QuestionOn 10/19/2006 I was on my way to work and was rear ended by Cindy Capretz who is insured by USAA. The damage to my bumper was not huge (I drive a Dodge truck with a steel bumper) but shortly after the accident I had major stiffness in my neck and shoulders. I went to an urgent care office and made a police report. The doctor at the urgent care told me to get physical therapy but I thought it would go away in time do to the fact that I am a healthy 23 year old woman. In the next month or so it was getting worse. I have been going to therapy since 12/13/2006 when I was told that I had whip lash & allot of soft tissue damage. I started treatment 3 times a week and just last month was down to 2. Last week my doctor referred me to a pain management doctor that also said I had whip lash & soft tissue damage & should continue with the therapy. All the while I have cooperated with USAA Insurance Company by recorded phone calls & face to face meetings at my place of work. I received an itemized break down from my therapy office showing treatment and cost up to this point about $10,000.
Just a few weeks ago I received a letter from USAA offering me an injury settlement of $237.00! As anyone can see this is crazy! I called and spoke with Cindy Miller regarding this issue she is was so rude and just outright mean and I was told that this $237.00 was there final offer and then went on to tell me that she herself was rear ended twice in one month and had no injury so I didn’t either. Can you believe she brought her personal business into this conversation as if it was in anyway like mine? I asked to talk to her supervisor Rebecca Langdon and not to my surprise she was just as rude and unprofessional as Cindy Miller telling me that this claim was handled correctly and if the medical payments were more than their offer I just have to pay it, end of story. I am an insurance agent myself and could not believe this was how I was being treated. My family has also been insured with USAA for over 40 years. I now have to get legal help with this that I can’t afford. I wouldn’t recommend USAA Insurance Company if my life depended on it. They are the worst out there. Now because of them I am in dept up to about $15,000, and only make about $3,000 a month. What should I do? WHo can I contact?
AnswerDear Lindsay,
I am sick and tired of the insurance industry whining to the politicians about the need for so-called “tort reform” when in fact they are the MOST ABUSIVE industry in America. And the insurance industry is also the wealthiest in our country and they got that way by abusing injury victims. I am so mad I am going to put in a couple of hours for you to find forums where USAA is taken to task by victims telling the truth.
First, you ask: “Who can I contact? I think that you are at no loss for whom to contact inasmuch as I have seen this same question posted by you elsewhere on the Internet. http://www.carreview.com/cat/automobiles/auto-insurance/usaa/PRD_14846_1823crx.a...
You left out from this question the most important issue of FAULT; according to your Internet posting elsewhere, LIABILITY IS BEING CONTESTED: “I called the woman who hit me that night to get her insurance info and she told me no and that she wanted to call them first. She also lied to USAA in her statement and is telling them not to pay for anything! “
Now you are asking 1) What should you do; and 2) Is there anyone to contact to make a difference in their offer. As for #2, at this stage, there is no one to whom you can write who will make any significant difference in your offer. Your next step is no response WHATSOEVER, but out of the blue just serve a lawsuit on that tortfeasor insured of theirs.
I will answer #1 next. The offer you received is outrageously low if what you said about your injuries and medical costs and how the accident happened is true. It is so low that I am going to recommend that you use an attorney. As you can see from my site, http://www.SettlementCentral.Com we teach self-help personal injury claim settlements. But when the other side has a burr up its saddle, as these adjusters do, then there is nothing to do short of filing a lawsuit.
Why have they made such a low offer? Well, maybe they felt that there is a liability issue based upon what their insured told them. That is issue number one. If they feel that you did not have a tail light or that you made an emergency stop or that your blinker was not on or for whatever reason you are largely at fault, then they will reduce your award accordingly. Hence, if they feel that you are half to blame, they will reduce your award by half.
The next topic is the so-called, and MISNAMED, low-impact aspect of the accident. 13 years ago the insurance industry started to fight injury claims where there was not a significant amount of damage to the claimant’s vehicle. This is not a true indicator of whether or not the person inside suffered injuries, as we know from your own injuries.
But it was a strategy that they felt could appeal to the juries, and there was and has been a lot of success in fighting injury claims in such situations. Forget that your truck was designed to take a good hard hit: they are looking at the lack of a repair bill. By the way, do you have any evidence or memory of the damages to the tortfeasor’s vehicle? Sometimes the tortfeasor’s car suffers a lot of damage, and that can be helpful in translating the impact to trauma suffered by the occupants.
Anyway, you are in what is called their M.I.S.T. unit: it is an acronym for “Minor Impact Soft Tissue”. They have special procedures and low limits inasmuch as the goal is to limit the award to less than the auto shop repair bill!
Do NOT BECOME DISCOURAGED. A good attorney will fight for you. All of us in this business know full well that a rear-ender, when the driver is not expecting it, can cause very serious soft tissue injuries, even at 10 MPH.
The best way to fight them is to find some evidence of the impact on your vehicle or at the scene. Here is one idea regarding those compressible shocks attached to some bumpers; Low Damage Accident Proof of Impact
http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0165.htm
Another way is to hire a reconstruction engineer. Your injuries may not be serious enough to warrant such an expense, but it is a sure payback for any size case. The Internet is full of pages with some information of reconstruction specialists.
Your attorney might want you to hire that kind or work done in your claim, and in light of the continuing nature of your injuries, I would give that recommendation serious consideration.
The next reason for the lowball offer they made is likely the use of the Colossus software program. Colossus: Insurance Claims Abusive Tactics
http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0448.htm http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/122105_colossus15xx.html
Does insurance company 'low-ball' pain and suffering? Industry's use of Colossus, a service to judge the worth of claims, comes under fire
Here is the real problem with Colossus. Instead of using it as a tool, as the insurance industry claims, it is used as the MAXIMUM CAP THE ADJUSTER IS ALLOWED. How much does the adjuster value his job? If she wants to stay employed, or even get any kind of good evaluation, she certainly MUST NEVER ask to go above the Colossus limit. Would you go and argue for more money for an accident victim you do not know when your job could be at stake? I think you get the picture here.
How to attack it? We have techniques on our members’ side, but I do not recommend my site for your claim. In the long run, some people are going to have to convince their legislators that this is an unfair way to value claims. Short of legislation, expect this kind of abuse to continue.
In light of the foregoing, I would not even dignify their offer with a response. Why bother—you will just let them know that they can pull that kind of stuff and not suffer at all from it. The next thing they need to hear from you is that insured woman of theirs calling USAA to whine about having just been served with YOUR LAWSUIT!
OK, Lindsay, I think that kind of answers your question regarding what you should do (see an attorney ASAP), and now for the retribution part: to whom should you make a complaint, and WHEN should you do it.
If you were my client, I would shut you down right now from posting around the Internet or from writing to the President of the company. Reason: all that stuff does is to cement their position in place to the point that there never can be any negotiation.
Thus, please wait to make any more letters or postings until you get the green light from your attorney. In fact, I would go back to that post you made above, and in an edit either delete if completely or at least remove anything by which they could identify you. This is going to be hard enough, and you do NOT need them all fired up to sink your claim as an enemy of the state.
Now, for that time AFTER THE CASE IS DONE: do a lot of posting and complaining and have your relatives complain.
If you think that writing a letter will have any impact, then get your family that are members of USAA to write directly to both the Chairman and the CEO. But make sure that you tell them that you do not want to them to handle your letter as they did the one I will discuss below.
In the first place, the supervisor you named got a certificate for completing four online courses in 2005: she is now a real live “Senior Claim Law Associate” (SCLA?). http://www.aeiclaimslaw.com/winterSCLA2006.pdf
I am going to give you a little history to read as to how USAA will handle any complaint sent to the head office: according to the following recitation by a court of appeals judge, they send it back to the supervisor at the field office that caused the problem to begin with and thus you will get a BS answer, except it is signed by someone in the home office.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/californiastatecases/a071513.doc
USAA’s treatment of Clayton’s “PRESIDENTIAL COMPLAINT,” as USAA called it, followed the company’s customary pattern. Rather than assigning a new employee to take a fresh look, the home office routinely referred such letters back to the manager in the regional office that had originally handled the claim.
Billhimer’s immediate supervisor, Gene Eberle, drafted the response to Clayton’s letter. Eberle knew very little about the case -- only that Zach was a student at a certain school, that he was 15 years old and that “he came from a divorced family.” In fact, Eberle knew only what he had read six months earlier in the newspaper article in the file. He did not know Zach was an only child. He did not know any details of Zach’s relationship with his parents. He did not know about Clayton’s response to Billhimer’s $10,000 offer and he had not heard of the Plishner settlement before reading Clayton’s letter.
Despite his limited knowledge, Eberle did nothing to learn more about the claim. Billhimer’s desk was just a “two second” walk from his own, but Eberle did not talk to Billhimer (or anyone else) about the issues raised in Clayton’s letter. He made no inquiry about the Plishner case and did not view the videotape. Eberle believed that $125,000 was a fair amount of money because Zach “was 15 years of age, his father and mother were divorced, he was a student at the local high school . . . [and] he really had no career in mind other than maybe photography.”
Eberle’s draft response answered Clayton’s question about the two-policy issue by citing the Safeco case. Eberle did not know, however, that Billhimer had conceded that Safeco was inapplicable and had given Clayton a different explanation of why only Clayton’s policy applied. Eberle refused to comment about the Plishner case, saying “[a]ll claims are different. . . .” He falsely implied that he had viewed the video by stating: “The newspaper articles and visual material that you have provided reflect that Zachary was very special.”
Eberle forwarded his draft to Carl Campagna, a senior claims attorney, who made a few editorial changes without checking the file or watching the video. Campagna sent the draft to Lewis Dickey, executive director of claims for the Western Regional Office. Dickey approved the letter without making any changes, because he assumed that Eberle had consulted with Billhimer before preparing it. Dickey did not talk to anybody about the case. He did not watch the video. He made no effort to learn about the Plishner case, which he regarded as irrelevant. Dickey forwarded the draft to Donald Meyers, assistant vice president for claims for the Western Regional Office. Meyers knew nothing about the case. He did not talk to anybody about it and did not view the video. He simply signed the letter and sent it to Clayton on October 8, 1991.
And so it goes in the world of the abusive insurance industry . . . .
And here are some more places to post anonymously—not giving away any connection to your claim.
http://www.epinions.com/finc-Insurance-All-USAA_Group_-_Home/display_~reviews/se...
USAA auto insurance agents do not investigate claims unless forced by lawyers
Pros: They finally did their job when forced to by a lawyer.
Cons: To get them to do their job it took a lawyer.
USAA sucks
Pros: Some agencies rate their service as great
Cons: MAJOR hassles, different person each time you call, rates are high, timing is unreasonable.
USAA Service is Very Disappointing
Pros: None that I can think of
Cons: Employees are rude and unhelpful, no local agents or adjusters, slow service
http://www.indeed.com/forum/cmp/USAA/05390c183c137e1e737942
What's the company culture at USAA?
Please don't misunderstand, it is heartbreaking to me that this once great company has started to move in such a different direction than what the founders envisioned. When I started at USAA, it was a source of great pride to say I worked there. Before I quit, I had gotten to the point of not disclosing where I worked because it would, without fail, generate a reaction of opinion of why the company was no longer what it once was. Furthermore, it was against policy to discuss this with anyone. It's just such a different atmosphere there now.
http://www.deferred.com/wwwboard/messages/2065.html
Re: USAA and awful service and treatment
I have had USAA since 1979. I have witnessed a significant decline in customer service, coverage, and treatment during the past 15 years.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/insurance/usaa_auto.html
Jeremy of Lilburn GA (02/27/07)
I was involved in an accident on January the 19th. I was rear ended by a driver insured by USAA and pushed me into a car infront me. On the side of the road, both me and the other driver hit spoke with Amber from USAA on the phone. She set up the other drivers appointment at the body shop and told me she would give me a call back that afternoon with a place and time to take my car. I recieved no further call from her. When I got home I had neck pains and my head hurt and my vision was a little blurry. I called USAA to see what I needed to do as far as medical attention but all I got were voicemails. I proceeded to go the the hospital and was diagnosed with a mild concussion. On Monday the 22nd, I took the day off of work to take car of anything with the car. I called Amber and was told I was being transfered to another adjuster, Bill Newton, and that I needed to call the body shop and rental place and set up times for my car.
Bill Newton called me shortly after and told me he was sending paperwork for me to fill out and send back to him and he took some statements of what happend and the call was over. It was a week before I ever recieved his papers. I filled them out, sent them back and he confirmed they had been recieved on the 14th of February and gone to process. These forms were for my pain and suffering, wage loss from work and diminish vehicle value. As of today, the 27th, I have not heard a single word about any settlements yet. I called Bill yesterday morning around 11 a.m. and left a voice message along with a claim number, my cell phone and work number and reason for me calling yet he has not returned my phone call.
This has happend several times, if I call he nevers answers and never returns my phone call same day or even next day. I have to call several times. He shows no care for my situation and when I originally brought up my concerns for the car being repaired to be safe after the extent of damage on the vehicle (repair bill was a little over $8,000) he told me that if I had any concerns on the safety to take it up with the body shop, it was not USAA's job to insure the safety standards of the vehicle. I feel my treatment is unfair, I do not understand why it is so hard to get any answers or return calls from them. I do not understand why the other two drivers in the accident (both the at fault and the other one hit) had their body shop appointments set up on the side of the road after the accident yet I had to wait till Monday to know anything and I had to call and set up my times for the car.
I surely hope USAA treats its customers better than it treats the ones who have been hit when their driver is the one at fault.
http://www.seebs.net/log/archives/000326.html
USAA: Willful harassment and lies
http://insurance.freeadvice.com/reviews/57/
United Services Automobile Association
http://www.theplan.com/court/05-28-99.htm
USAA "BAD FAITH" INSURANCE SUIT
http://www.911law.com/why_hire_a_lawyer.html
Law Firm of Richard L. Duquette
3150 EL CAMINO REAL, SUITE F
CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA 92018
PHONE 800.464.4123
The Marine wore a splint and lost some time from work due to the crash. His medical bills were about $1,500.00. The insurance company offered $2,500.00 to settle. We rejected their “settlement” offer, filed a law suit and served it on the careless driver. Within 30 days, USAA insurance company finally paid out their $15,000.00 minimal policy limits, but only after USAA forced their insured into litigation – at taxpayers’ expense…$5,000.00 a day to run a courtroom.
Good Luck, Lindsay. I trust that my extra time here has produced some information that has been of value to you, and thus I would respectfully request that you locate the feedback form on this site and leave some feedback for me.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Settlement, J.D. (Juris Doctor)
http://www.SettlementCentral.Com
