Reasonable insurance time?

I know we've got some insurance experts on here so just checking if I'm out of line in my frustration.

TLDR: Budget rental truck hit miata 2 weeks ago, they haven't confirmed the events with the guy who hit it and aren't picking up the phone.

Monday evening (17th) - Miata was hit by a moving van while parked. Driver who hit comes back over and admitted all fault; neighbor saw it also. Punched in the door so far the window won't go down but that was it, nothing else hurt. Took pictures, exchanged info, driver calls Budget to say what happened but left a message since they were closed. Had paid extra for all full coverage and such (have a pic of rental agreement).

Tuesday - I call Budget and they start a claim with me, didn't have any notes on the message left but say they'll look into it. Give other driver's info, van number, etc.

Thursday (20th) - Haven't not heard anything, call back, Budget says it's been transferred to the claims group. Call claims person, leave a message.

Monday - Call claims person no answer in morning, leave message.

Tuesday - Call claims person in morning, no answer, Call the "team lead" no answer. Call and talk to claims person in afternoon; said my case was just added and I go over everything again. Says they'll call back when an appraiser can be scheduled.

Wednesday, call, no answer, call team lead, team lead says they're trying to contact their client, will have 30 days for them to reply but they can't send an appraiser/approve a rental/anything till they do. I text the driving of the moving van, said they hasn't gotten any calls at all from budget or claims. Give them the insurance people's number/claims # and such. Says will call in morning. Call back to claims person, give them his info again.

Yesterday - No answer, driver texts saying they left a message with both agent and team lead.

Today - Call, agent no answer in morning, on vacation afternoon. Call team lead, no answer. Leave message with both.

Now the car is drivable (actually really hoping they don't total it) and I've got an accord to daily but is this kind of phone tag usual?

do you have full coverage or liability only on your miata?

If full, sounds like its time to submit it to your insurance and let them pursue Budget.

that said, I dont work in insurance

Nah, only liability on it. I would have gone that route if I had had it. It was actually hit about 2 years ago in the same door, I had a the check for that one in like two or three weeks from when it was hit.

You're going after Budget because the driver bought the Budget optional, additional insurance.

I would imagine that the driver also has a regular policy through State Farm or similar. Might be time to jump on (make a claim) through State Farm so that maybe they will jump on Budget.

Disclaimer: also not in the insurance business

My pragmatic side would say:

"How much would it cost me to get a good door?"

"Is that cheap enough to say berkeley it, replace it, and move on with life?"

I've been looking for a door as we speak

Last time it happened I made a little profit just taking the appraisal check and replacing door and fender myself.

John Welsh wrote: You're going after Budget because the driver also bought the Budget optional, additional insurance. I would imagine that the driver also has a regular policy through State Farm or similar. Might be time to jump on (make a claim) through State Farm so that maybe they will jump on Budget. Disclaimer: also not in the insurance business

The last fender bender I had, in which the other party was at fault, the officers told me if I didn't get satisfaction, to call them.

One of the ways to get them to hurry up with the process is to get them paying for a rental car for you.

No insurance company will pay on a claim before they get their insured's statement. Not sure, but wouldn't Budget's insurance only cover damage to their truck? I'd also hazard a guess that State Farm won't cover damage caused by an insured operating a vehicle that would not be eligible for coverage on a personal auto policy, like a box truck.

Hope I'm wrong on last points.

Codrus: Team lead told me there was told there was no way to approve for a rental without an appraiser seeing the car first, it would take a day or two for them to arrange for that after talking to the driver.

etifosi: The form I looked at showed that they paid extra for supplemental liability insurance. According to the budget website: "Supplemental Liability Insurance. Budget now has Supplemental Liability Insurance (SLI) available at participating U.S. locations. SLI protects you against bodily injury and property damage claims made by others in a covered accident with the Budget truck up to a combined single limit of $1 million." so should be covered there.

In reply to johndej:

That's great!

In reply to etifosi:

State Farm definitely covers you when you're driving a box truck. I had that exact question for my agent when renting a truck and she told me anything that doesn't require a cdl is covered.

Man budget sounds like they do not have their E36 M3 together. That's got to be frustrating.

Cheack the law. Over a specific dollar amount of damage a report may be required to be filed with the poliece. If this is the case be sure to be the one that files first.

I would also look up and see if there is some sort of law or something that puts a time limit on things. If so a polite letter to them copied to the insurance regulatory agency in your state may get there attention.

Other than that keep bugging them. The problem child usually gets the candy first.

I'm not aware of any threshold on damages.

Just called the agent and actually got a hold of them, said they'd check their messages but that they had not had any contact from the driver. Texted the driver to please call the agent again

Meanwhile, I found a guy parting out a red NA about an hour away with a good door. If I just buy that; fix it myself, any way for them to still pay?

johndej wrote: Meanwhile, I found a guy parting out a red NA about an hour away with a good door. If I just buy that; fix it myself, any way for them to still pay?

They'll usually cut you a check for their estimate of repair cost if you want to DIY fix it (or even not fix it). That's usually going to be on the low end of the range of what it would cost to get it professionally repaired, OTOH that can be helpful in avoiding a "total" in some cases.

AIUI (I'm neither a lawyer nor an insurance agent, plus this kind of thing is not consistent state-to-state), they are obligated to "make you whole", and that includes covering equivalent transportation during the period that their insured rendered your vehicle undrivable. They aren't supposed to make you wait 2 weeks to get a rental car -- what if it was your only car? How would you get to work? Whether or not their adjustor has looked at your car and "approved" anything, they're still obligated to cover reasonable rental costs.

Klayfish is who you should pm. He is in the buisness.

Tried to message Klayfish this morning but it doesn't appear to have gone through.

Spoke with claims rep today who led with "We spoke Monday correct? I just want you to know we are well within the allowable time of 30 days to investigate this incident. You will be informed when we have spoken to our client but we are unable to move forward with any sort of rental or send an appraiser".

The Driver/Claims rep may be playing phone tag at this point.

I have found a clean door on craigslist. Anyone know if I'm able to swap that out before an appraiser looks at it? Can show them the damaged door when they do come out and still collect any money?

Don't touch until appraiser sees it. You'll only make it look like less damage than happened and minimize the payout.

My car got hit (while parked) by a pest control truck. I temporarily repaired the bumper cover so I could drive it, but un-did all my work for the appraiser.

Off the top of my head, I don't recall how Budget Truck is set up for their insurance. I believe they are self insured to some degree, and hire a third party (called a TPA) to do the administrative claims work for them. TPAs aren't always the quickest to respond or move things along. They get paid little and the volume is insane. Yes, they likely need to talk to the driver first to confirm the facts. Where the communication breakdown in that is, I couldn't tell you. Only the TPA and renter who hit your Miata know for sure. Keep pushing the driver to push on Budget and tell them what happened.

In the meantime, if you document it well, you SHOULD be able to swap out your door before an appraiser looks at it. Note I put should in all caps. If Budget wanted to, they could push back and say you didn't give them an opportunity to inspect the damages as is. However, if you document everything well and the costs are reasonable, there's no logical reason they'd not reimburse you. But don't hold me to it, as they don't have to.

Finally have an appraiser coming sometime this week. Claims rep hasn't heard from Driver yet but moving on anyway.

Any tips to not have them total it?

So I heard from the insurance company on the afternoon of the 16th. Told me they had contacted the driver, received a statement of fault, etc. They informed me of the results of the appraisal; which was acceptable to my end, and that the check was in the mail (name & address was confirmed in an emailed PDF estimate statement that day).

I've been gone for work a week so just got home now 9.98 days from "the check is in the mail" and no check....