Posted On: July 9, 2007, 9:39 pm CDT

Posted By: David Williams

I'm impressed! This board is usually so pro-insurance that its posters most always side with insurance companies regardless of actions they take. But that doesn't seem to be the case as of late. A few of you actually seem frustrated to hear that companies you work for and respect put their own interests ahead of customer's interests at claim time. This PA case is just another example.

I hear the stories and see honest hard-working consumers who have been victimized by insurance company claims adjusters nearly everyday. After an auto accident many of them get steered into network direct repair shops against their will by careless use of crafty word tracks and bogus guarantees. Once a car is at the DRP it often gets butchered with aftermarket parts that fit poorly and unnecessarily compromise the safety of occupants in a subsequent crash. Quality of workmanship is in the toilet, but the DRP's CSI is so manipulated that the poor consumer never finds out until it's too late. Completed, repaired cars on average are devalued to the tune of about 30% of their retail values. But, collecting for diminished value is out of the question insurers tell them, unless, of course, they want to go further in the hole by paying an attorney to represent them in a case that will be hard-fought by the insurer.

It's been my experience that insurance companies size up the ability of the claimant to buy a defense. If they find them affluent or influential they get paid everything they request and more (Dickie Scruggs excluded). If they are not financially secure, they get lied to, chased in circles, and eventually worn down to the point they will accept any amount to get a settlement behind them.

What's worse, is the push by insurers to limit judgments in torts and bad faith cases. Convincingly, insurance companies bully the states with threats of pulling out if insurance climates are not made more favorable. When they get their way and tort reform is passed and bad-faith limits capped, unethical companies have no fear of adverse judgments that could harm them, and they push the boundaries more than ever.

Kudos to those of you who see through the smoke screens put up by advertising agencies and spin wizards in the home offices. And to those of you who put your jobs in jeopardy to get consumers all they are entitled to receive at claim time, I applaud you.

Treating others the way you would have others treat you is the right thing to do. A bonus is that every once in a while you might save 20Mil on a claim.

David Williams / OH
Auto Repair and Valuation Expert