I was in an accident with a man insured by CarNet. He was at fault and admitted it at the scene. There was also a witness who gave me his card. I called CarNet and told them what had happened, where my car (totaled) was, where they could reach me, etc. They said they would call back with a claim number.
I didn't hear from them, so the next week I called again and told them my name, and they gave me a claim number, but said that they hadn't been able to send someone to look at the car yet. At this time I sent them a letter with all of my information (insurance, the name and number of the witness, etc.) I had given them all that information over the phone, but just in case. They told me they would call the next day.
I waited another week, then called them and told them the claim number, what I had been paying for my rental car, what my deductible at the emergency room had been, etc. They told me they would call me in the next few days. I also sent them a letter with the receipts from the rental company and the hospital. I didn't hear from them.
I called them and when I gave them my claim number they said that they had sent someone out to look at the car, and that they would get back to me. A few days later I got a letter (with the claim number on it) telling me that my car was a total loss, but that the property damage limit was $5000 for that client. They said they would send someone out to figure out the blue book estimate.
To make a long story slightly shorter, by now I was worried, so I started calling them EVERY OTHER DAY for the next 20 days. 9 out of 10 times I called (Cecilia Sarmiento was the name of the rep I was dealing with) the machine picked up, and I would leave a message with my name, number, etc. Once or twice she picked up the phone and told me they were working on it, and that she would call me with a progress report.
Finally I told her that I wanted to speak to her supervisor. She told me that was impossible, but that she would look into it. I told her that she could look into it while I was on the phone with her. She asked me for the claim number, and when I gave it to her she told me that it wasn't in the computer. I told her that I knew it must be in the computer because she had been assuring me for months that the problem was being dealt with, and OF COURSE she couldn't have told me that unless she had been checking in the computer.
Suddenly, She found it! Amazing! It was at this point that she told me that my case was listed under a different claim number than the one I had. I told her that I had a letter in front of me from their company with the claim number on it. She told me it must be a typo. I wondered aloud how she had managed to check the status of my claim EVERY OTHER DAY FOR OVER A MONTH when she had the wrong claim number, and she told me she must have been looking it up under my name, not the number. I was so angry I hung up on her because I couldn't talk anymore.
The next monday I called again. It had now been over a month and a half since the accident. Of course, no one answered the phone (I called 3 times that day). The next day I called again and was told that I had used up all the funds alotted. I was told that there was a 2000 dollar cap on the policy, and that the entire amount had been used up paying for the car rentals and storage of my (wrecked) car. I told her that THEY were responsible for the the storage since they had waited a month to deal with the car, and that because they had been jerking me around for almost two months, the rental car costs had added up. I also pointed out that the letter they sent gave the 5000 dollar figure, NOT 2000. She told me there was nothing they could do and hung up on me.
I called a lawyer and asked if I could sue - she said that I could (and that it was Possible I could win) but that it would probably take a lot of time, money and energy. She also told me that the company would claim they were just incompetent, and say they weren't lying to me, and it wasn't their responsibility. Hearing that, I believed her and didn't sue.
Catharine
Hollywood, California
U.S.A.
0 comments