I have a brother who was staying with my husband and I for a couple of nights, and he decided to steal my car one night in a drunken state. He did not have a license, and he had no right to drive my car! He ended up hitting someone and totaled my car and the other guy's car. This was 8/16/04. I pressed charges on him for a stolen vehicle because my broker for Mercury Insurance (Ron Roberts & Associates - who has also been NO HELP through all of this) advised me to. I was absolutely devastated. Not only was my car totaled, but it was done by my brother who I trusted. Needless to say, this was the worst experience I have ever gone through. To make it even more worse, I had the worst Insurance company that did not make it any easier. This claim drug out for over two months. I have been paying on a car that I don't have. I have had to car pool to work with my husband who works different hours than me because my insurance company will only give me 30 days in a rental car, even though THEY are the ones dragging out the claim. I have a 3 year old son that I have to take to day care everyday, but because of the car pool situation, we have all been having to wake up earlier than normal, so it has just put us in a bind. For the first couple of weeks after the accident, the insurance company kept calling my house wanting to speak to my brother. I kept returning their calls to explain to them that he was in jail, and I didn't think there was any way they could get in touch with him. What more did they need? They also sent a certified letter to me stating that there may be a potential coverage problem with my claim because my brother stayed with me and I didn't list him as an "EXCLUDED DRIVER" on my policy. So, everytime I have someone stay at my house, do I need to call Mercury to tell them to list the guest as an "EXCLUDED DRIVER?" Besides, my brother didn't have a license. He had no right to drive my car!!! After I received the certified letter, I received a "revised policy" showing!
My brother listed as an excluded driver, and it stated on the policy that this was effective 8/15/04 (the day before the accident). I don't know what they were up to, but I didn't get a warm and fuzzy, and I could never get anyone on the phone to explain to me what was going on. They treated me more like I was a criminal rather than a victim. Well, my brother finally got out of jail about 3 weeks ago, and they FINALLY got their interview with him. The claim still drug on. I finally just got a lawyer because I wasn't getting anywhere with them. Everytime I would call, I would always get a voice mail where I left a message and never got a call back, or a voice mail that was full and couldn't take any more messages. My lawyer called me last week to say that he finally got them to agree to pay the claim. AGREE TO PAY THE CLAIM? That is what I have insurance for - to protect me and my family. Well, they agreed alright, but they also will not pay the retail on your car. According to Alicia Curran in the Total Loss Dept, they only pay the Private Party Value, not the retail. They were offering me $10,800 for my car, when the retail showed it was worth $13,600 at the time of the accident and $13,480 last week. I asked her if we could negotiate that price. I'm not looking for $13,000, but at least meet me in the middle somewhere. I even called a friend at State Farm and spoke with someone at Allstate and explained what was going on. They were amazed at how long this thing had been going on. I then asked when you have a car that has been totaled, what their policy was as far as paying on the car - retail or wholesale? They both told me they pay retail on a vehicle. Alicia at Mercury told me that they don't negotiate, and that is their policy. She also stated that if I didn't agree with the amount, I could hire an appraiser at my expense to determine the value of the car, and if it is more than that, then we could negotiate. I just don't understand this logic. I called the dealership that I bought m!
Y car from and spoke to the salesman that we dealt with at the time. I asked him, "If i take $10,800 and walk into your dealership right now to purchase the exact car I had with all of the options on it, etc. Etc, can I get the exact car for that amount?" The salesman told me no! I also told Alicia at Mercury about this and she agreed that the amount they offering looked low, but there was nothing she could do. Now, how fair is that? Not only have you drug this thing out for over two months now, you only allowed me 30 days to rent a car, so I have had to car pool for a month, and you have treated me like a criminal in this whole ordeal, now you won't even work with me on the value of my car. So, I called the next day and asked for Alicia's supervisor, who was Sherry. What a waste! She was the rudest person yet. I can't even believe she is a supervisor. She wouldn't listen to what I have to say about this mess, and started talking to me very rudely. I finally just let her have it. I had finally had it, and she got to have an earful. I first told her that I was HER CUSTOMER and she had no right to talk to me the way she was doing. She said she didn't have an attitude, but I know the difference between a pleasant person to talk to, and one with an attitude. When I asked to speak to her supervisor, she told me she didn't have one. (Now why would you lie to your customer and tell them you didn't have a supervisor?) So I told her that she needed one and hung up. I then called back and got the name of her supervisor, Ellie, and have since left a message for her to call me back. Needless to say, I"m tire of fighting this, so I'm just going to take the measley and unfair amount they have offered me, but after Decemeber, I will be with another insurance company. Never again will i use mercury insurance!!! They are unfair, rude, unreachable, unprofessional, and the sorriest insurance company in the industry!!! Stay away from mercury!
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