Questionmy 09 tahoe was stolen and recovered burned, talk to my insurance adjuster at geico said she hired siu. she called ask me for my key sent that in still waiting it's been about 45 days, do you think i will need a lawyer
AnswerHello,
Thank you very much for your high rating on my answer.
You are not alone as it relates to the investigation stage of the claim and once referred to the SIU, chances of having the claim denied are almost imminent that it will happen. The first problems are these:
The insured assumes that when under investigation the insurance company is trying to determine who stole the car. The truth of the matter is that when in this stage, the insurance company is not looking at the facts surrounding the theft of the car. They are actually just trying to build a case against the insured.
When arrested for a crime, one gets Miranda rights telling the arrestee that anything they say will be held against them. In a civil venue, those same rules apply, but with no warning. The more you try to help the investigator, the deeper you get.
You have to cooperate by the rules in the policy, however even with attorney involvement, most times they have no clue as to how these claims work and even they can give you advise that may not be appropriate. This is a very specialized field and we commonly have to train attorneys as to how the denial process works.
Sometimes the insured can be their own worst enemy in these matters and usually when an attorney gets involved in the investigation stage, they just make it more difficult for us to assist the insured.
There are two common things that people do as it relates to our answers on this site. The first thought when there is a problem with their car, they think of taking it to a dealer. (The most expensive place you can go and unless it is a warranty problem, going to a dealer for repair is not the place one wants to go).
The other is that during the claims investigation process is to seek out a general attorney that has no background in bad faith or contract law. Insurance companies deal with plaintiff attorneys on a daily basis from dog bites, slip and fall, car accidents etc. Insurance companies have no fear of them. Although the insured might have a false sense of security having an attorney in this stage, it is in reality, a waste of money.
In fact, just yesterday, I recommended for my client to have an attorney for the examination under oath. I recommended one that I have had a case with. He is very familiar with these auto theft claims investigations and denials, and being that he is very honest, he flat out told the client that he could really not assist him until the claim was denied and suit was brought against the insurance company. How about that? An honest attorney!
This leaves us with doing what we do best, by coaching the insured on how to proceed in this matter.
The insured really has no one to turn to, but us and since we work for both sides and have for over 20 years, we can guide the insured through these murky times where the insured's life will be turned upside down.
We explain every step of the investigation process. Once denied, we have approached these claims with no legal intervention if that is the way the insured wants to go. The point being though, during the investigation stage, it is crucial that our services are employed. We offer these services in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, the Pacific US territories.
You need to cooperate or you will be denied for non-cooperation and there is nothing anyone can do for you in this event. You need to be honest. One lie or one misrepresentation to the insurance company or us will be the end.
The reason they want the keys is because the insurance company will hire a "forensic" locksmith to examine the car and the ignition lock. Right now, you are automatically guilty until proven innocent, because your SUV has a transponder anti-theft system installed from the factory, and because locksmiths may be good at servicing a lock or making a key, many of them are too stupid to know how to steal these vehicles and because of their incompetence, the insured gets denied on their claim. In fact, it is quite common for the insurance expert locksmith to destroy evidence!
Then, since the rules regarding civil procedure are so lax, all the insurance company has to do when building a case against the insured is use speculation, conjecture, assumption and innuendo as fact in order to deny the claim.
If you had nothing to do with the theft of your SUV, you definitely need our consultation services. If you are a police officer, a firefighter, a real estate broker or have any type of state held license involving trust, your career could be in jeopardy as well.
It may seem that we are anti-insurance. Not at all! We offer services to insurance companies as well. There are insurance companies we don't provide services for like State Farm, Allstate and Progressive and that goes back to the undaunted belief in the experts and will fall over the cliff with them. One of these carriers still uses a self-proclaimed expert who in Missouri in 2006, cost them almost $9 million dollars, yet they continue to use the expert.
If you review our site, you will see so much information that you can relate to. Check out "This could happen to you."
All too often we see net opinion with no basis from the expert being heralded as fact.
I believe you said your SUV was recovered burned. If so this creates a whole new realm of circumstances and one might ask; what is a locksmith doing examining a burned vehicle? That would be a very good point!
Insured's feel alone in these times, not knowing where to turn for assistance and that is when they engage our firm on a contractual basis. You by no means are not alone and this investigation process happens to everyone that owns a vehicle with the so-called factory anti-theft system that does not or cannot prevent the vehicle from being stolen.
In my opinion this term is a fraud by the manufacturer. Take the Ford PATS (Passive Anti-Theft System). It does not prevent theft and yet by it's name gives the owner a false sense of security. Then there is the immobilizer that does not immobilize the engine for over a minute. The old GM VATS (Vehicle Anti-Theft System). The proper way for a professional to term this is just a misrepresentation of the truth. Instead, I have finally gone way past that! What a lie! None of these systems prevent theft!
Insurance fraud is a very serious problem. I was just speaking with an SIU person in which the insured claimed to have paid $30 K for his older Escalade and now it was reported stolen. The insured was waiting for their fat $30 K pay off. The problem: Had a rebuilt salvage title making the vehicle worth only $7 K. After taking all facts surrounding the vehicle into consideration, the insured was disappointed to see a $3 K pay off, not $30 K that was allegedly paid for the vehicle with cash and no receipts.
With gas prices soaring, the gas guzzlers will be claimed as thefts being recovered burned. See, there are two ways to look at these claims. Each claim has to be handled case by case and the problem is that all thefts are painted with a large fraud brush. Then we have to look at many of the experts that will only provide services for an insurance company, and formulate reports in a way favoring their client, the insurance company. After all, if they don't say what the insurance company wants, it is felt that they will receive no more assignments.
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