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Old 07-15-2023, 11:44 AM   #1
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Insurance claims process

This post is twofold:
1.) Has anyone had similar experience with RV estimates?
2.) A public service announcement for those that may have future claims.

Our 1996 38' Discovery DP was victim to a horrendous hail storm on June 22, 2023 in Colorado Springs. Two A/C units, 2 crank vents, TV antenna, the exposed edge of the awning, porch light, both rear view mirror housings and some clearance lights were destroyed.
Our insurance carrier is State Farm. When I contacted them to start the claim, I was advised to take it to any RV repair shop for an estimate. Apparently, State Farm does not have a qualified adjuster in the state of Colorado to assess a motorhome. ???
I choose Premier RV in Falcon, Colorado, as it was close to my house. Premier told me that the motorhome would have to remain in their possession until State Farm settled the claim. That was June 28th 2023. I reluctantly agreed with the stipulation that I needed my unit by July 15th for a trip I had planned.(Taking grandkids to Yellowstone).
.....Premier RV took exactly 1 week to provide State Farm with their $24,000 estimate. For this old of a unit, $24,000 is in "total loss" territory, so State Farm sends the claim to a black hole called "complex evaluation". And the clock ticks slowly on.
Beginning the week of July 10th, I made several unsuccessful calls to State Farm trying to get a status. On July 13th, I contacted Premier RV and told them I would be in to pick up my RV to prepare for my trip as we had agreed in June. The service manager asked me to wait until he called State Farm and that he would get back to me by noon the next day. I got no promised call, so I showed up at 4PM to pick up my RV. I agreed to pay the $580 they charged for the estimate, but then they tacked on $87/day "storage fee". My unit sat in their open lot, unlocked and unguarded for the last 17 days; which included the 7 days they took to evaluate the damages. My bill to get my still damaged motorhome was $2,070!! They even blocked the exit of their yard until I paid the bill! The RV park across the street charges $42/day for full hookups. Local open air storage lots charge $50/month.

Back to my question; Has anyone experienced a similar "ransoming" of your motorhome?

PSA: If estimator requires possession of your unit until insurance settles, find another estimator. Or get storage fees in writing!
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Old 07-15-2023, 11:57 AM   #2
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I hope you left the unit at the dealer.
Call your State Farm agent and explain the situation. If they total the unit it will be up tp them to pay storage and estimate fees, not you Can you get your personal items out of the MH while it's still in the dealers lot?
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Old 07-15-2023, 11:58 AM   #3
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Sounds like your “estimator” knew it would take the insurance company a while to settle the claim and decided to make a quick buck. Did they tell you when you left it that they would charge you storage fees?

I would never agree to leave the RV in someone’s possession pending an event that I had no control over.
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Old 07-15-2023, 12:19 PM   #4
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Definately sounds shady both on the estimators side and Statefarm.



What was the coach insured for, did you have an agreed value or was it based on book value? If it was book value it should have been an easy decision to total the coach and write you a check.



I had the opposite issue on a vehicle claim. My wife was broadsided by a drunk driver. Their insurance company was playing hardball on the settlement and "suggested" I have the totaled vehicle moved to my house. NOPE, NADA, NOT going to happen, told the agent it stays right there until we had a settlement and during the process they were being charged with lot fee.

We did settle on the vehicle but the insurance company/agent screwed us on a lost wages and DR visits. Lesson learned, I will never signoff on any issue until we are made whole.
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Old 07-15-2023, 02:01 PM   #5
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Onerous, but fairly standard shop practice. I ran into something similar with my daughters totaled car a couple years ago. The shop wants (and needs) to get paid for the estimate work and the liability they assumed by keeping the RV in their possession, so they basically put a lien on it by keeping in their possession. I suspect they knew the estimate would be a "total", meaning the insurer would be on the hook for estimate & storage. Now it's your responsibility to submit the fees to the insurer and wait for reimbursement.


Insurance companies move at their own pace, regardless of your desires. And once they have determined the rig is a total, they aren't going to facilitate you using it for a trip. In their procedural viewpoint, totaled means unsafe for further use, even if it's actually all cosmetic damage. They are somewhere in the legal process of becoming the owner of the coach where they pay you it's value as defined in your policy.
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Old 07-15-2023, 10:22 PM   #6
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I did pay the bill and brought the unit home. After the treatment I received from Premier RV's service department, I had no confidence in their work nor their phony promises. I was certainly willing to pay the estimation fee, but when they added the outrageous $87/day storage fee, that struck me as unethical.

Kudos to State Farm, as they agreed to pay the $2076 after I sent them the invoice. I'll purchase some vent covers and A/C covers and take my trip as planned.

I appreciate your replies. Hope others don't make the same mistake.

Thanks!
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Old 07-16-2023, 11:10 AM   #7
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I had a totaled motorhome, due to substantial body damage, but was still mechanically sound and able to be driven. Similar to your situation, the estimate was done relatively quickly and the decision to total the motorhome was made.

State Farm uses "teams" of claims adjusters, where you have the pleasure of starting fresh with a new "team member" each time you call about your claim. I was not going to play that game and insisted I talk to the person that I initially talked to regardless of how long I waited on hold. Their "team notes" did not always reflect the conversation, but being the guy who will wait on hold for the same person, will help them remember you and your previous conversations. I take notes of each phone call too, that are helpful to move them along in where they left off in the last conversation.

Their "team" process took several weeks of accumulating storage fees before finally turning the claim over to the total loss department, where the claim was assigned to a very pleasant and competent agent. This agent got right on the estimate for settlement, negotiated the "team caused" storage fees with the body shop and after a few adjustments to their offer, I had a check in hand. I paid none of the fees for storage, that the agent agreed were the result of the "team" foot dragging, no estimate charged to me and the claim was settled quickly, once it got into competent hands. It took calling the body shop and State Farm every day to get the current status, from the same person at each place, and keeping a phone log with notes. State Farm paid for all of the costs that they caused in addition to the costs covered by my insurance.

It is important to share that when I told State Farm that I would move the motorhome from the body shop, they quickly responded that the motorhome was no longer insured, due to having been totaled by the body shop, even though it was mechanically able to be safely driven, as it was for several hundred miles before being delivered to the body shop for an estimate.

In the end, my settlement was for 150% of my motorhome purchase price and all other expenses, to include a refund for the balance of my coverage policy, in addition to the expenses the State Farm claims "team" nonsense caused.

I would suggest contacting your agent to make sure you are still covered by your policy after receiving a "total" estimate due to cosmetic damage based on dollar value.
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Old 07-16-2023, 11:23 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 57hotrod View Post
I did pay the bill and brought the unit home. After the treatment I received from Premier RV's service department, I had no confidence in their work nor their phony promises. I was certainly willing to pay the estimation fee, but when they added the outrageous $87/day storage fee, that struck me as unethical.

Kudos to State Farm, as they agreed to pay the $2076 after I sent them the invoice. I'll purchase some vent covers and A/C covers and take my trip as planned.

I appreciate your replies. Hope others don't make the same mistake.

Thanks!

State Farm didn't do you an extra favor - the storage costs became their responsibility as soon as the estimate was submitted.


Be very careful about using the coach - they very likely have suspended liability & collision coverage now that it is "totalled". See Sherpa's reply. Make sure they are on-record as accepting that the coach is drivable and your insurance still in effect. Note the rep's name & the date, just in case.
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Old 07-18-2023, 08:55 AM   #9
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In most vehicle insurance policies is a "third party estimate" clause. Insurance companies have it there to protect themselves, but the insured can use it to their advantage too.
In the Progressive Ins. MH policy, page 53 is the description of how and why it works. It's basically an arbitration procedure, but the "umpire" doesn't have to be a lawyer, just someone both parties agree to have umpire the differences in estimates. The umpire makes their own estimate then compares it to the Ins. co and body shop estimates, then decides how much the Ins. co. must pay. Decision is final.
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Old 07-18-2023, 09:26 AM   #10
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When we lost our 1997 Discovery to fire, my experience with State Farm was very different. Settlement of the cost of the coach went fast and I got what I thought was a very fair settlement including improvements I made to the coach.

Contents of the coach was handled by my stick/bricks house policy. Since it was a replacement cost policy, they sent me a depreciated amount check first, then as we bought replacement items they sent me the difference between what they already sent me and the actual cost. I was shocked how much the contents value was!

The amusing part to the story was when a tow truck showed up to haul the charred remains from our property. The first operator got out and looked at the "remains" and said "they told me it was a camper!. This sucker is bigger than a bus! " and he left. Second guy showed up, and said "it is all in pieces, nothing to tow!". Next guy came out and said "your driveway is way to steep to tow the hulk down" and he left. The last guy came in a small truck, put on 2 rear tires, hooked to to the remains and kind of dragged the chassis down the hill, then pushed it onto the flatbed trailer he had. AS luck would have it, while the flatbed truck trailer was blocking our narrow county road, a school bus, mail vehicle and several cars came and were all blocked for 45 minutes! Then it started to rain. 4 of our neighbors 4-h project goats all escaped their enclosure, came over and hid his under the flatbed trailer, refusing to come out!

So here we were, blocked school bus, blocked mail truck, blocked neighbors all because of me and the goats! MY next door neighbor saw the problem and he came over with goat treats and coaxed them out from under the trailer. The tractor trailer left only to get stuck trying to turn around on our dead end county road!
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