On August 3rd, 2006, I was involved in a car accident. Allstate determined that the fault was mine, although the ticket was dismissed by the judge. My car, a 1998 Honda Civic EX, has front-end damage, and the repair would cost approximately $2000.00.
My car was towed to the Allstate preferred body shop. A couple of weeks later, my Allstate agent called and stated that it was taking a while for Allstate to decide whether to repair the damage or call it a total loss. Later, Allstate contacted me again, except this time I was advised that there were problems. Around that time, I found out that my car had been disassembled without my authorization. The body shop stated that this is normal procedure.
An adjuster from Allstate decided that my car had been involved in an accident before my ownership and that it had not been properly repaired! Allstate decided not to pay for the entire repair, basically shorting me by close to $1000.00. Later they also shorted me by not covering a week or more of the rental cost.
I contacted my agent and asked for another adjuster to reinspect the damage. My agent said he would get the manager to come out and meet with me while reinspecting the damage.
I received a call from the adjuster, but it was not a call to set up an appointment and meet with him. The conversation came down to the fact that he had already reinspected the car. The adjuster said that he knows exactly what he is doing, that he was in the car repair business for a very long time, and that I was not going to get a check for the entire repair. The adjuster also stated that my car had been damaged and not properly repaired prior to my ownership! Then he said that Allstate is not liable to fix whatever was not properly repaired prior to my ownership.
When I purchased the car, the dealer assured me that it had not been involved in an accident, and it definitely did not look like it had been.
I know that the car was in good condition and drivable the second before the accident happened. I also know that the radiator core was not damaged before the accident on 08-03-06 and now it is damaged. I opened the hood many times, as did the mechanics who did tune-ups and oil changes. Are we all blind? Was there something twisted for 4 years that kept itself invisible until the accident?
What damage does Allstate expect to find when one car hits another car going 35 or 40 mph? I guess Allstate expects to find some cosmetic damage.
The body shop had agreed to put my car back together. Well, at least they told my wife over the phone that they would put it back together, before they hung up on her twice! The car was never put back together. Crash One, however, did manage to put the damaged parts inside the car (bumper, fender, grill, headlight, plus whatever else they removed). The car was towed to my residence and dropped off in front of the house in a disassembled condition. What about the legally mandated obligation to get the car back to its condition before the accident?
The car is still disassembled, as I do not have the extra funds to repair it yet. I am still liable to make the payments to the lender, as the car is still financed, and I am still liable to insure a car that I cannot drive! I had to purchase another car to avoid similar situations. I decided that a new car is the way to go.
I guess it is fine for them to collect premiums for four years and state that whenever something happens, they will pay for everything minus the deductible. But in actuality, it turns out that Allstate is not paying up, not in every case anyway.
The above is just a brief description of the abuse I had to take from Allstate. I have a permanent medical condition, and the last thing I need is to suffer this kind of moral, emotional, and financial distress!
Thank you for taking the time to read this post.
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