Auto Insurance Claims: Auto repair no fault incident, state department of insurance, legal obligation

Question
Hi, we have a 2001 Audi S4.  To make a long story short, my daughter was driving the car when it automatically shut off.
It turns out the oil pan was hit with something and the oil
leaked out causing damage to the engine.  We went back and forth with the Farmer's and at one point they decided to total the car since the repairs would be more than they thought the car was worth.  As we were getting ready to have the car moved we received another call from Farmers and were told that they decided to fix the car that the adjuster had made a mistake and his boss decided to fix the car.  At the end of the day, it took almost 4 months to get it fixed over $11,000.00 (we owe less than that on the car) and still to this day do not have the car in the same running condition as it was prior to this happening.  We have taken it back several times and keep being told it is something else, something else and we keep dishing money out of our own pocket and STILL the car is running as if it is on its last leg.  To top it off our insurance for that car actually more than tripled.  Do we have a leg to stand on to go after the insurance company?  I'm so frustrated.  

Answer
Hi Norma,
Since Farmers elected to repair the engine, they have a legal
obligation to make you "whole" again by bringing the car back
to it's original condition.

You should not be having to pay an additional penny out of your
pocket.  All these extra mechanical charges should be covered
by Farmers.

Have a talk with the claims agent and his supervisor.  If they are
not willing to keep covering all costs until the engine is properly repaired then you need to file a complaint with your state
department of insurance.

Since the oil pan hit something which could have been a rock or
other object on or off the roadway or by driving over a curb or
by driving over a speed barrier to fast and "bottoming" out or
some other similar situation it is considered a collision.

This would have been considered a "fault" accident against your
daughter since she was the driver at the time of the loss and
which is why you had to pay your collision deductible rather than your comprehensive deductible which is usually a much smaller
amount.

Any rate increase is based on this fault accident and anything
else on her driving record such as another fault accident and/or
traffic violations.  For the rate to more than triple sounds
extremely excessive.  Call your Agent (not the claims dept) and
have him/her review your new rate and provide you with a full
explanation of the reason for such a large increase.

I hope that you find this information to be helpful.  Please
write again if you feel that I can provide more assistance.

Your feedback by rating my response will be appreciated.

Bennie
San Francisco Bay Area