USAA Insurance are a bunch of crooks!

[zfinger]

My recent dealing with USAA insurance have been an absolute nightmare. Since they are refusing to take care of the damages to my truck, I'll take to the internet for some good old fashioned negative PR. I have Allstate (liability only on the MJ), the woman who hit me has USAA.

 

Here's the link to my build thread so you can see the truck. http://comancheclub.com/topic/43653-1990-comanche-build-little-big-truck/

 

On 3-13-15 (Friday the 13th), an elderly woman leaving an eye appointment tried to make a right out into traffic. She ignored the raised crosswalk, the yield sign, and pulled right out. On top of that, she cut blindly left, across all 3 lanes. I was going 45mph, in a 45, and saw it coming. I braked and swerved as hard as I could left, across 3 lanes, but she still stuck the nose of her Rav4 under my rear tire. The truck jumped, turned sideways and slammed down, I had the brakes locked, we went sideways through a bunch of pot holes, and came to rest backwards in the middle of the road. 

 

The first thing she said when I approached her was "I didn't see you". Lady, I'm driving a monster truck! I saw she was leaving the hospital, so I asked her right away if she was on drugs. She said "No, I'm leaving the eye doctors". She had just had work done on her eyes. She should not have been driving. We got slammed hard enough that my passenger injured his shoulder and had to put in a medical claim. My knees slammed together and hurt pretty bad. I didn't make a medical claim thinking it was just a bruise and would go away, but it hasn't. 

 

I had my truck towed from the accident to Pollard Off-Road, one of the best in the country. The steering wheel is crooked, the airbag light is on, the chip in the windshield turned into a giant spider. They came back with an estimate for $3200. They found both radius arms to be bent, and 2 bent rims. Sounds pretty consistent with what happened. I took the truck for a test drive, she's crooked for sure! Use to do 80mph down the highway without issue, I wound't do 40mph with it now.

 

USAA is claiming that these damages are NOT related to the accident, because the truck was hit in the right rear tire and our statements don't mention any secondary impacts. I just built this truck. It wasn't even on the road for a month. Got maybe 500 miles since the build. I've provided before and after pictures of the parts that were damaged. Pollard has explained to them that these damages are certainly from the accident. Yet they still want to deny me all of the repairs. The truck has been sitting at Pollard for 2 months now. I've since bought another truck because I need one for work. USAA is also refusing to pay a $730 rental bill for a truck I had for 3 weeks while they went over things.

 

I've called a lawyer, they're not getting out of this. I'll add the pictures tonight so you all can see the before and afters.  

[Strokermjcomanche]

Your insurance company should go after USAA not you . They have lawyers and that should be part of there job . Do you have receipts of all the parts you had just bought before the accident?

 

Their insurance company (like all others) of course doesn't want to pay money out . In my experience working at a body shop in Ohio the rental not only goes against your claim but they may not pay the full amount if it was above what they pay per day .

[HOrnbrod]

Was the accident investigated on the scene by the police? Was the elderly woman charged with anything? Did you sign a medical release?

[zfinger]

She was cited for failure to yield. I kept pushing the cop to make note that she was leaving the eye doctor but thats not in the paperwork. I talked to USAA again, and its her statement thats become the issue. She said she grazed my back tire and we pulled over. Grazing my tire doesn't damn near roll a truck over and leave it backwards in the middle of the road. 

 

I do have a ton of receipts. Not for the radius arms since they were custom made and on the Jeep when I got it. But I do have pics of them being straight before the accident and them being bent after. 

 

The rental... USAA put me in the rental, it was their deal. Nobody from USAA or Enterprise called to tell me I was paying for it. It wasn't till 3 weeks later with no contact that I went into Enterprise and asked what was going on. They said I was paying for it, I laughed, dropped the keys on the counter and walked out. 

 

Because I only had liability on the truck, Allstate is being helpful, but aren't taking on the case. I was going to pay my Allstate deductible, have them fix it, and let them go after USAA for their money. But liability... 

[1987Comanche]

At least you don't live in NC.  This state has draconian insurance laws (legislators here work for the lobbyists, not the people).  If they can find you 1% at fault for the accident then insurance isn't obligated to pay anything towards fixing your car, period.  I learned this firsthand last year when that kid totaled my '65 Olds.  State Farm tried every trick in the book (and then some) to hang that 1% on me but couldn't.  They even went so far as to check the tread depth on the tires (9/32" btw). 

[jimoshel]

I hate lawyers with a passion and have absolutely no use for them. But sometimes, like this, they are useful.

[daking]

I've always had good dealings with USAA. I use USAA. I've had someone hit me, they had USAA, and USAA fixed me right up. I've hit people, and USAA has fixed them up. I can't recall having any negative experience.  But I'm also realistic. I've had friends get in accidents, and they think they hit a gold mine.

 

With that said, USAA is still an insurance company, and like ALL insurance companies, the goal is to pay out as little as possible.  

 

They are offering $3000? That does not seem too far off. How much do you need to be square, if I may ask?

 

I do agree if your not happy, you should see what your insurance company will do with the offers. Or maybe get some estimates on your one for proper fixing. I'd also make sure they understand you have a restored classic vehicle. Harder to repair and unique parts.

 

That rental deal sounds bad, I'd call USAA and make sure they pay for that. If they offered it, they need to pay it. 

 

(let make it clear, I'm not in accidents everyday, like my above statement may make it sound :)  This is over a ~20yr time frame)

[NHMJXJ]

I've had USAA for over 30 years.  They're an excellent company. 

 

Allstate, State Farm, Amica or any other company would do the same thing.  Even socialist owned Progressive.

 

Banks and insurance companies are where the money is and they're not giving it up.  

[Incommando]

Believe it or not the eye doctor thing is not relevant to the criminal/traffic charge. She committed a strict liability offense: her driving actions are all that matter. Her statement could also include al kinds of BS and is also not relevant other than if she admits fault. It appears that she did. The purpose of the report and statement are criminal prosecution not civil liability.

 

Having seen an accident or two you are lucky that USAA is offering anything but a token amount to fix the truck. As you apparently did not establish the above average value of your truck beforehand, as hardly any of us do, they could have offered the token value of the truck and totaled it. If you don't insure it for your claimed value beforehand then they usually go that route.

 

I have full coverage on my truck because it was $27 more a year than liability. However I did not go and have it appraised and insure it at a higher value based on that appraisal. Going that route would add several hundred dollars to the yearly tab and few standard insurance companies offer such coverage. You often get referred to a specialty carrier like Hagerty. When I last renewed my policy in 7/14 the insurance value of my truck is $1400. Any damage over that means it is totaled and all that I can expect is $1400. And a figure like that is probably all USAA would have to pay in most states, as well.

 

I do hope you get a fair settlement out of this. Insurance is such a scam.

[zfinger]

USAA's offer is $90 to cover an alignment.. They are denying the damages are related. I don't even see how that's up for debate since I just built the truck and have sent them plenty of before and after pictures. I've finally got a manager to deal with at USAA. Trying to get the adjuster back to the shop so the adjuster, the mechanic and I can all point to what's bent and explain how it happened.

[1987Comanche]

 Keep working to establish your case and don't roll over.  The insurance game is to take in as much $$ as possible while paying out as little as possible.  The first offer on my '65 was $2800 which, obviously, was way off for an original car with 50K miles.  I sent them a copy of the build sheet, Protect-o-Plate, and a few comps.  We finally made into the realm of a realistic offer but I had to drag State Farm by their ear the entire way.

[zfinger]

Update: I went and picked up a copy of the police report today. The issue seems to be the damages vs. the woman who hit me's statement. USAA always sides with their customers statement unless the police report says otherwise. A case manager told me this. Her statement says she grazed my rear tire and we pulled over. No mention of me almost rolling and being spun 180* and the truck sitting dead in the middle of the road until I went back a few minutes later and moved it. Well the police report does match my statements. The police report says exactly what I said, and exactly what my passenger said. The officers notes also state that woman was dazed and confused and didn't know what had happened. So her statement isn't worth crap. This accident report USAA claims to have not received.

 

The plan now is to meet with an adjuster, myself, and the mechanics at Pollard and go over it all. With the report, the before and after pictures of damages, and an expert opinion on the crash, I don't see how they could deny the claim.

 

I'll keep this updated.

[Jeep Driver]

They don't have to deny your claim. They could simply total it at.....say........$2300 and write you a check and be done with it.

 

The fact that you have $10k in suspension and wheels and......etc........ means nothing.

[kansashogan]

I have USAA also. I tried to get their specialty insurance and they basically go through other companies. They transferred me to two other companies and they wouldn't insure it because I told them I would be driving it some to work and other places. They said they only insure vehicles that are rarely driven and to and from car shows and such. They did say I could get it appraised and then get an "agreed value" policy. As it is I have full coverage and only pay $33 a month. USAA is a heck of a lot cheaper than other companies I will say that.

[zfinger]

Except that it kind of does...

 

I've been through this before with an Acura that I built. Long story short, insurance company offered $2000 and I refused. We ended at $5000 and I kept the car, sold that for another $2800. $7,800 payout on a car I had $13k+ into. I keep all my receipts and records. They help a ton in getting paid what a vehicle is worth.

[Incommando]

Just because you have X dollars in a vehicle does not mean it is worth your investment, either. To be honest I wonder what was wrong that so many new parts failed after what does not sound like a particularly bad collision. Do you have post-accident pics of the truck & claimed damage?

[zfinger]

Make no mistake, the accident was pretty violent. 45mph, swerving hard, cutting left across 2 lanes, only to have someone stuff the nose up under the passenger side door. When my tire caught her, we jumped and slammed down hard sideways. We slid a long ways through a mess of deep pot holes sideways. How we didn't roll is still a miracle of physics to me and my passenger. It was not minor, from inside the cab it was pretty violent.

 

Bent radius arm and the truck sitting crooked after the accident. Before the accident the steering wheel was straight, no dash lights on, and it tracked great at 80mph on the highway. Now it's f*€ked.

[zfinger]

The lady who hit me also got this...

[Jeep Driver]

The lady who hit me also got this...

How do you know that?

[HOrnbrod]

Sorry about your accident, but since you have access to a generic header photo of a CO standard form DR 2436 which means nothing, do you also have photos of the little Rav4 that hit you and caused your damage? Sure would like to see what it looks like.

[zfinger]

I know because it was included with the accident report. I didn't post the whole page since it has all her personal info listed. But to summarize the form, it says she violated the right of way, and upon questioning was having a difficult time understanding what she did, what she could have done, or what to do now.

 

No pics of her RAV4, but from what I saw at the scene it took out her fender, headlight, bumper and hood.

 

I don't think I'll have any issues getting USAA to pay up now that the police report confirms mine and my passengers statements. And her confusion puts her statement in the trash can.

[Incommando]

Where you hit in the passenger side or driver's side? What does your damage look like?

[Comangi]

Sorry man, but she's their client and her statement contradicts yours. You didn't take pics of the scene? that's accident 101, man. Also, like lots said, you can't expect payment for aftermarket parts. You need to have had the aftermarket value appraised and have it insured by your insurance company before the OTHER company will pay for them. It's a pain, believe me.

 

I also have USAA and they have been nothing but stand-up and honest. Sounds like they are standing behind their client.

 

That being said, I hope the police report clears it all up and they pay, but how can you expect them to pay to fix aftermarket equip? They are only on the hook for replacing stock parts.

[zfinger]

The accident report confirms my statements. USAA has stood behind their client and her statement, but they won't be able to after they read the report. The damages are consistent with accident and the report and the photos.

 

I don't think I'll have any issues getting it repaired now that I have the report. But I leave tomorrow for a week, so nothing's getting done till I get back.