OK guys,
I don't post much but read here a lot.The situation is: My 2004 F-450,6.0, auto,4WD lb custom built pickup from Classy Chassie was stolen on the first of the month. The insurance company is Citizens Hartford. I sent a list of the reciepts for just the truck, air suspension and air hitch that totaled about 75000 dollars. I did say custom didn't I? This was to be my last truck for retirement. Only had 32500 miles on it.How can I get a good settlement out of this? What should I expect to have to do? Kind of lost on this and looking for experienced replys.
Any advice?

Thanks,
Bob C

 

It's entirely up to the adjuster......This person has all the power.

I had $3500.00 worth of receipts on a car that I only got $2300.00 for after it was totalled.

IMO your best chioce is to get the insurance company to get you an identical truck.

Also note: there are a couple of insurance adjusters here on FTE. Maybe they will chime in.

 

I doubt that the ins company would go for that.Plus Classy Chassie has recently gone out of business. I went to the 450 because I had a 2000 F350 that was maxed at 20000 ands the rig weighed in at 225000 empty. Todas trucks have a higher GVW so I could get by with the 350. Thats what I am hoping to do.......Bob C

 

Bob,

Did you get the truck appraised and insured as a custom truck? Or just as a standard truck? If not, the insurance company is under no obligaton to pay for a custom truck. You can't expect to pay insurance based on a certain replacement cost yet collect payment based on a higher cost. I have a specialty truck and know about the appraisal process first hand.

 

I bought the truck pretty much as it was stolen. Never thought of specialty ins nor was I advised. I have all the as built papers that went with the truck. As much as the ins was I will have to find out for sure.....Bob C

 

Let's hope for the best... did the insurer get a list before you insured it?

 

Never take anything for granted re insurance. I did a lot of customizing on my '99 Ranger and always filed updates on all the mods I did. When I had some front damage, they replaced the billet grill and custom grill shell with no questions asked. When I totaled the truck, they sent a hefty check I was satisfied with (and allowed me to take a nice hard tonneau cover off). It helps that I have known my agent since he was a freshman in high school.

 

Let's hope that the amount it was insured for reflects the value of the truck. Good luck and sorry for your loss

 

Retirement huh? Then you should have plenty of time to hunt down the freaking jerk that took your truck and hang him up by the *****.

 

Times have changed Don.

It's all about the Insurance companies holding onto as much $$$ as possible now.

It seems Insurance is nothing but "paying to lose out"

Higher premiums ..less coverage

He with the money makes the rules.

 

Actually Dennis, that's not true. There is a great deal of insurance fraud, some of it by organized crime, that has caused insurance companies to tighten up. Add to this the increasing number of frivolous high dollar lawsuits and it drives costs up for everyone.

Also, increasing numbers of illegally driving uninsured motorists (many of them illegal aliens) and it drives up costs further for people who pay for insurance. In Georgia over 18% of drivers are driving without insurance. That's nearly a 1 in 5 chance that the person who hits you won't have coverage and your policy will have to pay out to repair your vehicle instead of the other guy.

Lastly, you can't in all fairness expect insurers to pay for things you didn't insure. Its one of the reasons why you should make sure to get any jewelry appraised and added to your homeowner's policy.

 

and that's what I do.

Both My Mustang and 78 Pickup are insured for appraised value.

I got screwed on the Buick that was Mom's and for House insurance from the August 2004 rain storms.

They had all sorts of excuses not to cover certain things.

I had receipts for $3500/00 worth of repair work (within the last 14 months) on a car that black booked at $2600.00 in above average shape.

That adjuster allowed $400.00 of the $3500.00 and only gave me $2000.00 for the car.

The only thing I could do was to remove expensive items that I had just put on the car.
$300.00 alternator
$280.00 tires
etc

I think it is a slightly different mentality even though some Insurance companies may have some American ownership.


Canada has less people to draw from and it seems they all do everything they can to screw the insurer up here.


It's a shame there is so much fraud though and I agree with your comments.

 

Did the lo-jack go off?

 

Post #11, what Ken said...Washington insurers est that ~35% of drivers are uninsured (! no wonder, courts slap their wrist and don't follow up if they got insured or not!), the law est that ~7% of the drivers on the road at any one time are also suspended/revoked licenses. We pay for their accidents and medical damage.

A family friend in Oregon four months ago claimed her POS rusted out beat up truck (hauls fish off the docks), don't know how a 2002 model year got that bad that fast. She let it roll off the dock, 15ft drop to the breakwater. Lifted it back up with the dock hoist. The ins company is ready to write her a nice check when it goes to the repair shop. She doesn't want to fix it, just pocket the money. She's good people in most ways, but is complaining that the insurance company won't write the check out to her, only to the repair shop to fix the truck. I agree with the ins company -- she could -- and foreseeably would -- just keep the money and wreck the truck again in a couple of years and collect again without fixing what has become the insurance company's investment by now. Dad mentioned that she'd been in hot water with another ins company for something similar.

Sori for long post, but that kinda burned me up because we're all paying for those little scams. At least those of us still carrying insurance are

 

in IL if you're truck / car is totaled, the ins co keeps it. Does it work differently there?