My Latest Bash - National Fire Adjusters
MartyM
have been just plain boring in the world of trying to get my insurance
companies to pay a legitimate claim.
A recent development has given me substance and the inspiration to see
it all on the internet, so here goes...
As many of you already know, I contracted with a PA the day after my
fire. The PAs are the latest thing along the lines of ambulance
chasing attorneys, but are easily distinguished from lateral relatives
on the food chain such as used-car salespeople by the conspicuous
absence of polyester.
Anyways, I stood witness to a representative from National Fire
Adjusters giving me the royal soapbox dissertation on how insurance
company adjusters would not give me what I was owed, attorneys would
get more and leave less after their cut, and the PA was going to do
more for me than anyone else could. Ok, so I bought into it! The
standard cut for NFA is 10%, which seemed reasonable.
My adjuster is Al Favro and works out of the Rochester, NY office. Al
spent almost two years working on my claim along with whatever else he
does. NFA did compile a list of items and came up with replacement
costs for those items. Al sent letters back and forth to the insurance
companies and talked with them on occasion.
Eventually the insurance companies offered not quite 35k on the claim
and I was expecting at least 43k. Al told me that he couldn't get any
more and I should hire an attorney if I wanted more. I hired the
attorney and was able to get my 43k, less about 3k for legal fees.
NFA was nowhere near as good as they stated during the sales pitch, I
believe I could have done that much myself. They also took almost two
years to figure out I wasn't getting what I wanted and they couldn't
do anything about it. I called Al and asked how much their fee was
going to be. Al immediately assumed the attitude of a pouting child,
making statements to the effect that he was on his way to see a client
and that I was interfering with what he wanted to do. After I
explained that their cut should be based on the 35k because that's all
they were able to do, he asked me three more times what I wanted. It
really sounded to me like he expects me to pay him, then also pay
someone else to do his job for him.
If I hired the attorney to begin with, this would have been settled a
long time ago. Interest on 43k over two years would be about 10k, so I
lost that too. NFA has proven themselves worthless and I now see why
they fall into a less-than-ethical category. I am going to mail this
to the usual NY State Insurance Department puppets so they will have
something on their desks while they watch their 9k/mo. stock quote
machines, but will also mail it to the AIA so they can include it in
their propaganda newsletter.
My usual disclaimer... There is nothing NFA can do about what I write
because it is the truth!
MartyM
http://www.frontiernet.net/~martym
Never buy version 1.0 of anything!
Kevin
..
PAs have a place in the insurance world. BUT I don't like them!!!
(I am a "retail" insurance agent in W NY State).
I have had three opportunities to watch them work, and like everything there
must be good and bad, but I have yet to see the good. Each time the minute
they got involved the process came to a SCREECHING HALT. All of a sudden, I
couldn't get anywhere: local Independent Adjusters (working for the company)
were taken off the case, and home-office-types got involved. The company
wouldn't talk to the "customer", only their hired gun. The company wouldn't
really talk to me, and hinted that I really shouldn't talk to the customer.
So nothing gets done.
In at least one case, I worked harder to get it settled than the PA, and
later lost the customer because their PA botched things up so badly (and
lied about their policy, their coverage, claims practices, the company, my
agency). Psychologically, it's impossible for some people to realize their
mistake, and they stubbornly,/blindly cling to the belief they made the
right decision, even in the face of overwhelming evidence. C'est la vie.
My opinion is biased. But most companies want to settle claims fairly, and
most agents will go out of their way for their customers.
Kevin
MartyM wrote in message <373d9499...@news.frontiernet.net>...
WPLC PandC
>In at least one case, I worked harder to get it settled than the PA, and
>later lost the customer because their PA botched things up so badly (and
>lied about their policy, their coverage, claims practices, the company, my
>agency)
You are so right. The trick is to find a PA that you can trust and work with
and stick with them. Network around and see who you're peers have used... who
they like and who they don't.
When a client independently hires a PA make sure they know the you will work
with the PA, but the PA is now their prime representative as respect that loss.
Make sure the client knows that you will cooperate fully, but have no control
over the loss settlement process.
We've been lucky. We found a trustworthy PA 30+ years ago and have stuck with
them. The infrequesnt times we've been asked to reccommend the services of a
PA we've been comfortable in our reccommendation.
Steve West-Rosenthal
Rosenthal Group International
reply to: s...@rosenthalgroupny.com
W108hla
(I am a "retail" insurance agent in W NY State). >>
This is a common complaint among agents. As an independent adjuster, we see
them as an aspect of the insurance industry that is just another thing to deal
with. It seems that the "ambulance chasing" view of public adjusters is
becoming more prevalent, and insured's are becoming wiser to sales pitches.
I recently had a situation where the PA was so persistent from the start, it
turned off the insured and drove them away. The "used car salesman" analogy
was used by the insured. They said they felt pressured by the PA, and felt
that they could deal just fine directly with me.
Mormsby
9 months to the day that the fire occurred. I hired a PA the day the Nationwide
adjuster came to see the damage. Nationwide has not been fast or fair in their
dealings with me or my PA. I truly believe that if it wasn't for my PA,
Nationwide would have screwed me more than the sre now. You have to have
someone on your side when your up against all that big money the insurance
companies have. They have not settled our personal property and are dragging us
into an expensive ( for us ) arbatration.
MartyM
I think if I was ever in the same situation again, I would first talk
with the insurance company's adjuster, then go immediately to a lawyer
if they did not fulfill their obligations.
DEEDLYNN
can take advantage of people while they are in an already unfortunate
situation.
I would however, like to thank you for sharing your experience.
I see commercials and advertisements everyday about how insurance adjusters are
trained to **rip off** the public when there is a claim. I have worked for 5
different companies in the past 15 years and none of them have done anything
short of attempting indemnification of the insureds and claimants.
Sometimes there are legitimate disputes because of a lack of facts that create
problems in settling claims. And, sometimes there is a need for attorneys
and even PA's to resolve issues.
However, the majority of the time, cooperation back and forth between the
insured and the insurer can clear up any problems. And most, can handle their
own claims successfully without lining the wallets of the PA's and attorneys.
I hope that this experience has not bittered you towards the insurance
industry. We are here to help in a time of need and while like in all
professions there are a few bad apples, I am of the belief that most do their
jobs ethically and with integrity.
Thanks again for posting your experience.
AceAdjustr
If you have any way of researching it, rumor has it that only ONE Insurance
Company in New York State has ever been fined by the Insurance Department for
unfair claims practices.
I'll leave it up to you to figure out which one it was.