El Monte RV
El Monte Rv, Paid for FULL INSURANCE Coverage - El Monte RV refused to Help Me! They pocket Insurance Money!

I rented a RV from El Monte RV. My wife emailed the company to make sure all my driver's would be okay to drive since they are international. The company's position was "No problem. 50% of our drivers are international." Then myself and my wife went in to El Monte office in El Monte, California to reserve it. My wife told the counter lady Judy Gonsales that we wanted FULL COVERAGE so if anything happened to the RV we did not want to be responsible. We paid for VIPAV, SLI and RLI.

When I picked up the RV I went in with my brother and his 2 friends from Japan. We all signed to be able to drive and we all showed our driver's licenses. I was asked to document my insurance coverage. I explained to the counter person that I drover over in a rental van and don't have proof. My proof is in my car. He said no problem just write down who covers you. I wrote down Esurance. I also had to give my credit card as a security and we paid in cash and traveler's checks.

The day we left there was an accident. I was not driving. One of my brother's friends was driving. He said the brakes wouldn't work. When he tried to control the vehicle it overturned. The thing broke in 5 pieces. The other passengers were more or less okay but I was trapped inside. As the thing skidded to a stop I got dragged along inside. I was airlifted to the hospital where I was knocked out with morphine and the road rash was scraped off from my arm. I also had a gash on my head.

At the time this happened we were in the foothills of Yosemite area in Central California.

This complaint is not about my injuries. I also had special insurance to cover me in the event of anything like this. My insurance for this purpose covered it.

This complaint is about El Monte RV's refusal to assist me in a claim for the damages to the RV, which was totaled.

After the accident El Monte RV's insurance representative, a Bryan Buchtold from Zurich called to get our story. We explained what happened.in the ensuing weeks and months Ben Silverman, corporate executive would not return Mr. Buchtold's calls. THIS IS THEIR OWN INSURER TRYING TO CONTACT EL MONTE RV.

At the same time Ben Silverman from El Monte RV sent me a letter telling me that I was completely responsible, that I didn't have personal car insurance and that he would report me to the DMV.

Right after the accident when I was able to walk my wife drove me to the office in El Monte, California to turn in the keys and to write some sort of a statement as to what happened. I did so. The clerk told me I owe only $200, which is the deductible for the incident. He did not collect my payment at that time.

I also called El Monte RV to get copies of the contract since everything was destroyed in the crash. They refused.

I also opened a claim with my own insurer, Esurance, because El Monte RV said I had to do so. My representative, Nick Watilo, said El Monte RV would not respond to his phone calls so he had to close the case.

So what has happened now is El Monte RV is suing me. They haven't made good on my insurance that I paid for and they have never contacted me to explain why I owe this money and why they are not taking care of it.

In the meantime my brother's friend who was driving was worried and concerned so he got an attorney. His attorney sent me a letter telling me since it was the brakes and since I had paid for insurance in full that his client was not obligated to pay anything. I don't blame him for doing this. I probably would have done the same thing. But this doesn't help me. Now my brother feels bad because of all of this. The bottom line is El Monte RV won't help me and has refused to respond not only to my insurer but also to their own.

I had to sell my mobile home because I don't really have money. I am asthmatic and my wife is the one who works so we can have health insurance. I haven't worked in several years. But I had to defend myself because El Monte RV is suing me. It took me a long time to find an attorney. To most attorneys being sued for $80,000 is small potatoes. To me it is not. Not only do I not have this money I had to sell my property to get money to defend myself.

In addition to all this (as if it weren't enough) my attorney injured himself playing basketball and had to have surgery. The surgery didn't take because he's out running around trying to handle his cases, including mine. He tried to get the trial delayed. The judge refused and gave no reason why. Also I wanted to counter sue. Again the judge denied this also. As a last resort my attorney went to the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals denied this also.

So tomorrow I have to go to Superior Court in L.A. Dept 36 tomorrow March 18. It's going to be a jury trial so hopefully the jury will see that I paid for insurance in good faith and will find for me.

The only reason I'm writing this is to protect you the consumer. Everything is okay as long as nothing happens. It really makes you wonder why El Monte RV is ignoring everyone who tried to contact them in order to get the matter resolved. It makes you wonder what the money I paid for insurance was actually used for.

As a final note Bryan Buchtold from Zurich Insurance (El Monte RV's supposed insurance) told me he was finally able to speak to Ben Silverman. Bryan said it turned out El Monte RV was "self-insured" in this matter. Bryan also said he told Ben Silverman that the right thing to do was to help these people (meaning me) and pay for the damages.

Good luck to everyone who reads this. I thank you for any good thoughts you can send my way.

Company: El Monte RV
Country: USA
State: California
City: El Monte
Address: 12061 E. Valley Blvd
Phone: 8883372214

  <     >