OT: A revoltin' insurance development

He would have been doing you a much bigger favor if he had properly reviewed your coverage years ago and advised you to drop the collision coverage or change your deductible.

Vaughn

Just think Glenn, if in you're younger years, you had gone into the insurance business...minus you're conscience.

"Glenn Ashmore" wrote: (clip) You may be paying a premium to give your insurance company the right to steal your truck. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ This is why I carry only liability insurance on my older vehicles. The insurance companies make money by collecting premiums that are large enough to make a profit after handling the losses. Statistically, you are better off to carry the risk yourself, if you can afford an occasional loss.

They will never pay more to repair a vehicle than its "total" value. So, as the vehicle gets older, their exposure keeps going down. Do the premiums go down accordingly? I think not.

For me, insurance is liability only. It's there in case *I* screw up and hit somebody.

In the past year I:

1) was hit from behind, in two separate incidents. 2) hit a deer on a local road.

In each case I took care of the repairs myself.

Jim

All the practical advise that everyone else gave you, except:

The whole salvage title/totaled car thing is mandated by your state, as consumer protection. It does a good job keeping folks from fraudulently selling new cars as totaled, which is a good thing. It _doesn't_ keep folks from buying one and driving it -- my dad has a 2002 Ford that had been thumped in the front. He knows a bit of bodywork

so it's a fine car for him, but it would have been a disaster for a civilian.

I think that after a car is some number of years old they should either discard the whole "salvage" title business -- I mean, I own a '71 Vega. Those came out of the showroom with a repair cost exceeding the value of the car, yet I don't have to have a salvage title on it.

Damn who would ever buy a Vega

Regards

Daveb

Tim Wescott wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:

Sorry to hear that....

Tim doesn't think it odd, that his Vega continues to plod. He wrenches to make hay and races it Saturdays, Yet Tim's not running for God.

--Winston

Can anyone tell me what is the agent's responsibility with respect to client? I'm fighting my insurance company now because they slipped a new endorsement into the policy that limits their liability to anything non-OEM to $1000. Apparently I didn't see it. This was done 3 years after I insured a car with significant improvements (which my agent was aware of). It was not until almost two months after reporting the claim that the insurance company mentioned this endorsement and it also took my agent by complete surprise.

FYI, it's California. Any insurance lawyers out there who also make chips???

>

snip

Someone crazy, someone stupid -- or someone with a smallblock chevy and no place to put it!

In my case it was a case of the right car at the right time for the right price. It's a station wagon, which IMHO is good looking enough to make up for a lot of sins.

When I was an impressionable 13 years old my across-the-street neighbor had a Vega with a 327 in it. He used to head out to work every morning with a nice impressive screech. Then one morning it was more of a "screech-crunch" -- he hadn't bothered with upgrading to a stronger rearend.

Mine's currently in the middle of an engine transplant -- it'll be getting a 3.4 liter V6, S-10 spindles and the S-10 rear axle, assuming I ever get it done, and assuming that Chevy Performance doesn't discontinue the 3.4 liter S-10 replacement engine program before I'm ready to drop it in.

I own 3 toyota trucks. (ok ,1 is still stolen) For the damage you have, the most expensive part to replace is the hood. The hood goes for about $150. Fenders are around $75 each. Maybe $300 to have the inner structure pulled out by a frame shop.

If you insist on having a body shop do it, then you have to pay their prices. I've been doing my own body work for about 20 years.

I don't know specifically about your State but unfortunately I have some experience with this in the State of Washington.

In Washington cars can be declared totaled for two reasons. One is for severe damage that could lead to safety concerns. The other is for cost / monetary reasons. A car totaled for safety reasons leads to a salvage title, a car totaled for cost retains its original title.

It's worth checking the rules in your State rather than taking the agents word for it. There are good insurance agents but they are rare.

Cheers,

Kelley

Sorry about the pickup.

How's the boat going? I keep hoping I'll meet Rutu and family in Annapolis or World's End Reef.

Was this your automobile insurance? How about your homeowners insurance?

KS

That should work...........have fun

Regards

Daveb

Oh, I was always going to fix it myself. I was just seeing if I could get something for the premiums I have been paying. ;-)

lenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack there of) at:

Commercial Division:

Dunno about chi-making lawyers, but California has some very good insurance lawyers -- and a state insurance commision which is notoriously favorable to the insured.

You may have more luck than most of us would.

--RC Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad

-- Suzie B

Just for reference, where I live and with State Farm, that would have been under the comprehensive area of the policy, with a zero deductible, unless you had a bad history with the company.

RJ