BEWARE: Geico Claims

[bpowa]

Well For one thing Im sick of dealing with insurance companies in general but dealing with Geico is the worse bottom feeder of them all.

I had my car parked at work a few days ago. Came out I saw my driver rear corner window shattered. Looked have paint damage on corner bumper.

I went in today to ca Claims rep. He wrote up an estimate for 535.00. Since my deductible is 500.00 My check was for 35 dollars to get fixed.

The estimate was 150.00 for the window itself and it was from a JUNKYARD He said that they could not source a window since its a older 2003 model.

I call BS.. But want to research.

I was hoping that the estimate would be higher so I can maybe not repair the bumper for now, since money is somewhat tight.

I will not be a customer anymore.

Anyone experience this with insurance using junkyard parts?

 

[paperchasin]

Not sure I understand what your complaint is about. If your deductible is $500, doesn't that mean that you are responsible for the first $500 and then the insurance company covers anything above that amount? If you aren't worried about the bumper, and you can source your own window for cheaper than $500, I say you skip the insurance claim and pay for it out of your pocket. It would make no sense to get your insurance involved if you can get it done yourself for cheaper.

Regarding the broken window...I have no personal experience with it, but if the glass is in good condition, I don't really see the problem with that.

 

[Martinjmpr]

Does the '03 have the embedded antenna? I wonder if that would affect the amount of the claim.

 

[bpowa]

Not sure I understand what your complaint is about. If your deductible is $500, doesn't that mean that you are responsible for the first $500 and then the insurance company covers anything above that amount? If you aren't worried about the bumper, and you can source your own window for cheaper than $500, I say you skip the insurance claim and pay for it out of your pocket. It would make no sense to get your insurance involved if you can get it done yourself for cheaper.

Regarding the broken window...I have no personal experience with it, but if the glass is in good condition, I don't really see the problem with that.

Basically I pay insurance so if I have a issue I would like to have it replaced or have it valued a part that is new. As for your reference I will have to go at it myself without insurance involved.

 

[CookieRoe]

Basically I pay insurance so if I have a issue I would like to have it replaced or have it valued a part that is new. As for your reference I will have to go at it myself without insurance involved.

If it concerns you, when you file a claim on your car, it gets reported to carfax. I never cared as I plan on keeping mine until the end of time.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[paperchasin]

Basically I pay insurance so if I have a issue I would like to have it replaced or have it valued a part that is new. As for your reference I will have to go at it myself without insurance involved.

I'm in a similar situation... while driving into work on Monday, I got a rock chip on my windshield. I called insurance company that they said I have to cover my $500 deductible and that they would cover any expenses above that amount. I really wanted to take my car to a dealership and have them install an OEM windshield, but I discovered that the dealerships simply call an outside vendor to do the work and then bill you for it + tack on their profit.

I found many local windshield glass guys that can do the work for $250. Needless to say that I plan on replacing the windshield out of my own pocket and save $250.

It sounds to me that you're not happy about having to settle for a junkyard window when maybe there really aren't any new windows available. But like you said, you'd need to do the research and call around to see if this indeed true.

 

[bpowa]

Does the '03 have the embedded antenna? I wonder if that would affect the amount of the claim.

Yes It does have the antenna. Im not sure if the defroster also.

I hate insurance companies. I saw a oem quote on his computer briefly and it was about 300 bucks. If he quoted me oem new. I would skip the bumper repair and even out on it. So now if I want both repaired with a junkyard window it would be 500 bucks out of pocket.

I had claims before and aaa/state farm just cut me a check for what it cost or close to oem.

Its a shady business.. of crooks.. Tay pass laws that you have to buy insurance..

Hypothetically if the other party offered to provide his insurance for the damages on my truck and his insurance offered me what Geico offered me as a customer. I would say hell no.. Would you take anything less than new oem?

I just had a claim for my other car. The other party insurance had a shop replace the bumper with new oem. They wanted to give me an aftermarket, and I said no.

 

[4gin007]

Geico will take the cheap route anytime and anyway they can. They typically don't care about the customer but if you dispute the settlement they will adjust it for you if its within reason. But remember their saving you 15%, thats probably a reason you chose them. You can't have top quality coverage at below premium prices.

 

[snowboardwcu]

i have been in this situation as well, back in march my accord got rear ended, driver side, vehicle almost totaled. estimate was ~4800, they valued the car at 5500, and the guys insurance (geico) max payout was 5000, the state minimum here. needless to say i fought with them over $200 under the assumption that there would be incidentals not covered by the estimate and they should cover a rental for the time it was being repaired. their offer: claim the accident under my insurance and they would pay the deductible. seriously. that happened. i called my ins company and notified them of this, and notified them i will not be taking that route. geico would pay. i had to sign a bunch of legal paperwork just for $200. i did it.

when i spoke with the adjuster, he notified me of the using of the junkyard parts, or 'certified used' or whatever BS line they fed me. i said this was unacceptable and managed to get him to do something that upped the estimate. went up a couple hundred or so to the 4800 mark.

in the end, i fought and fought, even to get the check mailed to me. i had a local guy i know do the work for me. everything was brand new OEM except the rear quarter panel and trunk (this is sorta the only option really).

point is, fight it out with them. keep calling, stay on top of it. did they include the paint damage? what about wiring up the window again? what about the time in for repairs?

best thing from the accident: it prompted me to buy a 4runner!:biggrin1:

 

[fdbyrne]

Not sure I understand what your complaint is about. If your deductible is $500, doesn't that mean that you are responsible for the first $500 and then the insurance company covers anything above that amount?

I agree.

I don't mean to be disrespectful, but it sounds like the insurance company is paying you exactly what they are supposed to under the contract that you agreed to.

If you didn't want a $500 deductible you could have selected a lower option. If GEICO doesn't go lower than $500 then you could have gone with a different company that does offer lower deductibles.

Under the insurance contract they owe you what it takes to bring you back to a pre-loss condition. Since your window wasn't new, they don't owe you a new one.

I know that dealing with vehicle damage sucks, but it doesn't sound like this was GEICO's fault. If you're going to be upset with anyone, blame the jackass that hit your truck then drove off. It sounds like one of your coworkers is a real douche.

 

[KidVermicious]

Basically I pay insurance so if I have a issue I would like to have it replaced or have it valued a part that is new.

That's your mistake, right there. Stop wasting money on optional insurance and put it in the bank instead.

FWIW, when I have to carry insurance, I get it from Allstate. I've had to make three claims on various policies over the past couple of years, and they've treated me fair. I generally rank insurance companies somewhere between child rapists and Hitler, but they've been good to me. They definitely didn't give me any guff about not being able to source new parts when I wrecked my truck. If you're going to jump insurance companies, give them a shot.

 

[Suzuki7502k]

If you read your policy language, it states exactly your concern. Geico is responsible to make you whole and put your vehicle back to its original condition meaning, you have an 03 so the window is used.

They will not pay for a new window when the window is 12 years old unless they cannot find a used or aftermarket part. Unless you have an OEM endorsement, which is extra to you premium.

Every company has their own policy however, it does say this in your contract. I know for Liberty, if you vehicle is older than a year old and more than 10k miles, they use reconditioned parts.

 

[bpowa]

Geico will take the cheap route anytime and anyway they can. They typically don't care about the customer but if you dispute the settlement they will adjust it for you if its within reason. But remember their saving you 15%, thats probably a reason you chose them. You can't have top quality coverage at below premium prices.

trust me man.. they are not the cheapest insurance company. their prices are the same if not higher than aaa, allstate, etc.. I switched from aaa thinking I would save. which I did for the first 6 months. then the price hike. I have been meaning to switch carriers. I just did a online quote from allstate which was quite a bit lower.

FWIW i have no loyalty to any insurance company. They are a profitable business and will screw you where ever they can. Living In CA we have price hikes for every insurance. Even healthcare. I pay 700 a month for my family of 3. I still had to payed out of pocket 15k for childbirth. I would have been better off as an illegal and have payed nothing during that point.
I'm not going to go through the headache of making calls and fighting this claim. Ill dish out the money out of pocket. This is what they want. and I have more things in like to worry about than 300 bucks.

I have my motorcycle insurance with pacific specialty, and they took care of me great when I needed it. They are not even a big name insurance company.

Thanks for all your input. BTW. im getting the hell out of CA. I lived here for 30 years. the cost of everything even insurance and housing is insane. I make more than the median pay across the US, and its still a struggle. Crappy situations like this just makes me hate living here more. By Next summer I hope to be out of here. Sorry for the rant.

 

[wadle5]

I really wanted to take my car to a dealership and have them install an OEM windshield, but I discovered that the dealerships simply call an outside vendor to do the work and then bill you for it + tack on their profit.

I found many local windshield glass guys that can do the work for $250. Needless to say that I plan on replacing the windshield out of my own pocket and save $250.

It sounds to me that you're not happy about having to settle for a junkyard window when maybe there really aren't any new windows available. But like you said, you'd need to do the research and call around to see if this indeed true.

This is actually the norm, as most dealerships dont have a "glass guy". They usually have a specialist in glass they call on an as needed basis that way they dont have someone on payroll that doesn't have a steady flow of work.

Geico will take the cheap route anytime and anyway they can. They typically don't care about the customer but if you dispute the settlement they will adjust it for you if its within reason. But remember their saving you 15%, thats probably a reason you chose them. You can't have top quality coverage at below premium prices.

This is soley due to what plan that was signed up for. As you stated can't expect to pay bottom dollar and receive brand new OEM parts. In fact most insurance companies unless you pay attention or pay more you only agree to aftermarket or "LIKE NEW" parts ie. junk yard.

I If you're going to be upset with anyone, blame the jackass that hit your truck then drove off. It sounds like one of your coworkers is a real douche.

Truth

If you read your policy language, it states exactly your concern. Geico is responsible to make you whole and put your vehicle back to its original condition meaning, you have an 03 so the window is used.

They will not pay for a new window when the window is 12 years old unless they cannot find a used or aftermarket part. Unless you have an OEM endorsement, which is extra to you premium.

Every company has their own policy however, it does say this in your contract. I know for Liberty, if you vehicle is older than a year old and more than 10k miles, they use reconditioned parts.

True unless otherwise negotiated into the contract and something USAA if really good about using OEM parts.

trust me man.. they are not the cheapest insurance company. their prices are the same if not higher than aaa, allstate, etc.. I switched from aaa thinking I would save. which I did for the first 6 months. then the price hike. I have been meaning to switch carriers. I just did a online quote from allstate which was quite a bit lower.

FWIW i have no loyalty to any insurance company. They are a profitable business and will screw you where ever they can. Living In CA we have price hikes for every insurance. Even healthcare. I pay 700 a month for my family of 3. I still had to payed out of pocket 15k for childbirth. I would have been better off as an illegal and have payed nothing during that point.
I'm not going to go through the headache of making calls and fighting this claim. Ill dish out the money out of pocket. This is what they want. and I have more things in like to worry about than 300 bucks.

I have my motorcycle insurance with pacific specialty, and they took care of me great when I needed it. They are not even a big name insurance company.

Thanks for all your input. BTW. im getting the hell out of CA. I lived here for 30 years. the cost of everything even insurance and housing is insane. I make more than the median pay across the US, and its still a struggle. Crappy situations like this just makes me hate living here more. By Next summer I hope to be out of here. Sorry for the rant.

I would second that. . . .get out of Caliweird and realize how much better the rest of the country is ahaharty:

 

[chmura]

If your estimate was for $535 why would you even call your insurance company if your deductible is $500?

Its not even worth the hassle IMO.

 

[nevada]

know this isn't really what you asked, nor exactly on subject..

but I think if you have full coverage, and experience a NOT AT FAULT loss, you shouldn't have to pay ANYTHING to get it fixed. insurance should cover the full boat, no deductible.

that's what insurance is FOR...

the fact that we pay every month for a service, then whenever someone ELSE damages our property, we have to pay MORE to GET the insurance coverage we have been paying for each month. makes no sense!

 

[fdbyrne]

know this isn't really what you asked, nor exactly on subject..

but I think if you have full coverage, and experience a NOT AT FAULT loss, you shouldn't have to pay ANYTHING to get it fixed. insurance should cover the full boat, no deductible.

that's what insurance is FOR...

the fact that we pay every month for a service, then whenever someone ELSE damages our property, we have to pay MORE to GET the insurance coverage we have been paying for each month. makes no sense!

The deductible serves the purpose of minimizing small or possibly fraudulent claims by making the policyholder carry a portion of the risk.

I'm sure the claim was on the up and up, but imagine this... If you back into a light post and damage your own rear bumper and break your own window do you think that the average person would be at all tempted to claim that the vehicle was hit while parked to avoid paying a deductible? If there was no deductible for things that 'weren't your fault', many people would do exactly that and it would drive up everybody's insurance premiums.

Even little claims cost the insurance company a fair amount of money. It probably cost the insurance company at least $800 in hard costs just to adjust the claim. There are inspections, appraisals, adjusters, etc. that all cost money. All of that has to be done and paid before even if there ends up being no payout.

Again, if you don't want a deductible there are policies out there for you. You won't like the premiums though.

By the way, had the person that hit his vehicle stopped and given their insurance information the OP wouldn't have had to pay anything. There isn't a deductible when another party is found to be at fault and their insurance company settles the claim.

 

[97BlackAckCL]

Well For one thing Im sick of dealing with insurance companies in general but dealing with Geico is the worse bottom feeder of them all.

I had my car parked at work a few days ago. Came out I saw my driver rear corner window shattered. Looked have paint damage on corner bumper.

I went in today to ca Claims rep. He wrote up an estimate for 535.00. Since my deductible is 500.00 My check was for 35 dollars to get fixed.

The estimate was 150.00 for the window itself and it was from a JUNKYARD He said that they could not source a window since its a older 2003 model.

I call BS.. But want to research.

I was hoping that the estimate would be higher so I can maybe not repair the bumper for now, since money is somewhat tight.

I will not be a customer anymore.

Anyone experience this with insurance using junkyard parts?

Total BS, I just had the same rear corner window replaced with an OEM replacement part, they even replaced my sub enclosure with a brand new OEM assembly, and I added that myself, my SR5 didn't even come with one stock. Sounds like a shady deal to me

 

[DarenS]

Total BS, I just had the same rear corner window replaced with an OEM replacement part, they even replaced my sub enclosure with a brand new OEM assembly, and I added that myself, my SR5 didn't even come with one stock. Sounds like a shady deal to me

How do you think they pay for all of those TV commercials? Policy holders' premiums and deductibles. :wof:

 

[97BlackAckCL]

How do you think they pay for all of those TV commercials? Policy holders' premiums and deductibles. :wof:

Wouldn't know, I have a non-for-profit insurance company :dance: