Shout Out: ‘Confessions of an Auto Claims Adjuster’

Also, be sure your estimate includes OME (Originally Manufactured Eequipment) parts. If you don’t when you go to resell your car you could get less for it.

If your car is ever totaled, don’t accept the insurance company’s first offer. Go online and find a replacement for your car (same model, year, mileage options and condition) and get an average cost to replace it. I did this when my wife’s car was totaled and ended up with almost $2000 more than the insurance company originally offered (which was book value) and they didn’t even put up a fight.

This claims adjuster is anonymous for a reason: s/he doesn’t know what s/he’s talking about. I am a current adjuster for one of the Top 5.

Point 1 is correct: there’s a heavy caseload and an incremental amount is probably worth it to get the claim closed.

Point 2 is not: There is a very strict policy at my company about receiving any gifts from vendors such as rental companies or body shops. Not even coffee or cookies. People have been fired for taking event tickets valued at $50. By and large there is no such thing as a make-specific body shop. If you take a Honda to a body shop owned by the Chevy dealership, they will fix it. Repairing sheet metal on a fender on a Ford is the same as repairing metal on a Toyota. The auto dealer groups that have franchises of 6+ makes will usually own a body shop. All of the sales dealerships in that group will refer body work to the sister shop. So Ron’s Honda will refer you to Ron’s body shop. Ron’s Volkswagen will also refer you to Ron’s body shop. It doesn’t make Ron’s body shop a Honda body shop.

State Farm’s adjusters hate paying claims and do their best to load partial blame on the victims. An afternoon of searching Google turns up many situations similar to mine. State Farm car accident payouts are famous for dodging with blaming 20% of the accident on the victim, not policy holder who violated a traffic rule– even when the holder admits guilt! In cases where no tickets were issued to the victim, and no attending officer puts any blame on the victim whatsoever. In my case State Farm then made up its own claims weeks later of “excessive speed” and “bald tires”, and stated that the police at the accident scene “are not authorized to make those judgement calls”–then why are the police allowed to issue tickets for such violations any other time? I sill have my car from my accident and the tires have ample tread. And I knew for a fact I was only going 20mph in a 30 zone when a teenager whipped a 3point turn in front of me. State Farm is despicable.

The bottom line is, insurance companies are still a business. So they’ll always look the make the lowest settlement or preferably, look to get out of paying at all. In fact, I know about a lot of people who get underpaid or one or two were even refused compensation by their own insurance companies even though it’s covered under the policy.

http://www.mesrianilaw.com/Bad-Faith-Lawsuits-Against-Unfair-Handling-Of-Insurance-Claims.html

If this excerpt is any indication of the content of the full article, it is the worst example of biased journalism I’ve read. I’m disappointed TIME would run an article telling people to take a particular action without explaining the counterpoint. This article slanders the insurance industry by accusing it of shady practices. The truth is, people feel taken advantage of by their insurance company when they do not understand how the industry works.

I worked as an insurance claims adjuster and the first thing that needs to be corrected or defined more clearly is exactly what the article author’s position was at his company. There is a difference between an “Insurance Claims Adjuster” and an “Auto Damage Appraiser”. A claims adjuster determines liability when an accident is reported and an auto damage adjuster makes the estimate for repairs to your vehicle. They often are not the same person.

Secondly, it is the goal of every insurance company to indemnify, (to make whole), any situation they are taking responsibility for. That means, they want to pay whatever it costs to put your vehicle back into the condition it was in before the accident occurred. Not a penny more or less.
This article is basically stating it’s ok to pressure your insurance company for more than the repairs are worth. That behavior tip-toes on being illegal. Come on, TIME, let’s not encourage people to commit insurance fraud.

This article lambasts the use of preferred repair locations. That advice is completely ignorant. Some states have anti-steering laws that forbid insurance companies from directing people to use a specific repair facility. The company I worked for adhered to the full legality of suggesting a repair location. Your insurance company should ALWAYS preface a sales pitch for a preferred location with “You always have the right to use the repair facility of your own choice.” It’s a legal statement, and once said, the (intelligent) claimant should be aware of their rights. Preferred repair shops are a way that insurance companies can guarantee that you are getting your car back repaired, and in the same condition it was in before the accident. With a preferred shop you’re guaranteed an appointment rather than having to wait for a shop to clear its schedule for you. Preferred repair shops have the insurance companies’ auto damage adjuster on site so they can estimate the damage efficiently, and they can issue supplemental estimates without any additional waiting time. They work with the body shop to guarantee the repairs are completed to satisfaction, and they will normally guarantee the repairs for the life of your car. They also will have ALL the equipment on-hand at the shop to take care off ALL of the damage to the vehicle. The flip side to this issue is using the repair shop of your own choice. If you choose to do so, you may be waiting up to 5 business days for an adjuster to inspect your vehicle. Insurance companies only have so many people they can send into the field at one time and may not be able to get to your car right away. Non-preferred shops will tell you that they “work” with a particular insurance company. If you are not informed by the insurance company that this is a preferred shop, this is likely not true. You’ll still have to wait for an adjuster to come out and as before, that may take up to if not over a week.

Non-preferred body shops will say ANYTHING to prevent you from using a preferred service if they are not one already. Being a preferred shop guarantees the shop business. The non-preferred shops are not happy they do not have that guaranteed income. I have experienced too numerous of occasions where body shops themselves will steer claimants. The sad truth is, if the body shop were reputable and performed excellent quality repair work, they could have been asked by a large insurance company to become a preferred location.

In regard to factory parts being used for repairs to damaged vehicles, NO insurance company will make an insurance adjustment using actual manufacturers parts if the vehicle is more than a few years old. If you want your company to use actual 1987 Chrysler parts on your 1987 Chrysler, you have to find a company that will sell you a policy that covers for that. If there are questions about what your policy covers you for for replacement parts, READ YOUR POLICY. Or, you can always ask your companies’ service department. Non-manufacturer parts are designed to work properly with your vehicle. If they do not, the preferred service should be guaranteeing the work so that if there’s an issue, you can always bring the car back to get it fixed on their dime.

The bottom line is, people NEVER think about the consequences of a car accident until after they’ve been in one. If you have questions, call your insurance company or read your policy. TIME, you should monitor the quality of your articles, behave more responsibly, and hold your journalists responsible for thoroughly investigating a topic before they write an opinion laced article. That’s what a blog is for, not a news source.

With over 10 years experience as an Auto Claims Adjuster with Allstate and AAA, I completely agree with the comment of Jenovaunion. If your repair shop is a preferred shop by your insurance company chances are the repair process will be smoother and with less hassle. The preferred shops generally have the authority to proceed with all repairs because that insurance company trusts their work ethic and work product. This in turn shortens the amount of time that your vehicle is in the shop which is very helpful if you are borrowing a vehicle or renting your own.

The assertion that an adjuster has to close 40 files a month is ridiculous. Depending on the state, the company, the workload, the type of claims you handle and the time of year, an adjuster may close any number of files from 5 – 100.

I have never, in ten years, offered someone $500.00 more to settle an auto damage claim. Your claim is worth what it is worth. Now, an estimate may be missing something so make sure you review it to make sure all damage is listed. Auto Damage Appraisers are human and make mistakes, but not intentionally.

When I first started working in the insurance adjusting business I was pleasantly surprised by how fair the insurance companies are in settling claims, both auto and bodily injury. In most states, there are strict guidelines regarding insurance fair claims practices.

If you have concerns or are not understanding a process, ask your adjuster to explain it to you, that is their job.

If you would like to ask me any questions regarding claims in California my email is Trishz1970@aol.com

I’ve dealt with many insurance claims agents over the years, as a victim of vehicular assault. Funny thing that my old company (Progressive) was by far the best at customer service, rates, and billing, but were horrendous when I actually had to file a claim under my comprehensive policy. My car was vandalized, but the adjuster maintained his certainty that I had hit a deer, implying I was covering for a DUI! I was completely incredulous, as I had been a loyal customer for many years! In retrospect, I should have beaten the adjuster unconscious and ensured a heavy concussion, so that he wouldn’t be able to identify the source of his injuries!
Conversely, my pre-Progressive and current insurer (Erie Insurance-in PA) had previously dropped me for not completing a common survey about my vehicle (while paying incredibly inflated premiums), and were always a nightmare concerning billing and customer service. After suffering damages from many Erie customers over the years (while not insured by Erie myself), I found the company very easy to deal with (as a claimant) and more than fair with claim adjustments. I switched back to Erie Insurance (I do have a friendly relationship with my new agent however, bypassing the poor corporate customer service), finding that the company that treats you well while taking your money isn’t as good as the insurer that holds up to their commitment and makes good at the end of the day.
So, if your damaged by a motorist with a different insurer…look at how their insurer treats you…in my case it made me switch!

I currently work in and write estimates for a direct repair body shop. The extent of our relationship with our DRP account is as follows: they give a list of local DRP shops to claimants. The claimant can go to each shop for an estimate, or they can pick one shop. Once they’ve picked their preferred shop, the Insurance company sends us an assignment. We work on the vehicle, and an insurance rep does a fairly exhaustive quality control review of a selection of our repairs.

We have never, ever, EVER brought lunch or gifts to any adjusters. That’s absurd. Most body shops would MUCH rather do COD or non-DRP work, because DRP Insurance companies have massive amounts of control over our work process and can drive down the cost of a repair fairly arbitrarily, whereas shops tend to get paid the actual value of a repair by cash customers or non-DRP insurance companies.

The bulk of this piece is ridiculous. In the end, a customer is much better off getting repair work done at either a shop they know and trust or a DRP. You get absolutely robbed if your heavily damaged vehicle is towed to whatever shop happens to be closest. Your Insurance company protects you at a DRP facility, and people who say otherwise are clueless about the process.

This is truly a poor article and misleading at best. Fortunately the comments are much better and display greater understanding and more detail than anything over which the author has stumbled. They will give you an idea of where the truth lies.

In particular, comments 9, 7, 6, 3, & 2 are all pretty accurate and all much better sources of advice than anything contained in the article. I have been an insurance agent for 15 years and work with the claims process and insurance adjusters everyday.

The only useful bit of information in this article is not to take the first offer in the event of a total loss and it was better explained by comment 2. This is because there is inherently some subjectivity in the total loss value of a vehicle. A 2002 Chevy with 200K miles on it that is in awful condition is worth considerably less than a 2002 Chevy with 100K miles, brand new tires, a recently built transmission, and every available option for that model in a pristine interior.

Partially damaged vehicle claims usually have very little change in payout from the initial estimate to the final repair unless additional damage is discovered. Adjusters are well aware what a quarter panel costs and you are not going to be able to tell them it costs more than what it does. I won’t even go into the preferred shop portion of the article as jenovaunion and senseirob already did a tremendous job explaining how riduculously unsupported those blank accusations are.

Lastly, to those who might say we industry insiders are not telling the whole truth or protecting the companies we work with, I would say read the arguments presented for yourself and decide if they make sense. As an agent, it makes very little difference to us if a claim settles for $16,000 or $18,000. However, if an unhappy customer leaves the company after an unsatisfied result to a claim, we lose that business forever and all renewal commisions that we might ever receive. As a result your insurance agent is typically your best resource and your best inside advocate in resolving any difficulties you may have with the claims process, and in improving understanding and communication of the proper details to get the best possible settlement. More simply, we have a personally vested interest in making sure you want to stay and continue doing business with us (and a local office for you to drop by and let us know if we aren’t living up to your expectations). This is a very significant additional level of service and protection to consider that you are giving up when you are dealing with the ever-growing number of 1-800-NUMBER-only insurance companies that have eliminated the local agent.