S
smantas
Guest
What is the name of your state? Michigan
Hello,
My 1997 Mercury Mountaineer 5.0 V-8 was stolen and recovered about a month ago.
It was towed to a shop where the insurance adjuster came out and authorized a steering column to be replaced. The adjuster also told the shop to "fix anything else it needs". The adjuster also called me and told me the same thing. This truck had a full tank of gas when stolen and not a drop left in it when recovered.
When the shop was able to start it, there was an engine noise. The shop called the adjuster to notify him of it, and the adjuster told the shop without even coming out to hear it, that Triple A would not cover it.....period.
well I called the insurance and set up for another adjuster to come out and the shop could not really say where it was coming from. They suspected an internal problem in the timing area. The insurance called me and told me that I would have to authorize the front of the engine tear down, as they would not cover that, and if it was determined that the cause was due to the theft that they would cover it.
Well, I wanted some other opinions before doing that so I picked up the truck and went to a several other mechanics, all of which told me that it sounded like a bad lifter or rocker arm...
I settled on one mechanic that I got the best price from (in case the insurance wouldnt cover it) and he had 4 of his mechanics listen to it....2 of them thought it was a simple lifter problem while the other 2 thought it was internal and I had to authorize them to pull the valve cover off for inspection to rule out a bad lifter or rocker arm.
The adjuster that went out there that day showed up before they had a chance to take the rocker cover off to inspect the lifters and told the shop he would be in contact later that day.....which he never called or came back.
The shop called me back and informed me that the lifters and rocker arms are in good shape and the inside of the motor looked real clean, and to fully find the problem they would literally have to take apart the entire engine, therefore he suggested a replacement engine.
The weekend came and went, then around noon on Monday I called the shop and he still had not heard anything from the insurance. I called his supervisor and was told that this adjuster supposedly tried to get a hold of the shop and myself all day friday...( A LIE) so he set up for another adjuster to come out the next day because the other guy was retiring.
When I told the supervisor everything that was going on, he questioned me on how the engine could have gone bad in the one day that it was gone....well duh!!! it's a 4x4 and it had a full tank of gas when stolen and not a drop when recovered....it was obviously driven into the ground and hard!
I told him that the shop recommended a replacement motor and he told me that a betterment charge would apply. He said the insurance would replace it with a like motor with the same mileage if it was determined that it was caused by the theft.....the truck has 125,000 miles on it.
The shop where it is at now wants $3000.00 for a replacement motor but I can take it to the original shop that says they could get a low milage motor and do the job for around $2000.00
I was told that the 5.0 V-8 that has been around since the early sixties is a very durable engine and 125,000 miles is really nothing for that engine. Like I said it is real clean inside which tells me that it had regular oil changes since I have no receipts of that. I have only had the truck for 3 months and it was in perfect condition in and out when I had it.
It also has some minor body damage to one of the doors.
I have talked to so many people at the insurance company and have got so many stories it's rediculous. I was even told by one supervisor that if the engine is bad and it has body damage that it might be written off as a loss...but that guy is on vacation till the beginning of the year. These people don not return phone calls and I am real tired of not having a vehicle to drive.
I guess my questions are:
A) what percentage is my responsibility in a "betterment charge"
B) why should I have to pay anything, besides my deductable, since it was in perfect running order before it was stolen and now I have a bad engine.
C) Do I have to settle on an engine that the insurance finds or can I have the vehicle towed to another shop where they can get me a low milage engine for less money than the shop where it's at right now.
D) If the insurance wants me to pay more than I can afford right now in a betterment charge, can I just get a check for the share that they would cover, then when I can afford to, fix it myself?
E) how long is an auto insurance claim legally open for
F) do I have to accept their offer/ are there any other avenues I can seek out such as the department of insurance?
Hello,
My 1997 Mercury Mountaineer 5.0 V-8 was stolen and recovered about a month ago.
It was towed to a shop where the insurance adjuster came out and authorized a steering column to be replaced. The adjuster also told the shop to "fix anything else it needs". The adjuster also called me and told me the same thing. This truck had a full tank of gas when stolen and not a drop left in it when recovered.
When the shop was able to start it, there was an engine noise. The shop called the adjuster to notify him of it, and the adjuster told the shop without even coming out to hear it, that Triple A would not cover it.....period.
well I called the insurance and set up for another adjuster to come out and the shop could not really say where it was coming from. They suspected an internal problem in the timing area. The insurance called me and told me that I would have to authorize the front of the engine tear down, as they would not cover that, and if it was determined that the cause was due to the theft that they would cover it.
Well, I wanted some other opinions before doing that so I picked up the truck and went to a several other mechanics, all of which told me that it sounded like a bad lifter or rocker arm...
I settled on one mechanic that I got the best price from (in case the insurance wouldnt cover it) and he had 4 of his mechanics listen to it....2 of them thought it was a simple lifter problem while the other 2 thought it was internal and I had to authorize them to pull the valve cover off for inspection to rule out a bad lifter or rocker arm.
The adjuster that went out there that day showed up before they had a chance to take the rocker cover off to inspect the lifters and told the shop he would be in contact later that day.....which he never called or came back.
The shop called me back and informed me that the lifters and rocker arms are in good shape and the inside of the motor looked real clean, and to fully find the problem they would literally have to take apart the entire engine, therefore he suggested a replacement engine.
The weekend came and went, then around noon on Monday I called the shop and he still had not heard anything from the insurance. I called his supervisor and was told that this adjuster supposedly tried to get a hold of the shop and myself all day friday...( A LIE) so he set up for another adjuster to come out the next day because the other guy was retiring.
When I told the supervisor everything that was going on, he questioned me on how the engine could have gone bad in the one day that it was gone....well duh!!! it's a 4x4 and it had a full tank of gas when stolen and not a drop when recovered....it was obviously driven into the ground and hard!
I told him that the shop recommended a replacement motor and he told me that a betterment charge would apply. He said the insurance would replace it with a like motor with the same mileage if it was determined that it was caused by the theft.....the truck has 125,000 miles on it.
The shop where it is at now wants $3000.00 for a replacement motor but I can take it to the original shop that says they could get a low milage motor and do the job for around $2000.00
I was told that the 5.0 V-8 that has been around since the early sixties is a very durable engine and 125,000 miles is really nothing for that engine. Like I said it is real clean inside which tells me that it had regular oil changes since I have no receipts of that. I have only had the truck for 3 months and it was in perfect condition in and out when I had it.
It also has some minor body damage to one of the doors.
I have talked to so many people at the insurance company and have got so many stories it's rediculous. I was even told by one supervisor that if the engine is bad and it has body damage that it might be written off as a loss...but that guy is on vacation till the beginning of the year. These people don not return phone calls and I am real tired of not having a vehicle to drive.
I guess my questions are:
A) what percentage is my responsibility in a "betterment charge"
B) why should I have to pay anything, besides my deductable, since it was in perfect running order before it was stolen and now I have a bad engine.
C) Do I have to settle on an engine that the insurance finds or can I have the vehicle towed to another shop where they can get me a low milage engine for less money than the shop where it's at right now.
D) If the insurance wants me to pay more than I can afford right now in a betterment charge, can I just get a check for the share that they would cover, then when I can afford to, fix it myself?
E) how long is an auto insurance claim legally open for
F) do I have to accept their offer/ are there any other avenues I can seek out such as the department of insurance?
