I am fighting with insurance on a total loss claim. Are there any adjusters or anyone that can help? Does anyone have access to the CCC report system.

I have a unique vehicle that is hard to find comps for and need some help. Thanks

Tell us what vehicle and maybe we can find examples for you.

EDIT to add, no matter what, do not accept any checks or offer until you are happy. They tried to bend me over on my old mini-van 8-years ago and undercut me 25% of the actual value.

It is a 2019 Mercedes Sprinter 4x4 Passenger Van with 60,000 miles. The only option it does not have are LED headlights and electric sliding door.

I sent in comps for my truck and they adjusted the value no problem. I did the same for the can but they only want to use one of my comps. The two they are using do not have near the options. They are also adjusting way too much for mileage. The 4x4 holds there value really well because there are not many of them.

One comp they used adjust my value down to $46,000. The three vans I can find that match my options are $58K to $63K with similar mileage. Before my comps they were below $50K.

agracer said:

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Tell us what vehicle and maybe we can find examples for you.

EDIT to add, no matter what, do not accept any checks or offer until you are happy. They tried to bend me over on my old mini-van 8-years ago and undercut me 25% of the actual value.

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This^
Do not sign anything.
Send in more comps from further distances.
Explain that they'll need to engage their supervisor and probably their boss too

Continue firmly but politely telling them no. It took me almost two months to settle up with an insurance company RE: a totaled and slightly rare sports car once. They are trying to screw you, don't let them.

Thanks for all the advice. They are hoping I give up and take the money. It's ridiculous that I have to do their job. Between my house and two vehicles, I know they don't like me right now. They are doing everything they can to limit how much they pay me.

I'm curious on this. What incentive does the insurance company have to settle. If the negotiation goes on for weeks, does that look bad on them? Are there KPIs they track for speed of settling?

That's a good question. This has been on going for a month at least. My truck took less than a week. Same insurance company for both vehicles but completely different process with two different adjusters.

I keep asking why it was a different process for. Oh vehicles and no one can give me a straight answer. They keep dancing around the question.

I reached out to the adjuster on my truck and was going to see what he could do. He has gone radio silent after offering to help. The whole process has been a nightmare.

They are in the business to make money for the company and their stakeholders. The less money they pay out for the claims, the more money they make.

You know your vehicle better than the adjuster looking at a vin and a database. Tell them why you need more and show it with examples. Be polite, like stated, or things will slow down even further.

Are they using comps in your area? I've seen cases where they adjuster will look at comps relative to a poor market area, as opposed to the area of the vehicle ownership. Example, my boss' daughter dealt with this living in Houston and the adjuster pulling comps in Minnesota where their office was. When they adjusted to Houston it went up a few thousand.

You may have already explored this, but just something else to consider.

Thanks for all the advice. I have been doing everything that has been recommended and can't seem to get them to budge.

They are using comps that would be the equivalent of comparing a Ford XL or XLT to a Lariat. Sprinter vans don't have trim packages so they have to work harder to match options. Unfortunately they are not doing that and limiting adjusting in my favor to match my options.

The adjuster started with a 500 mile radius but they are now using the entire US. That's what they claim at least. Even then the comps after adjustments do not match the market. I am getting penalized way too much on mileage and their bogus condition adjustment.

A base model (only fm/am radio, no advanced blind spot or cameras etc) with similar mileage is listed for $54,000. After their adjustments they claim mine is valued at $52,500 with all the bells and whistles with similar mileage.

A dealer in Corpus Christi had a used one just come up for sale that is similar to mine. Original list price was $46,000. It was a great deal. I worked with the dealer last night then finalized everything this morning. After talking to the manager he raised the price by $10,000 and thought I would still interested. He claimed live market adjustments happen every morning. I passed this on to the adjuster and she has all but ignored it. I have sent in 4-5 different comps but they will only use one saying I am cherry picking the data. All my comps have to be within 10-15,000 miles of my vehicle while they use vehicles with 30-40,000 less miles and hit me hard for mileage adjustment.

I assume since I had to hire a private adjuster and forced their hand on my house, they are doing everything they can to not pay another penny over what they have it valued at currently.

There are private adjusters for car insurance claims as well. I don't know how much they cost now, but they were about $200-$300 when I was dealing with this mess. Could potentially speed things up.

But if you've got a copy of their valuation report and there are variables they're clearly missing, you are ahead of the game already. They count on people needing cash ASAP and eventually caving. It doesn't sound like that's the case here so drag it out if you have to. It sucks, but it sucks less than getting screwed out of thousands of dollars.

I wouldn't worry about them cancelling on you or whatever, this is the second time they've shown you they don't value your business. Shop your home and auto around, or hire a broker to do it for you. You almost have to change every 2-3 years anyway these days. That's just what the insurance game has become unfortunately.

Edited to add if you know any kind of attorney and they're willing to send a short note about this on their letterhead it will absolutely change their attitude.

mm98 said:

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I'm curious on this. What incentive does the insurance company have to settle. If the negotiation goes on for weeks, does that look bad on them? Are there KPIs they track for speed of settling?

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It seemed like that for us. We kept fighting and fighting, even came right out and told them what we would accept.

Around day 33 or so they agreed to our $$.

I can play the waiting game for as long as it takes. St this point I am not giving up until they match what the market is.

@NFLPlayerProps do you have the contact for the adjuster you used? Any recommendations on adjusters? For a couple hundred bucks it would be worth it to squeeze them for every penny.

I actually didn't use one, I just know they exist.

What I did was set up saved searches for cars similar to mine on autotrader.com, cars.com, carmax, etc. and had them email me every time an example was listed for sale. I also frequently checked stuff like bringatrailer, carsandbids, and the classified sections of a couple of different enthusiast forums.

Any time I found a car for sale that supported my case I emailed it to the adjuster, then followed up with a phone call to confirm they received it and re-iterate the amount of money I would accept.

I think eventually they just got tired of me contacting them all the time and realized I wasn't ever going to stop.