I got a new claim the other day that seemed pretty straight forward. Our insured rear ended another vehicle. Should be pretty quick and painless as the other party is not injured, and has not hired an attorney. So I give my insured a call and asked him what happened, and this is our exchange:
Me: So, tell me how the accident happened
Idiot Driver: Well, I was driving on the freeway and this dude in the other lane wanted to merge into my lane.
Me: (thinking to myself) Could be more complicated if the other guy cut off my insured and slammed on the brakes.
Idiot Driver: People cutting me off in traffic is kind of a pet peeve for me, so there was no way I was going to let this guy get into my lane.
Me: (thinking to myself) Uh oh
Idiot Driver: So I sped up to block the other dude from getting into my lane.
Me: O.K.?
Idiot Driver: And that's when I rear ended the guy in front of me.
Me: (What I wanted to say) A.) So, how'd that work out for ya? or B.) Good job Idiot!
Me: (What I actually said) Well, accidents happen!
So, this guy wants to be king of traffic and decide who gets to go in what lane, and while enforcing his traffic law hits an innocent bystander. Now he is out $500 for his insurance deductible, his premiums will go because he was at fault for an accident, we have to pay to fix the other car, and my man was late for work. But the good news is the other car didn't get into his lane!
The moral of the story? Don't be an Idiot!
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Know Your Insurance Coverage
The Following is a Public Service Announcement:
I can not stress how important it is to know how much insurance coverage you have. The State of California only requires you to carry 15/30/5 liability coverage. So what does that mean? I'll explain.
The first 2 numbers (15/30) represent bodily injury coverage. What it means is that for each accident you are in your insurance company can pay up to $15,000 for injuries to any one person, and up to $30,000 total for all injuries. Sounds like a lot, right? Guess again. If somebody in the other car receives treatment at the scene of the accident, or has to be air-lifted to a hospital, you will most likely be facing a limits problem. Medical treatment is expensive.
The last number (5) represents property damage liability coverage. This means that if you are at fault for an accident your insurance company can only pay up to $5,000 for that accident. Sound like a lot? Nope! Let me put it to you this way, I can do $5,000 worth of damage to a car with my foot if I kick it in the right place. Cars are expensive to fix, believe me!
You may be saying to yourself, so what? Well, here's what's what. If you cause more damage than your policy covers guess who is on the hook? If you said yourself, you are correct. The other driver, or even worse, the other insurance company is coming to get you! And we gonna gets our money, not half of it, not some of it, but all our cash!
Real Life Example:
I have a customer who has 15/30/10 limits. He proceeded to make a left hand turn and crash into a $70,000 car. My driver was at fault, and the other car was jacked. So in short, my driver has $10,000 worth of coverage, and the other driver has $30,000 in damages. The other insurance company paid for the other driver's damages because he has collision coverage, and now wants to be paid back. We can only give them $10,000, and as it turns out they are not willing to look the other way on the extra $20,000. So I have to send a letter to my customer:
Dear Mr. Customer,
Congratulations! You're being sued! And the best part is you've learned an invaluable lesson about policy limits! In the future you may want to A.) Get real policy limits, or B.) Hit a cheaper car. See you in court!
Love,
Your Adjuster
The moral of the story? If you have $10,000 limits, don't hit a $70,000 car :)
I can not stress how important it is to know how much insurance coverage you have. The State of California only requires you to carry 15/30/5 liability coverage. So what does that mean? I'll explain.
The first 2 numbers (15/30) represent bodily injury coverage. What it means is that for each accident you are in your insurance company can pay up to $15,000 for injuries to any one person, and up to $30,000 total for all injuries. Sounds like a lot, right? Guess again. If somebody in the other car receives treatment at the scene of the accident, or has to be air-lifted to a hospital, you will most likely be facing a limits problem. Medical treatment is expensive.
The last number (5) represents property damage liability coverage. This means that if you are at fault for an accident your insurance company can only pay up to $5,000 for that accident. Sound like a lot? Nope! Let me put it to you this way, I can do $5,000 worth of damage to a car with my foot if I kick it in the right place. Cars are expensive to fix, believe me!
You may be saying to yourself, so what? Well, here's what's what. If you cause more damage than your policy covers guess who is on the hook? If you said yourself, you are correct. The other driver, or even worse, the other insurance company is coming to get you! And we gonna gets our money, not half of it, not some of it, but all our cash!
Real Life Example:
I have a customer who has 15/30/10 limits. He proceeded to make a left hand turn and crash into a $70,000 car. My driver was at fault, and the other car was jacked. So in short, my driver has $10,000 worth of coverage, and the other driver has $30,000 in damages. The other insurance company paid for the other driver's damages because he has collision coverage, and now wants to be paid back. We can only give them $10,000, and as it turns out they are not willing to look the other way on the extra $20,000. So I have to send a letter to my customer:
Dear Mr. Customer,
Congratulations! You're being sued! And the best part is you've learned an invaluable lesson about policy limits! In the future you may want to A.) Get real policy limits, or B.) Hit a cheaper car. See you in court!
Love,
Your Adjuster
The moral of the story? If you have $10,000 limits, don't hit a $70,000 car :)
Collision Coverage: Just Do It!
The following is a public service announcement:
If you do not have collision coverage on your automobile insurance policy . . . YOU ARE A MORON! Let's face it, accidents happen, it only takes one or two seconds of distraction for you to be in an accident. If you have children in the car you probably spend more time looking at them then you do looking at the road. If you get in an accident and you don't have collision coverage you are at the mercy of the other driver involved in the accident. Even if the accident is not your fault, you are not in the clear. Why you ask? Let me explain.
This may come as a surprise to many of you, but people do not always tell the truth. What?!? People actually lie? The answer is yes. As an adjuster I can comfortably say that about 98% of people involved in an auto accident lie to their adjuster. The other 2% are minors who quickly change their stories once their parents find out what they have told me. So, if you do not have collision coverage your car is not getting fixed unless the other insurance company decides they feel like paying for it (not very often).
Collision coverage is great because you get your car fixed regardless of fault. You can crash your car into anything or anybody and we'll fix it, no questions asked. But you'll probably lie at about who is at fault because you don't want your premiums to go up. The other party's car may not get fixed because they don't have collision coverage, but that's their problem!
If you do not have collision coverage on your automobile insurance policy . . . YOU ARE A MORON! Let's face it, accidents happen, it only takes one or two seconds of distraction for you to be in an accident. If you have children in the car you probably spend more time looking at them then you do looking at the road. If you get in an accident and you don't have collision coverage you are at the mercy of the other driver involved in the accident. Even if the accident is not your fault, you are not in the clear. Why you ask? Let me explain.
This may come as a surprise to many of you, but people do not always tell the truth. What?!? People actually lie? The answer is yes. As an adjuster I can comfortably say that about 98% of people involved in an auto accident lie to their adjuster. The other 2% are minors who quickly change their stories once their parents find out what they have told me. So, if you do not have collision coverage your car is not getting fixed unless the other insurance company decides they feel like paying for it (not very often).
Collision coverage is great because you get your car fixed regardless of fault. You can crash your car into anything or anybody and we'll fix it, no questions asked. But you'll probably lie at about who is at fault because you don't want your premiums to go up. The other party's car may not get fixed because they don't have collision coverage, but that's their problem!
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