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Sent check that doesn't cover loss

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flyboynm

Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NM

My car was burglarized while at the movie theater. I have replacement value insurance. I sent the list of things missing to my insurance company and they are doing something I am questioning. I sent them my original invoice for my laptop that was stolen (bought ~1.5 yrs ago), contents from the backpack that was taken, the serial # of my radar detector and the mp4 player info. The insurance company is trying to say that the radar detector is considered a vehicle accessory and will not be covered. They are giving me ~$1700 for everything else. I have 3 quotes from various manufacturers for the replacement of the laptop (price is $2800+). They are trying to depreciate the laptop, give me nothing for the other stuff and are saying that when I replace the laptop, they will pay the depreciated difference. My total loss was over $4000. I am afraid that when I get the check that if I deposit it, they will say "Oh, you accepted the settlement so you get no more $" and I cannot afford to replace the laptop with what they are giving.

What are my options? Someone told me that I might want to talk to an attorney in regards to a "bad faith" claim - whatever that is. As I said, the price they are offering me for the laptop and all of the other stuff is $$1700 - $1800 range, I have 3 estimates showing $2800 - $3000 for the laptop replacement, they are not giving me anything for anything else. They also claim that the radar detector would have been covered under a vehicle policy if I had comprehensive insurance (I don't).

In the letter my wife just handed to me, it says that we cannot take legal action against them over this claim. What are my options?
 


ecmst12

Senior Member
If you didn't sign a release saying that this is the total settlement, then it doesn't have to be the total settlement.

And yes, the radar detector would be covered under your car insurance, if you had the proper coverage.

Of course if this claim isn't on your car insurance, I wonder why you're posting it in the car insurance and auto accident forum. There's a separate board for homeowners/renters insurance claims.
 

flyboynm

Member
I forgot to mention that they know that I am aware that vehicle insurance covers "bolt-on" devices and not hand-held items. The laptop had an original purchase price of ~$2100, but I added 2 new mSATA SSD drives, upgraded the internal hard drive and installed purchased copies of MS Windows 7 Ultimate and Office 2013 Pro. I provided the receipts for the SSDs and the internal hard drive but haven't been able to dig out the ones for the Office and Windows. I am a certified computer tech (have been doing this type of work for 20+ years) and know what I had exactly. I was basing the quotes on the amount the laptop sat at when it was stolen. I have screenshots showing the hardware installed in the computer, that Windows was installed and such. (Thank goodness I had class assignments in college that had me document those with screenshots.)

I had 4 text books in the backpack, headphones, hard drive adapter, a cheap screwdriver set and a few other things that I documented in a excel spreadsheet. I provided that along with PDFs from 3 manufacturers to cover the laptop, a quote from the company I originally bought the laptop from stating that a certain model is the equivalent laptop.

Sorry, felt I needed to add more info.
 

TheGeekess

Keeper of the Kraken
As a computer tech, you should know that laptops depreciate faster than cars. I'm willing to bet that the equivalent laptop is not going for near what you paid for it originally. :cool:
 

flyboynm

Member
Actually, I have 3 quotes that show the replacement for it is ~$3k. Even if they depreciate at 40% for a year, it would still be more than what they are offering for everything. They are not even offering anything for the rest of the loss. BTW, other insurance companies have told me that they would depreciate it at 25% a year. It has been a year.
 

flyboynm

Member
a laptop on ebay that is virtually identical to mine, in a used condition and less RAM, hard drive, etc is over $2500. I just looked.
 

TheGeekess

Keeper of the Kraken
a laptop on ebay that is virtually identical to mine, in a used condition and less RAM, hard drive, etc is over $2500. I just looked.
eBay prices are what someone is either willing to pay for an item or what they think they can get for the item. I can list a P100 Compaq laptop for $2B; doesn't mean that's what it's worth. Go to NewEgg, Amazon, or the original manufacturers website and see what they want retail. :cool:
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
Your insurance company told you that once you replace the laptop, they will pay you for the difference between the depreciated value and the amount you actually pay to replace it.
 

richard johnson

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NM

My car was burglarized while at the movie theater. I have replacement value insurance. I sent the list of things missing to my insurance company and they are doing something I am questioning. I sent them my original invoice for my laptop that was stolen (bought ~1.5 yrs ago), contents from the backpack that was taken, the serial # of my radar detector and the mp4 player info. The insurance company is trying to say that the radar detector is considered a vehicle accessory and will not be covered. They are giving me ~$1700 for everything else. I have 3 quotes from various manufacturers for the replacement of the laptop (price is $2800+). They are trying to depreciate the laptop, give me nothing for the other stuff and are saying that when I replace the laptop, they will pay the depreciated difference. My total loss was over $4000. I am afraid that when I get the check that if I deposit it, they will say "Oh, you accepted the settlement so you get no more $" and I cannot afford to replace the laptop with what they are giving.

What are my options? Someone told me that I might want to talk to an attorney in regards to a "bad faith" claim - whatever that is. As I said, the price they are offering me for the laptop and all of the other stuff is $$1700 - $1800 range, I have 3 estimates showing $2800 - $3000 for the laptop replacement, they are not giving me anything for anything else. They also claim that the radar detector would have been covered under a vehicle policy if I had comprehensive insurance (I don't).

In the letter my wife just handed to me, it says that we cannot take legal action against them over this claim. What are my options?
If the insurance company acts in an outrageous or malicious manner, then you can file a "bad faith claim". The law of insurance bad faith essentially requires an insurance company to act fairly and in good faith towards its policyholders and to consider the interests of its policyholders equal to its own interests. It also prohibits an insurance company from denying or delaying a claim unreasonably or without proper cause.
 

OHRoadwarrior

Senior Member
I'm sure you supplied proof all these items were in the car and had pictures of the inside of the laptop proving upgrades? They are only required to give you the used value of the object you can prove were stolen. Absent a picture taken before you left the car, and a witness testifying he saw the thief walk away with the items, I would say you did pretty good. They were more generous than I would have been.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NM

My car was burglarized while at the movie theater. I have replacement value insurance. I sent the list of things missing to my insurance company and they are doing something I am questioning. I sent them my original invoice for my laptop that was stolen (bought ~1.5 yrs ago), contents from the backpack that was taken, the serial # of my radar detector and the mp4 player info. The insurance company is trying to say that the radar detector is considered a vehicle accessory and will not be covered. They are giving me ~$1700 for everything else. I have 3 quotes from various manufacturers for the replacement of the laptop (price is $2800+). They are trying to depreciate the laptop, give me nothing for the other stuff and are saying that when I replace the laptop, they will pay the depreciated difference. My total loss was over $4000. I am afraid that when I get the check that if I deposit it, they will say "Oh, you accepted the settlement so you get no more $" and I cannot afford to replace the laptop with what they are giving.

What are my options? Someone told me that I might want to talk to an attorney in regards to a "bad faith" claim - whatever that is. As I said, the price they are offering me for the laptop and all of the other stuff is $$1700 - $1800 range, I have 3 estimates showing $2800 - $3000 for the laptop replacement, they are not giving me anything for anything else. They also claim that the radar detector would have been covered under a vehicle policy if I had comprehensive insurance (I don't).

In the letter my wife just handed to me, it says that we cannot take legal action against them over this claim. What are my options?
When my house got robbed the insurance company did the same thing with a lot of my items. When I questioned my agent he said that the insurance company was totally willing to cover whatever was needed to actually replace the items, but that they were not willing to give me the replacement value of the items unless I actually replaced them. That was the reason why they would only give a depreciated value up front, and the difference when I replaced the items. I did replace some of the items, but others, I did not.

You can buy a pretty darned good laptop for 1700.00. They don't want you to buy a 1700.00 laptop and pocket the difference.
 

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