QuestionDear Mr. Hixenbaugh:
My company is in the automobile repossession business. One of our trucks was involved in an accident with an elderly man who was insured by Allstate. He was issued a citation and Allstate later accepted responsibility for the accident. After their adjuster did the appraisal but prior to their acceptance of liability, I put the truck in the body shop to limit our downtime. We were without this wrecker for 9 days before placing it back in service.
I made it clear to the Allstate Rep that I was interested in filing a Loss of Use claim and he subsequently had an accounting firm contact me. In that their letter is in .pdf format, I cannot attach it here but I will list the items they are requesting:
1. Federal Income Tax returns including the subsidiary schedules of income and expenses filed with the returns for the years 2007 and 2008.
2.Driver log reports for each driver at this location from Nov 19 to 12-31 (date of accident was 12-9 and back in service 12-18)
3. We understand you are using quickbooks software. Please provide a complete back up of this software on CD or by email. If this is not available we need....
A. Detailed annual income statements showing a complete breakdown of income and expenses for 2007 and 2008.
B. Daily billing reports for your local office from 11-19 to 12-31
C. Payroll reports for each driver showing gross wages for each pay period from 11-01 to 12-31.
She then indicates that this list is not meant to be all inclusive as after review she may need additional documentation.
It would appear to me that they are asking for a boatload of information that in my opinion is both invasive and overbearing. I was without one of our trucks 9 days, not 9 months. I have never filed a Loss of Use claim before but my initial thoughts are that they are trying to overwhelm me with paperwork so I will go away.
1. Can you advise me on what documentation I should be prepared to provide that is both reasonable and necessary for them to complete their computation?
2. Is the claim calculated based on the revenue that I was unable to earn while my truck was down or what I would have typically earned had it been in service instead of the body shop?
3. What if we used one of our older trucks that was not in service or hired another truck to assist us during this downtime?
I guess I just need to understand the basis they use to determine the loss. Obviously we have clients that expect service and cannot wait for 9 days to have their accounts worked. My objective was to maintain our level of service and NOT lose clients OR revenue during this time. We have been in business 23 years and I don't want what I am not entitled too but if we are entitled compensation for our aggravation and inconvenience then I have no problem with that.
I sure do appreciate your time and consideration and look forward to your professional opinion on this matter.
Sincerely
Drew
AnswerHi Drew,
You are correct. This is an attempt to intimidate you into going away.
The amount of documentation you need to provide depends on the type of loss of use payment you are seeking. Basic loss of use is just to compensate for the days your were with out the use of your vehicle. This would be a payment of generally $25.00 to $50.00 for each day you were with out the vehicle. The second type would be loss of business income due to the loss of use of your vehicle. This sounda more like what you are seeking and is subject to much greater scruitiny. The only way to get paid for loss of income is to prove that you actually lost income. Not that the income was simply postponed. That is why they are asking for the tax records and your quickbooks back-up. They will be looking for any average they can use to justify not paying you. The will likely ask you for additional information and drag the process out for months. That's just what they do.
Unless your claim is for many thousands of dollars, it may not be worth the effort.
I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh
