Is it 2wd or 4wd?  I don't suppose you need 4wd very much down there on the caprock.

Our old Suburban gets around in the snow way better in (rear) 2wd than our newer little car. with FWD.

[T.O.M.]

In my experiemces with car crashes, I'd rather be the one insured by State Farm than the one hit by a State Farm insured vehicle.  In both of my crashes (one a total loss, the other a minor bumper bender), State Farm did me right within a couple of weeks, and then went about settling the crash out with the other insurance company, without me taking a rate hit, since neither crash was my fault.  IN fact, when I totaled the Plymouth Sundance, I actually got more than Blue Book value because of some custom work I'd done on the car.  But, at the same time, I had informed my agent of the custom work (engine work, alloy wheels, stereo, security system), and the custom items were included in the policy.

Back to the OP, did you have all of the custom stereo equipment on the policy?  If not, the terms of the policy ( a contract, after all), will cover what the car had when it rolled off the assembly line.

[Brad Johnson]

Is it 2wd or 4wd?  I don't suppose you need 4wd very much down there on the caprock.

It's a 2wd.  I mulled getting 4wd, but the time or two I might need it a year is usually at the ranch and Dad has any number of multi-wheel-drive vehicles I can motor away in if needed.

Back to the OP, did you have all of the custom stereo equipment on the policy?  If not, the terms of the policy ( a contract, after all), will cover what the car had when it rolled off the assembly line.

No, I didn't have a rider for the equipment.  I did, however, have the presence of mind to remove the amp and the sub (representing about 80% of the system cost) at the scene.  All I lost was the door and package tray speakers, which State Farm finally agreed to reimburse me for.

Brad

[Tallpine]

It's a 2wd.  I mulled getting 4wd, but the time or two I might need it a year is usually at the ranch and Dad has any number of multi-wheel-drive vehicles I can motor away in if needed.

Good idea.  Besides, they make these things called "tire chains" 

My own pickup is a 2wd.  It was perfectly adequate for years, even logging in Colorado in the wintertime.  Everywhere I needed to go, the big log trucks needed to go also so they kept the roads pretty munched out.  Tire chains got me up the hills to camp - I put them on Sunday evening/monday morning when I went to work and took them off Friday night when I headed back to town.

Getting firewood off the hills around here with a 2wd is a pain, though