Rolled my 80- Geico woes

[MARKTLC80]

Sorry to hear about the damage. Let me know PM if you want to get rid of some of the parts unless you will get a new 80, I know it's still early but you know how it is you snooze you loose. Bumpers/sliders/etc let me know what you got and will talk business. Thanks and good luck dealing with them LIZARDzzz!!!

 

[BrotherRob]

They won't give you dick for your mods. The only way you'll get you money's worth is to take them off.

Get everything in writing. Be careful what you say on the phone, you are being recorded. Concentrate on analyzing the way they validate your rig vs. stock values. There's a fair amount of wiggle room and they're probably on the low end. Look up your state insurance board and read every word of the laws dictating validation and settlement practices. If you can make a reasonable argument that they are not following the rules, file a complaint. They'll get really agreeable, quickly.

Otherwise, take your time and make yourself a PITA. They have to settle, you don't. If your claim becomes a statistical anomaly, you'll get the attention of someone who has the authority to make it go away.

 

[JUNKIN]

Dude sorry to hear about your rig. That Blows. So a little more bad news..... GEICO SUCKS A$$! I dealt with them a few times in the past and am actually in a big case with them now. Unlike most INS companies who hire out local (yeah LOCAL) attorneys in the area where jurisdiction would be proper if taken to trial, these #$$holes have in-house attorneys all over the country who get paid a flat salary to make you miserable and they don't care if they win or lose as long as they don't hand out too much money over the year. To make it worse, you'll have a hard time finding an attorney to deal with them if there's not some bodily injury to go with your property damage so that it makes the claim more valuable. My advise is to bug the adjuster to HELL and back and flood him with paper showing $$$.... about 30% more than what you would actually settle for. And good luck!

 

[flagstaff]

FWIW, I rolled my 89 Jeep and had State Farm at the time. Their first offer was VERY low as I had many modifications as well as a 1 month old rebuilt engine. I sent all my documentation showing $4k in mods within the last two years (not expected wear items like tires and brakes). The payout after the deductible was $3900. Not quite the amount of the modifications but well over their original offer of $1,100. The best part is I was able to buy it back for $300 and parted out the vehicle for an additional $1,600.

I still have State Farm and this is why. They may be more expensive, but they always treated me like a human. I have heard very different from Geico.
After everything is finished, call State Farm and ask them "What if" and see what they say...

Best of luck on your current situation.

 

[BrotherRob]

FWIW, I rolled my 89 Jeep and had State Farm at the time. Their first offer was VERY low as I had many modifications as well as a 1 month old rebuilt engine. I sent all my documentation showing $4k in mods within the last two years (not expected wear items like tires and brakes). The payout after the deductible was $3900. Not quite the amount of the modifications but well over their original offer of $1,100. The best part is I was able to buy it back for $300 and parted out the vehicle for an additional $1,600.

I still have State Farm and this is why. They may be more expensive, but they always treated me like a human. I have heard very different from Geico.
After everything is finished, call State Farm and ask them "What if" and see what they say...

Best of luck on your current situation.

State Farm blows, just like every other organized crime/insurance companies. They tried to validate mine based on "comparable" vehicles in the "local market," the prices on their report listed 80 1996 80s in the market with value ranging from $3k to $20k. Clearly, the outliers were not comparable. And they were using national value..

Considering that 80s are fairly rare worked in my favor. There were just 6 1996 80s sold in the state in the previous year. The average price was $3500 more than their estimate because Phoenix is one of the most pricy markets.

Although, I had no real proof, the gross difference between number of vehicles and prices between the State Farm report and the real report gave me compelling argument that they were not using local values. This is a violation of AZ law, which states that validations must be made with a comparison of local vehicles of the same year/model.

I wrote a demand letter and cc'ed the state insurance board, who clearly believed me. I soon had the name and direct phone number for a claims manager who was begging me to settle for an additional $3500.

The sad irony? On day one I informed the flunky on the phone that my situation was unusual and suggested that I sit down with a claims manager to discuss my priorities. I'd have settled for less and this could have been wrapped up in a few minutes. Instead, they played hardball, wasted a great deal of money and in the end, I ended up with a claims manager, by then, compromise was off the table.

 

[SoCal FZJ80]

Find out how much the insurance company will sell it to you on buy back and I can change your body shell, we have two extras here.

We can work out a reasonable price.

Ryan

 

[98 SNAKE EATER]

You can, it's called a "stated value" policy but you pay out the nose for it.

I have this for my old hotrod

$30K coverage for only $500 a year (gunna bump it to $40k for an extra $60 bucks when I renew)

Anything happens, they just cut a check for the full value (not market value)


I only WISH I could do that with my Cruiser

 

[nuclearlemon]

Keep in mind when removing modified parts that it can also deduct from value unless you have stock parts to put back on. example, you took off the stock bumper to put on an arb and you take the arb off, now the insurance will deduct because there's no bumper, unless you still have the stock bumper to hand over to them.

 

[e9999]

keep also in mind that all those companies hire drones to do nothing but search the web for mention of their company's name and look for bad stuff to fight about so they already have read all this...

 

[BrotherRob]

Keep in mind when removing modified parts that it can also deduct from value unless you have stock parts to put back on. example, you took off the stock bumper to put on an arb and you take the arb off, now the insurance will deduct because there's no bumper, unless you still have the stock bumper to hand over to them.

It will make a miniscule difference, if any. Get it appraised first, they won't likely even see it again. The only good advise my insurance company ever gave me was to keep my s***. They didn't really care.

I bought another 80 and swapped out all the best parts. The settlement offer didn't even change.

 

[PDoyle]

Where is the truck now?

 

[ColoCruiserJeff]

Thanks you guys for all the replies!

I finally got in touch with the appraiser's supervisor and got some stuff worked out!

He offered me $5300 for the truck, plus some credit for my tax and registrations along with $3500 for the modifications.

Total settlement $9100 and change- I think it's a fair settlement and took it. I kept the Cruiser for a cost of $500 off the settlement. So I get $7900 after my deductible- a great deal!

I wasn't going out without a fair negotiation- and they knew it. I found comparable trucks and showed 'em the cost of the mods - I wouldn't get dollar for dollar, but it is a fair settlement.

The A and D pillars are crushed pretty good- may be able to repair the A pillar - but the truck leans about 3" to the driver side. I'm not sure what to do with 'er...but there are some plans on the table.

There will be parts sold...but I just put the H41/Toybox setup in it and really enjoyed my 80. I'm thinking a tube-buggy style build, but I don't have a rig to tow it with...as it wouldnt be able to drive on-road with it.

I'll post up ideas later...maybe in a separate build thread as the plans become more complete...right now I've gotta find a replacement vehicle for my DD.

Thanks again for the posts....definitely an awesome ride!

 

[grizzlygibbs]

Sounds like a pretty good deal. Good negotiating!

 

[Trapper50cal]

Nice work...sounds fair!

 

[BrotherRob]

Well done, I'm surprised they settled so quickly. Usually, there is some brinksmanship involved.

 

[BrotherRob]

keep also in mind that all those companies hire drones to do nothing but search the web for mention of their company's name and look for bad stuff to fight about so they already have read all this...

Geico sucks,
Geico sucks
Geico sucks
Geico sucks

Your caveman just stepped on the gecko and he's licking it off his foot.

Take that stalkers

 

[Ebag333]

That's a very fair settlement.

If it were my truck I'd do one of two things:

1) Chop the top, cage it, soft top, and it's basically a truggy.
2) Body swap. (Either another 80 body if you want to be boring, or something interesting like a 45.)

 

[SoCal FZJ80]

Replacing FZJ80 Body Shell

Thanks you guys for all the replies!

I finally got in touch with the appraiser's supervisor and got some stuff worked out!

He offered me $5300 for the truck, plus some credit for my tax and registrations along with $3500 for the modifications.

Total settlement $9100 and change- I think it's a fair settlement and took it. I kept the Cruiser for a cost of $500 off the settlement. So I get $7900 after my deductible- a great deal!

I wasn't going out without a fair negotiation- and they knew it. I found comparable trucks and showed 'em the cost of the mods - I wouldn't get dollar for dollar, but it is a fair settlement.

The A and D pillars are crushed pretty good- may be able to repair the A pillar - but the truck leans about 3" to the driver side. I'm not sure what to do with 'er...but there are some plans on the table.

There will be parts sold...but I just put the H41/Toybox setup in it and really enjoyed my 80. I'm thinking a tube-buggy style build, but I don't have a rig to tow it with...as it wouldnt be able to drive on-road with it.

I'll post up ideas later...maybe in a separate build thread as the plans become more complete...right now I've gotta find a replacement vehicle for my DD.

Thanks again for the posts....definitely an awesome ride!

We have a complete roof cut at the base of the pillars... have your DD back in two weeks Or if you are motivated... the whole shell...

To me, your truck is completely savable... back to a DD. Of course I build 80's from ground up... so I might be biased

 

[Walking Eagle]

Not sure why an owner can't just place a reasonable value on their rig and then pay insurance on that value. For example, you buy a 95 LC for 5K and then add 5k of mods, you then pay insurance on a car worth 10k. So if you total your rig, insurance pays out 10k. I know this is a very simplistic formula but in this scenario, both you and the insurance company are happy... as in the insurance company gets to charge you a higher rate if you place a higher value on your car.

That's called an agreed to value policy - used on hot rods and custom cars.

 

[FJ80Duo]

Don't guess there's any way you can strip off your stuff?
Speaking of carnage shots? How 'bout my 100 that my little girl rolled?