Insurance claim experiencee needed

[Admstf]

Hello,

Anyone have experience submitting an insurance claim?

My brother and I had a drunk driver crash through our garage a while ago and the insurance company finally got back to us with their offer. 23 total 6k offer
5k professional estimate for building damage. They offered 3k no explanation as to how they determined value.
17k in contents 3k offer again no explanation on how they determined the value of the loss.

The garage holds all my brothers tools and inventory of a comic and gaming store I owned.

I believe they are low balling us but it is rock bottom low. I am looking for the next steps before jumping to a lawyer maybe our homeowners insurance would fight the drivers insurance etc... any suggestions would be welcomed.

~Adam

 

[Monsterdg]

I strongly recommend you have your own representative involved, either your homeowners insurance or an attorney. *His* insurance carrier doesn't have *your* interests, just to get out of this for the least amount possible.

I handle insurance cases for my company all the time; it's a whole different world if we're talking to the customer, or an attorney. For 20k+ in damages, you need your own corner people for sure. Best of luck brother!

 

[AmmoEd]

I agree, get a lawyer.

 

[njstone]

agreed.

 

[earnold25]

I'm gonna disagree with the lawyer suggestions. It will end up costing you more out of pocket, and that's entirely on you to pay. They won't reimburse you for lawyer fees.

Right now, the most important thing i sto not sign anything they send you until you're happy with the number. Don't release liability. You can always hire an attorney later if you're not making any progress, but honestly I wouldn't go that route at all. This is why you have homeowners insurance.

My suggestion would be to get your Homeowner's insurance involved. They'll send out an adjuster to evaluate the damage and they'll end up giving you a figure. This way you can compare apples to apples. If you're happy with the number, you'll have to pay your deductible, but what your rates shouldn't go up. Your insurance company will pursue recovery with the at fault parties insurance company and then reimburse your deductible once they recover. If his insurance company decides to up their number based on the new information you provide them, you can always cancel your homeowner's claim.

Have you done a full inventory of the garage? If you don't want the blanket contents payment you'll have to prove what's been damaged and its value.

 

[KickinD]

Don't most lawyers work on contingency and only get paid when a settlement is reached? I am trying to get an auto insurance claim settled right now and getting nowhere with the adjuster. I'm tempted to contact a lawyer to get this thing turned in my favor, after all their client did turn in front of me.

 

[Phil from Chicago]

Lawyer up man

Good Luck

 

[SurpriseMVP]

I'm gonna disagree with the lawyer suggestions. It will end up costing you more out of pocket, and that's entirely on you to pay. They won't reimburse you for lawyer fees.

Right now, the most important thing i sto not sign anything they send you until you're happy with the number. Don't release liability. You can always hire an attorney later if you're not making any progress, but honestly I wouldn't go that route at all. This is why you have homeowners insurance.

My suggestion would be to get your Homeowner's insurance involved. They'll send out an adjuster to evaluate the damage and they'll end up giving you a figure. This way you can compare apples to apples. If you're happy with the number, you'll have to pay your deductible, but what your rates shouldn't go up. Your insurance company will pursue recovery with the at fault parties insurance company and then reimburse your deductible once they recover. If his insurance company decides to up their number based on the new information you provide them, you can always cancel your homeowner's claim.

Have you done a full inventory of the garage? If you don't want the blanket contents payment you'll have to prove what's been damaged and its value.

This is 100% correct!!!!
I am in the insurance business and unless you bought your policy through a 1-800 # this is the ONLY course of action.

 

[Admstf]

Great info...you all make a lot of sense. ..we really appreciate it.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

[earnold25]

Don't most lawyers work on contingency and only get paid when a settlement is reached? I am trying to get an auto insurance claim settled right now and getting nowhere with the adjuster. I'm tempted to contact a lawyer to get this thing turned in my favor, after all their client did turn in front of me.

It depends on the lawyer. Most "ambulance chasers" work on contingency. 90% won't take your case unless its a sure thing. Others, you're paying hourly.

Being a former insurance / claims adjuster, I'll give you the following advice. Lawyers don't make a bit of difference in the world to the outcome of the claim. I PREFERRED to deal with a lawyer vs. a claimant any day of the week. They were knowledgeable about the ways things worked and didn't have an emotional attachment to the case, which usually made your regular Joe pretty hard to deal with (even irrational).

If your auto claim is simple property damage, you can also go to your insurance company and have them fix the damage, pay your deductible, and they'll reimburse you (as well as not raise your rates) when they successfully recover the money from the at fault party (or their insurance co.).

If you have bodily injury, than its a little more complicated, but really not that difficult. You basically save all your EOB's, receipts and keep track of your related medical records / visits / expenses (total, not just out of pocket). Typically, your insurance company will also pay any out of pocket medical expense you have, up to a certain amount, without raising your rates. When you are 100% done with treatment, you can talk to them about a settlement. Typically its all of your treatments bills as well as a pain and suffering payment (ususally 2 to 3x the amount of your treatments costs). If your satisfied with that number, you sign a release of liability and they cut you a check. If you were to have a lawyer, you then take that check and give them 30%.

I'm not bad mouthing lawyers, just realize you're paying them for their service...and to take the headache out of your hands. Just like anything else in life, if you're willing to do the leg work, you can save this expense.

 

[KickinD]

Thanks for the info. I guess it's a good thing I have no experience in dealing with this. Mine is the first major accident in 15 years of driving. Luckily there is no question about who is at fault since they pulled in front of me. I was debating contacting a lawyer since their bodily offer is only expenses plus 1/2. I will just suck it up and battle it out with the adjuster.