A great experience with my insurance company
 

So, Friday morning I'm driving to work. Some idiot lost a ladder on the highway. The truck in front of me runs it over and kicks it up into my car. Front bumper cover smashed, hood dented/scratched in multiple spots, driver's side rocker panel scraped up, roof dented/scratched, driver's side mirror scratched. Ends up being $2300 in damage per body shop estimate.

Reported the accident to my insurance company on Friday around 10 am. Claim rep calls me an hour or so later to let me know who he is and that he is sending the info to the adjuster who needs to look at the car. Monday morning 9am I get a call from the adjuster who wants to see it that day. Car is at my work and we have a ton of security so I put him off for a day so he can look at it at my house instead. 9:30 am Tuesday, adjuster is done, his estimate is about $100 less than the shop. He calls the shop they agree to his estimate and he leaves me a check at home. They even gave me an appearance allowance on the windshield that was slightly scratched so I only have to pay $425 out of pocket instead of the $500 which is my deductible.

Incredibly fast service. I am utterly amazed. Thanks go to Palisades Safety and Insurance Association in NJ. Most people in my state can't even get in touch with their claim reps let alone get claims settled in a reasonable amount of time!

It's good to hear about someone actually getting the service that they're paying for. All too often it's the other way around.

Sucks about your car though. People not strapping their loads is a huge pet peeve of mine.

My parents and I use USAA out of San Antonio. A few years ago, their house caught on fire. I found out about it through a phone call from the neighbor who had also called the fire department. When I arrived, my dad was just driving up and saw 3 fire trucks in front of his house. There was about $100,000 in damage done to the home. He was understandably in shock. I asked him for him member number and called USAA by cell phone. They had an adjuster there within an hour. The fire department wasn't even out of the house yet. He had a check for $5,000 in hand within 2 hours after the fire just for incidentals. I have always had great customer service with them.

USAA is a great insurance company. Unfortunately it's only available for military and their dependents.

You should write a letter to the company tellin them how much you appriciated the service, or maybe just an email with a link to this forum. If good service is rewarded by repeat business/free advertising on the internet, there will be more good service.

I always try to get people's names when I get good service on something major like that and send a note to their boss. Figure it can only help them out.

Yep, I plan on writing a letter to them to thank them.

And former dependants. That's how I get in. :D

I agree that they're great. So, all you have to do is have a parents who was in the service. If you can arrange that, you're in.

That's exactly the way we were. My dad was in the military for 4 years pre-Vietnam. He continued the service for years, so I got in. Now my wife can get in and my kids, etc.

A round of applause for the good job your carrier did. I work for a State Insurance Department. You would not believe how hard most companies work at NOT paying a claim. I agree, you should consider writing a letter to the company.

I got into USAA because my stepfather got it from his father. I am sure my kids will have them someday too. But I am glad to hear that your insurance company came through for you in a timely manner. So often you hear about companies that just are not willing to do their jobs.

Well, I shouldn't be too surprised. I would no longer classify the experience as great.

Went to pick up the car yesterday. Body shop never fixed the scratches on the mirror and there were several scratches on the driver's side rear door that weren't fixed.

Body shop is trying to buff them out but if that doesn't work it's gonna be a fight with the insurance company. No way in hell were they there before the accident but the company claims they didn't come from the accident. Despite the fact that there was damage to the roof, driver's side rocker panel, and the top of the driver's mirror. No damage to the rear of the car where the ladder went backwards, only evidence that it went from the hood/roof off the driver's side.

Glad I held off on sending the letter.

isn't that more of the bodyshops fault? did they give you an itemized repair list? your insurance should still go to bat for you. and they are gonna get your deductible back from the guy who lost his ladder right?

The mirror not being fixed was the body shop's fault, the scratches on the door were never included in the repair order for some reason. When I called the body shop to tell them about the scratches they called the insurance company and then told me they wouldn't fix it because the insurance company was claiming it didn't happen during the accident.

It all turned out ok since the body shop was able to buff out the scratches. No getting my deductible back since we have no idea who lost the ladder.

Man am i suprised. When I saw the topic title I thought it was going to be sarcasm. Insurance companies have never caused my anything but a headache. Although once my parent's homeowners paid for a new roof on the house because there was slight hail damage. Guess they were looking at the future and didnt want to pay for water damage and mold in the house later on. They actually came to my parents and said there's been hail damage in your area we want to check the roof...

I've never been disappointed in my own auto insurance company. The most I ever had to wait for an estimate was three days, and that was because it was both in the middle of a blizzard and over the weekend. I have a check the same day that they look at it all the time, and it always covers all the repairs.

Now, when that asshair ran a stop sign in front of my house and slammed into both my car and my wife's car, which were parked, I wanted to firebomb his company's office. They somehow figured we had some sort of fault for parking our cars in our driveway. All I had to do was ask to call them back later with the number of my lawyer and the claim was ready to be settled in 24 hours.

I had a guy guy hit my car a little over a year ago. He was drunk, running from the police, he had a suspended license and expired tags, wanted in another county, etc. the list goes on. He was in a relatives car who had Progressive insurance.

I called and made the claim and they gave me no problems. They sent an adjuster to my house and gave me the money right away. I was very surprised that they did not give me any grief.

Thanks, Progressive :)