Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Banging My Head Upon the Wall

Letter #1, from me

Please find receipts for my next submission for my insurance claim XXXXXXX. I bought a bigger armoire, which is intended to replace both the old armoire and the old storage cart on wheels
I underlined that last bit to emphasize it for you, but not in the original email.  

Response to Letter #1, from the insurance company
Please refer to the Schedule of Loss attached for the difference amount paid on each item.
(The attached schedule of loss showed that they refunded me for the replacement of the armoire, but not the storage cart on wheels.)


Letter #2, from me

I would appreciate an explanation for why I did not get a full refund for the new armoire that I purchased.  It is a large storage cabinet to replace both a medium storage cabinet and a small storage cabinet.  I'm not sure why only the replacement cost of the armoire was considered, and the cost to replace the smaller piece (the storage cart) wasn't considered at all.
Response to Letter #2, from the insurance company

The replacement items are assessed based on your Schedule of Loss. We would reimburse you up to the maximum replacement cost of the wardrobe as indicated in the Schedule. If you replace with similar items but the cost exceeds the maximum, then you would receive the maximum amount.
Letter #3, from me

I'm looking at the schedule of loss that you sent me.  On line 13, it says that I can have up to $$$ to replace the armoire that was damaged.  On line 25, it says that I can have up to $$$ to replace the storage cart on wheels.  The new armoire that I purchased was intended to replace both the old armoire and the storage cart, and so it was my understanding that I could spend up to $$$$.

The old armoire had two doors.  It was about 3' wide and was used to hold clothes.  The old storage cart had three shelves, two of them behind doors (and it was on wheels).  Although technically it was a microwave cart, it was never used as such - Originally, I used it to hold my printer and office-type items, and later on I  used it to hold my photography gear.   
The new armoire has two sections.  One section has two doors, is about 3' across and will be used to hold out of season clothes. The other side has one door and three shelves and will be used to hold photography gear.  As far as I can tell, the only issue here is that the two parts are attached, and I would hope that you can see past that.  
Response to Letter #3, from the insurance company.
I will reimburse you an additional $$$ from the allowance for the cabinet on wheels.

Hallelujah!!! 


Sadly, this has been a very typical interaction with the insurance company.  Every step forward requires three steps back.... so much so, that I wonder if they do this to discourage people from filing claims.

Please take a moment to knock on wood, in the hopes that you never need to go through this yourself.

6 comments:

  1. Victory. When Rooster's car got totaled insurance made an offer and we countered and got what we asked. Felt so good.

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    1. That is impressive. I had no idea you could make a counter offer - I thought they used the book value. Good to know!

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  2. Well done getting through to them! I swear if these companies reimbursed us for all of our time that they waste we'd all be rich.

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    1. Truth! I'm convinced that they try to weigh us down with paperwork and confusion, in an effort to make us give up.

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  3. As I said in the previous post, don't even get me rolling on insurance companies! And yes keeping you befuddled is the key. You stay befuddled, they don't pay out.

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