Saturday afternoon, the local cable company's Technician was watching my
'56 Imperial rather than the traffic ahead of him which had stopped at a
red light. In a panic, he decided to hit his brakes and swerve into my
Imperial rather than take out five cars from the rear. The driver's rear
quarter panel and chrome are a MESS. The back bumper is done for.
The cops came and the accident report puts the Cox driver at
fault.
I am totally ragged out about this. Is there anything that I should
do/know about when the Cox Company's insurance people contact me.
Obviously, this car can't be run down to Al's Body and Paint for a quick
fix.
Thanks so much for advice. Jim
I
used to be an insurance adjuster, not on autos but on property.
Have your facts when he visits. Be calm but don't back down. They owe
you. Remember this. You did nothing wrong. They owe you. Expect them to
pay for whatever repairs are needed. They owe you to put the car in the
same condition it was prior to the wreck.
If you want an NOS quarter, bumper or whatever, tell them that. Your car
had them before the accident.
Don't let them tell you it has a value of x-number of dollars as an old
car and that is all they will pay.
Just stick to your guns and hang in there.
Usually, unless you are totally ridiculous with your demands, they will
pay a reasonable amount to repair your car.
Most likely they will offer a reasonable settlement. If you and the
adjuster just really hit it off wrong, tell him that you either want a
different adjuster to handle it or you want to talk to his supervisor.
If all else fails, tell him that while he is sitting in a courtroom
waiting to testify, his case load is backing up.
Just my thoughts as a former adjuster.
Danny
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