Accident

[nelsontoddpa]

At the request of Bigmanjb-many thanks to him by the way--I'll post the update I put on my "WTB" post:
'Short' story is, the insurance company (Grinnell Mutual) tried to jerk me around with low ball estimates (one even was from a guy with a felony conviction for fraud). I gave them the option to settle in July, which they turned down, and they tried to out-wait me (foolish thing to do on their part)
So--- I got a local estimate as well as a licensed appraisal--- both of which were higher than my offer in July. My attorney sent them the lawsuit papers just after Thanksgiving as a preview, with the stance of "settle now or this gets filed".
So- they settled in December, 6 months after the accident; and they would have been better off financially if they had taken my offer in July. They ended up paying enough to cover all of the storage and all of my attorney fees, and more.
Sooooo- I'm in the hunt for a replacement, I flew out to Boston earlier this week to look at one in Eliot Maine. Unfortunately, the amount of underbody rust made that one unacceptable, So I'm still looking. I figure I'll eventually find one, but there's no big rush. I'll take my time to find one that fits me (and my limited mechanical abilities) sometime.
Thanks to all of you who commiserated with me!

 

[satman72]

Great to hear that everything worked out for you in the end.
Good luck on finding a new car.

 

[MoparMitch]

Good News , Good News !! Always a good thing to have a pocket full of money ,while looking for your new Hot Rod. Good luck.

 

[Basket case]

yeah, but is sucks how we get that pocketful sometimes.

 

[tpodwdog]

what sux is , ya have to threaten someone into doing something that they SHOULD have done in the first place!. congrats !

 

[hemistix66]

Still file a report with State Insurance Commissioner.Just the facts.That way the next guy might not get jerked around.No guarantee but at least it makes them think.

 

[ws27]

what sux is , ya have to threaten someone into doing something that they SHOULD have done in the first place!. congrats !

X2

 

[Moparsmitty]

Glad to hear that you finally got a settlement out of these insurance company a**holes. It always amazes me how much time and money they will spend trying to avoid paying a legitimate claim. Seems like they would have been a lot better off just paying it up front and moving on. It's not like they don't have the money.

 

[luther]

At the request of Bigmanjb-many thanks to him by the way--I'll post the update I put on my "WTB" post:
'Short' story is, the insurance company (Grinnell Mutual) tried to jerk me around with low ball estimates (one even was from a guy with a felony conviction for fraud). I gave them the option to settle in July, which they turned down, and they tried to out-wait me (foolish thing to do on their part)
So--- I got a local estimate as well as a licensed appraisal--- both of which were higher than my offer in July. My attorney sent them the lawsuit papers just after Thanksgiving as a preview, with the stance of "settle now or this gets filed".
So- they settled in December, 6 months after the accident; and they would have been better off financially if they had taken my offer in July. They ended up paying enough to cover all of the storage and all of my attorney fees, and more.
Sooooo- I'm in the hunt for a replacement, I flew out to Boston earlier this week to look at one in Eliot Maine. Unfortunately, the amount of underbody rust made that one unacceptable, So I'm still looking. I figure I'll eventually find one, but there's no big rush. I'll take my time to find one that fits me (and my limited mechanical abilities) sometime.
Thanks to all of you who commiserated with me!

Just now viewing this--been away for a while (skiing and stuff like that). But congrat's on the settlement, Nelsontoddpa! I have good memories of my 66 Coronet I got new as a kid shortly after finishing college. You might find a rust-free Coronet out here in So. Calif. Good luck and keep on lookin!
--Luther

 

[kdtjb]

I hope you find as nice of car as you lost. That looks like it might be hard to do, that was one heck of a car.

 

[Jeremiah]

At the request of Bigmanjb-many thanks to him by the way--I'll post the update I put on my "WTB" post:
'Short' story is, the insurance company (Grinnell Mutual) tried to jerk me around with low ball estimates (one even was from a guy with a felony conviction for fraud). I gave them the option to settle in July, which they turned down, and they tried to out-wait me (foolish thing to do on their part)
So--- I got a local estimate as well as a licensed appraisal--- both of which were higher than my offer in July. My attorney sent them the lawsuit papers just after Thanksgiving as a preview, with the stance of "settle now or this gets filed".
So- they settled in December, 6 months after the accident; and they would have been better off financially if they had taken my offer in July. They ended up paying enough to cover all of the storage and all of my attorney fees, and more.
Sooooo- I'm in the hunt for a replacement, I flew out to Boston earlier this week to look at one in Eliot Maine. Unfortunately, the amount of underbody rust made that one unacceptable, So I'm still looking. I figure I'll eventually find one, but there's no big rush. I'll take my time to find one that fits me (and my limited mechanical abilities) sometime.
Thanks to all of you who commiserated with me!

Man, what a terrible ordeal. Were you able to keep your car or did the insurance company tow it away?

 

[ram250098]

Great news...great news..it really is to bad you have to wait and get jerked like this for a service you paid for. Hope you do find the right fit as you said...YOU DESERVE IT...
AL

 

[goose69]

I was wondering if you retained your car after payout for the salvage value? Sometimes a good thing to do for good usable parts.
My buddy just went through a scinerio like this. The other insurance company was dragging feet hoping to wait him out, luckily he could wait as long as it took, but apparently there are certain timelines for filing certain things. They even kept sending checks for the low ball amount and said this is all he was going to receive and he only had so many days before the claim was forced closed, which was bullcrap! He had to push but found out his insurance agent could pay out for the damages and replacements through his office, not through the actual insurance company and then bill out the other insurace. His office also did a seperate apprasal and negated the previous one, which was low balled obviously and there was NO arguments. It was a different scinerio then your insurance paying out and then suing the other insurance, this way there was NO affect on my buddy's insurance whatsoever like an uninsured motorist or the like. I cannot recall what this procedure was called but if anyone is interested or needs it just give a shout and I will find out.
Anyways, I'm glad it turned out foryou as long as you are happy with the outcome. Good luck with your search, hope you find what you're looking for.

 

[moparnutt]

I am glad no one was hurt, metal can be fixed. I know I would cry if mine got hit. My Dad bought a new one in 66 and he (we) drove it for 15years before he sold it, never a scratch. Within 2 weeks after he sold it a damn drunk driver ran a stop sign and destroyed it. And messed the driver up pretty bad, too. Good luck with your insurance company. Keep us posted.

 

[Ghostrider 67]

Oh man that is the pits, i feel for you and have been there myself. Granted, it wasn't a MOPAR but it was a spectacular 65 Impala SS none the less. A drunk ran off the road into a SONIC drive-in in South Carolina and instead of braking he hit the gas and rammed my car in the rear pushing it up into the tables and over the rails into the driveway on the other side. Total loss. He had State Farm insurance. I had Progressive, they tried to give me 15,000 bucks for a 30,000 dollar custom screamer. After three days of BS I did the same thing, i looked the bitch in the eye and said," I will be meeting with the state insurance commissioner at 3pm today. I'll let you know what he says." They came back in 3 hours, at 2:45 pm and offered 29,400. I took it. Still miss that damn car to this day.

 

[moparnutt]

At the request of Bigmanjb-many thanks to him by the way--I'll post the update I put on my "WTB" post:
'Short' story is, the insurance company (Grinnell Mutual) tried to jerk me around with low ball estimates (one even was from a guy with a felony conviction for fraud). I gave them the option to settle in July, which they turned down, and they tried to out-wait me (foolish thing to do on their part)
So--- I got a local estimate as well as a licensed appraisal--- both of which were higher than my offer in July. My attorney sent them the lawsuit papers just after Thanksgiving as a preview, with the stance of "settle now or this gets filed".
So- they settled in December, 6 months after the accident; and they would have been better off financially if they had taken my offer in July. They ended up paying enough to cover all of the storage and all of my attorney fees, and more.
Sooooo- I'm in the hunt for a replacement, I flew out to Boston earlier this week to look at one in Eliot Maine. Unfortunately, the amount of underbody rust made that one unacceptable, So I'm still looking. I figure I'll eventually find one, but there's no big rush. I'll take my time to find one that fits me (and my limited mechanical abilities) sometime.
Thanks to all of you who commiserated with me!

I am glad the insurance finally settled. Did you buy the car back for parts? Good luck in the search for a new ride. From me and mine we are wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year..