Flood damage

[LGAFF]

NADA has fixed the issue: 1991 ZR-1

Pricing
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MSRPLow
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Retail$64,138$14,700$22,400$34,400Options: (add options)
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TOTAL PRICE$64,138$14,700$22,400 $34,400*

[VetteVet]

Well, I was informed by State Farm today that since the car has suffered saltwater flood damage that they are obligated under state law to destroy it.

Here's my question. If I continue to refuse their settlement offer, they don't get the car. Yet they are obligated under state law to settle with me, pick up the car and have it destroyed. Seems to me that we have a Mexican stand-off. Am I missing something? Would the state come in and forcefully take the car from me? Inquiring minds want to know!

By the way, I put in a call today to the office of the president of State Farm. It took 4 attempts because during the first three attempts I was:
1) "Accidentally" disconnected
2) "Mistakenly" directed to a local State Farm agent who, amazingly enough, has a very similar name as the president of the company (and this was after emphatically stating that I was not looking to speak to an agent, but wanted to be transferred to the president of State Farm).
3) Transferred to a supervisor, yet after waiting for over ten minutes for the supervisor to pick up, I was mysteriously redirected back to the main switchboard.

I am beginning to see a pattern of behavior here and it stinks.

I did leave a message for the president, stating that I was calling because I was extremely disappointed with the manner in which my claim has been handled to this point. We'll see if anything comes of this. I seriously doubt that anything will, though.

I truly feel that State Farm has acted in bad faith and is backing me into a corner such that my options are becoming more and more limited. I am in colsultation with an attorney. I have not retained him yet as I'm holding back in an effort to allow State Farm to come to their senses and do the right thing. What can I say? My mother raised an optomist.

I'm sharing this in an effort to solicit advice but also to enlighten anyone who has or is considering insurance with this company.

Thanks,
Jep

[SteelBlueZR1]

Your best next move is to write a letter waging a formal complaint against State Farm with your State's Dept. of Insurance and Cc the Agent, claims supervisor and President of State Farm. Attach supporting documentation from NADA.
When insurance complaints are entered the Insurance Company and Management will likely change their tone. I have been a Nationwide agent and adjuster and have seen our position change when the dept of insurance got involved.

[mike100]

I don't think SF is going to be able to just come in there and seize the car without a lot of effort (they aren't actually the law). If they don't make a reasonable offer, I would plan to part it out and then surrender the body to a dismantler. Title branding won't matter to the junk man.

Probably you are getting the run-around because it is just standard practice to delay claims with some companies.

[Kevin]

....I'd read up on the castle/stand your ground laws in your state.

just saying.



and lee, i'm sorry but it's **** like this that makes people hate insurance companies. we had a member who was rear ended and had to deal with geiko who insisted that a stock bumper will fit our cars. Whatever happened with that? We pay our payments on time and when we need the service we pay for we get fucked over and over again. insurance companies, not necessarily agents, are the worst

[LGAFF]

Every company has dumbasses....seems to me you have a team that does not like to send complaints up the line and cannot think out of the box. We recently had a total loss claim with a rare Aston Martin, the owner raised the issue and we researched it and the claim settled. Key is having some who can recognize the issue and address, some people follow rules and thats all they know...we offer X based upon this evaluation thats it.....We have a saying that bad faith most often arises when you have the wrong people in the wrong file, either due to inexperience or failure to escalate.

Our company has lost bad faith claims before, usually because someone did not respond to an attorney letter within the allotted time, or we may overlook something and the insured knows it(some states make it very easy to be in a bad faith situation).....what makes this case so disturbing is the fact that a simple error is brought to thier attention and no one is willing to correct it, bringing in willful and wanton behavior....that will get you in trouble in almost any state.

Now if State Farm told him their offer was based on the fact that the car was not in one piece....I could somewhat see thier arguement. But that is apparently not the case here.....I don't want to get into ACV discussions as this is still pending, but I think all of us know values in todays market.....

My point to Jep was the ins company could get a salvage quote and see that this cars return is going to be as much or more than the ACV.

Next steps:
1)Submit 2 dealer appraisals per the LA statute. State Farm would then need to rebutt the appraisal
2)Request Appraisal per the contract.....and I guarantee he will get more than a 9K offer their, but must incurr his own fees
3)File a DOI complaint; citing failure to ensure thier adjusting staff is properly training with regard to the rules of the state of LA, an also to not thier failure to provide a fair offer under the state laws.

Its hard for me to understand how they could be this damn stupid....utlimateluy behavior like this will cost you 10 fold of the right settlement in litigation; bad faith settlements can run in the milliions...and in certain states, florida, AZ, NV once you cross that line there is no correcting...LA does not recognize bad faith quite as quickly as some on first party claims, but as the behavior continues....the door begins to open.

[LGAFF]

by the way their is a 1991 TL on ebay already at nearly 5K with between 10-12 in damage; something State farm should see..

[LGAFF]

This totalled out 91 ZR-1 is going to sell for over $7900.......Jep I saved it to my watch list if you need a printout.

[vilant]

Just reading this and Jep I'm sorry for the loss of your car and hassle your going through. If there's one thing to combat lawyers, ins, govt, etc. it's all the correct paperwork. Do all the work Lee says. I had a local govt re-assess the taxes on a property I had just purchased the year before. Needlees to say the reassessment was a lot higher then what we paid and what similar properties are worth. I was able dispute, but had to do alot of paperwork showing similar property values, purchase price, etc.. It was a PIA, but eventually we got it lowered. You should be able to get more on your claim, but your going to have to do all the research, fill out all the right forms to dispute, and provide all the right paperwork. Hopefully, everything works out for you.

[cvette98pacecar]

I had both of my cars appraised and brought the appraisals into the insurance company. If I was you I would heir an attorney.