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Liberty Mutual Insurance Co Complaint - S-C-A-M! - car insurance
car insurance - Complaint
NAPERVILLE, ILLINOIS -- On Father's Day of this year (2006), I was involved in an automobile accident. There was substantial damage to my vehicle, and I was required by my insurance company to gain an estimate of damage at an authorized body shop. The shop recommended to me was Cars Collision in Valparaiso. Upon my arrival, I was convinced to leave my car with the shop for repair, though I protested and wanted the option to shop around. I was informed that if the shop did the estimate for the repair and I decided not to do business with them, that I would be charged $500.00. I felt that there was no other option and made my opinion known that I was unhappily agreeing to allow the shop to complete the work. After that point, most of the conversations I had were pleasant to some degree, as well as informative. I was told that the total estimated cost of repair would be $4900, including the repair of previous damage to the car that was necessary to repair before building upon. According to that amount, the car should have been totaled, as the required 70% of the total value of the vehicle was damaged. A estimate of the cars pre-accident worth was then reported to me as $10,000.00, which was surprising as the purchase price of the vehicle was $9995.00 in 2004 (which was an unfair price as the car had been involved in the previous accident mentioned above. This matter was successfully settled with the dealership from which was car was purchased.) Of course, I insisted that this figure was ridiculous. I was later informed that the estimated cost of repair for the vehicle was $3400.00, reduced from the original amount, taking away the possibility of totaling the car. Totaling the car would have been in my advantage due to gap insurance, but the shop and the insurance company (Liberty Mutual) would not have gained from the deductible or the repairs. I had no way to prove my doubts about the estimates, and I again agreed to move on with protest. My complaint is that Liberty Mutual behaved fraudulently and unethically in the handling of this matter.
Comments:
Posted by Lidman on 2006-07-25:
Sounds like the shop and the insurance company work or know each other. This is common practice between insurance agents and Shop owners. They do act fraudulently and unethically because they can get away with it. The insurance companies know this goes on but as long as they come out ahead they don't care. I wish you the best of luck.
Posted by glc on 2006-07-25:
Humus: I'm guessing the $1000 is your deductible. Did you not realize that you would have to pay the deductible before picking up your car? Hopefully, if you were not negligible for this accident, Liberty Mutual will subrogate the adverse carrier, and eventually, your deductible will be reimbursed.
Posted by Hugh_Jorgen on 2006-07-26:
Any body shop that would charge $500 for a simple estimate would never get my business. That being said, the insurance compaines will work with the body shops to get the price down. It's possible they told the body shop "you have to fix this for $3400 instead of $4900 or we will have to total it". There is nothing wrong or unethical with this. The body shop got the business, you get your car back and the insurance company saved a few dollars.
Posted by spiderman2 on 2006-07-26:
Hugh, I completely agree. Had they told me the estimate would cost $500 I would have walked. What a scam. One thing I notice throughout this letter is that the writer is always being victimized by the original seller of the car, the body shop and the insurance company. There is a lesson here, if you think you are getting ripped off, don't just say okay!
Posted by humus88 on 2006-07-26:
any chance Hugh is an insurance salesman? Adjusting the price of a service to financially benefit the companies involved and put the customer at an unfair disadvantage is a scam. They estimated my car to be $10,000!!! It's a 2003 Toyota Echo with a previous accident! Even Kelly Blue Book doesn't list my car in excellent condition as being worth that much.
Also, I think that it is reasonable to assume that a large sum of money can be doled out over time. I do know that the deductible is what it is, and there is no negotiating it to a lesser sum, and I did not attempt to. I really felt backed into a corner by both companies, and my ignorance in the situation was really taken advantage of. As I have never been through an accident like this, I have never had the experience.
Also, when you find out that you're being victimized, it is best to be a thorn in the side of the antagonizer(s). I have gotten myself into position to get a new car for the price I owe on my old one as reimbursement for the unfair price of the car when it was sold to me. Kudos to Toyota, but it never would have happened without a lot of phone calls and a little complaining.
Also, I think that it is reasonable to assume that a large sum of money can be doled out over time. I do know that the deductible is what it is, and there is no negotiating it to a lesser sum, and I did not attempt to. I really felt backed into a corner by both companies, and my ignorance in the situation was really taken advantage of. As I have never been through an accident like this, I have never had the experience.
Also, when you find out that you're being victimized, it is best to be a thorn in the side of the antagonizer(s). I have gotten myself into position to get a new car for the price I owe on my old one as reimbursement for the unfair price of the car when it was sold to me. Kudos to Toyota, but it never would have happened without a lot of phone calls and a little complaining.
Posted by Hugh_Jorgen on 2006-07-27:
Not an insurance salesman, but I have friends that own body shops and that's just how it works sometimes. If business is slow, they will take less money for a repair job just to keep the shop busy. I'm glad you got what you feel is a satisfactory outcome, but the main job of the adjuster is to settle every claim as cheaply as possible. You may not like it when you are filing a claim, but you appreciate it when you are paying your insurance bill. To use terms like SCAM is just inflamatory.
Posted by Pro Se Consumer Advocate on 2007-04-29:
Hugh has commented "that's just how it works sometimes"..a very open-ended comment..and not sure why you would comment something like that...not very helpful at all...I'm happy for you friends who own body shops...but sad for Humus88...
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