At 06:08 PM 8/19/99 -0500, Jim Brown wrote:
>
>What any particular car is "worth," to the owner, an appraiser, an insurance
>company, or anybody else, is simply not the question. A car's "worth" is
>not in issue in any way. If people do not understand this they are going to
>have problems with their insurance companies, and it will be THEIR fault.
>If you publicize in your projected article incorrect understandings of what
>an automobile insurance policy is and mislead your readers you will share in
>that fault......
>
>We are talking about "market value," something entirely different than what
>a car is "worth" in most peoples' minds. As another astute writer on this
>thread recently observed, there is only one fool-proof way of determining
>market value other than by having an agreed value in advance. Hold the car
>out for sale in an honest, public, open and above-board transaction, not
>encumbered by unpriceable emotions one may have with respect to a particular
>car or a particular marque, unencumbered by unrecoverable sums poured into
>the car, and see what the offers look like. Of course this is a silly
>suggestion when your car is a pile of scrap in an intersection.
>
>And then your analysis goes totally astray by suggesting that when your car
>is dinged due to the fault of another, the other driver's insurance company
>owes you something. His insurance company does not owe you anything at all.
>Zilch! His company does not insure your car; his company insures his car.
>His insurance company has agreed, subject to the terms of his policy, to pay
>to you the sum for which the other driver is liable. If a car owner thinks
>that he can rely on the insurance company of the other car, rather than on
>his own collision coverage, he is in fantasy-land.
>
>This unreal state of mind is often encouraged by drivers being reluctant to
>report an accident to their own insurance companies even when they are
>clearly not at fault. They want the other fellow, or his insurance company,
>to pay them so that they can avoid using their own insurance -- to avoid
>taking advantage of what they purchased with their premiums -- in fear that
>their premiums may be increased. It should be understood by all, by the
>way, that if they do not reasonably promptly report the accident to their
>own insurance company they are endangering their own coverage.
>
>An insurance policy is not what one wants it to be, it is not what one
>thinks it should be or might be -- it is what it says it is in the policy
>and in reams of court decisions interpreting those policies. And of course
>any discussion of general principles, like this one, will find exceptions
>galore out there somewhere in the fine print on the policy. For a price one
>can insure most anything for anything -- there is a company out there
>somewhere which will write whatever it is you want. And then you will have
>to pay for it. But unless you have paid for it you are not going to get it.
>
>I do hope that this is somewhat helpful.
>
>All the best,
>
>Jim Brown
>Houston
>
-------------------------
Jim,
You make many good points. And I hope to due the article justice and
NOT be emotional. It is NOT my Gremlin and I haven't hand any problems like
that for many years.
Back in 69, I bought my Morgan. The day I put it on the road I had $2,200
documented in the car. The 3rd day it was on the road it was TOTALED.
The ins. co. sent some idiot over to appraise the damages. He asked what
type of car it was. I told him. He said it couldn't be - since it wasn't
in his book. Then he asked me how much the car was new. I told him about
$3,200. He then declaired the car to be a TR4 and was going to give me
$600 for it. Thus began my 1st and real hassel with ins. co.s. After
over a month of talking to the ins. co. of the car that hit me, my ins. co.
etc. they (the other ins. co.) finally decided they would pay me the
$2,200 - I could buy the car back and fix it myself and they gave me $1,000
for personal injury. This was fair, and I don't think I was unreasonable.
Like so many things, - your example of purchasing a home for instance - we
usually only do it once, twice, or so in our lifetime. And any problems
that we encounter are tramatic to us. The others involved - the realistate
lawyers, the realitors, etc. do this stuff every day and it is NOT their
problem (what ever it may be). Again it is OUR problems, and they do seem
tramatic to us. There is a sense of urgency to use and not to the others
involved. To them it is just a job.
To the person with the problem, many times you feel like you are talking to
a brick wall. You might think your are right, you might be morally right,
you might even be leagilly right. But talking to the idiot on the phone,
doesn't help. You think/know that there is someone over their head that
can solve the problem. The problem is getting to them. Other than court
is there someone above the ins. co.s, like the State Corporation Committe.
What happens if you file a greivence to them? Etc.
I know that there are many people that have contracted with their ins. co.
for a STATED VALUE policy and thinking that they are covered for some value.
Only to have their ins. co. tell them that they will NOT get anywhere near
what they thought they were covered for.
It is NOT my intention to bash any ins. co. My aim is to educate and help
others from being beaten up by their ins. co. The Gremlin is just one
current case in point. The owner has never been involved with the ins. co.
before. My goal here is to try and protect her (and her parents) and try
to get her car fixed. Realizing that THEY may have to do some of the work.
My story with my Morgan is another one - even though it is 30 years old.
I have other I can site. But I won't for brevity.
I'm looking for info on how differences should be handled. I hate having
to go some place and yell and scream to be heard. However, as someone
pointed out earlier, scream and scream some more. From my experiences
(other than car ins. clames) seem to bear this out. And THAT is unfortunate
and is one of the reasons I think that people are getting feed up with
everything!
John
John T. Blair WA4OHZ email: jblair@exis.net
Va. Beach, Va Phone: (757) 495-8229
48 TR1800 65 Morgan 4/4 Series V (B1109)
71 Saab Sonett III (71500840) 75 Bricklin SV1 (0887) 77 Spitfire
Morgan: www.team.net/www/morgan
Bricklin: www.bricklin.org
|