Questiondamaged engine after theft
What is the name of your state? Michigan
Hello,
My 1997 Mercury Mountaineer 5.0 V-8 was stolen and recovered about a month ago.
It was towed to a shop where the insurance adjuster came out and authorized a steering column to be replaced. The adjuster also told the shop to "fix anything else it needs". The adjuster also called me and told me the same thing. This truck had a full tank of gas when stolen and not a drop left in it when recovered.
When the shop was able to start it, there was an engine noise. The shop called the adjuster to notify him of it, and the adjuster told the shop without even coming out to hear it, that Triple A would not cover it.....period.
well I called the insurance and set up for another adjuster to come out and the shop could not really say where it was coming from. They suspected an internal problem in the timing area. The insurance called me and told me that I would have to authorize the front of the engine tear down, as they would not cover that, and if it was determined that the cause was due to the theft that they would cover it.
Well, I wanted some other opinions before doing that so I picked up the truck and went to a several other mechanics, all of which told me that it sounded like a bad lifter or rocker arm...
I settled on one mechanic that I got the best price from (in case the insurance wouldnt cover it) and he had 4 of his mechanics listen to it....2 of them thought it was a simple lifter problem while the other 2 thought it was internal and I had to authorize them to pull the valve cover off for inspection to rule out a bad lifter or rocker arm.
The adjuster that went out there that day showed up before they had a chance to take the rocker cover off to inspect the lifters and told the shop he would be in contact later that day.....which he never called or came back.
The shop called me back and informed me that the lifters and rocker arms are in good shape and the inside of the motor looked real clean, and to fully find the problem they would literally have to take apart the entire engine, therefore he suggested a replacement engine.
The weekend came and went, then around noon on Monday I called the shop and he still had not heard anything from the insurance. I called his supervisor and was told that this adjuster supposedly tried to get a hold of the shop and myself all day friday...( A LIE) so he set up for another adjuster to come out the next day because the other guy was retiring.
When I told the supervisor everything that was going on, he questioned me on how the engine could have gone bad in the one day that it was gone....well duh!!! it's a 4x4 and it had a full tank of gas when stolen and not a drop when recovered....it was obviously driven into the ground and hard!
I told him that the shop recommended a replacement motor and he told me that a betterment charge would apply. He said the insurance would replace it with a like motor with the same mileage if it was determined that it was caused by the theft.....the truck has 125,000 miles on it.
The shop where it is at now wants $3000.00 for a replacement motor but I can take it to the original shop that says they could get a low milage motor and do the job for around $2000.00
I was told that the 5.0 V-8 that has been around since the early sixties is a very durable engine and 125,000 miles is really nothing for that engine. Like I said it is real clean inside which tells me that it had regular oil changes since I have no receipts of that. I have only had the truck for 3 months and it was in perfect condition in and out when I had it.
It also has some minor body damage to one of the doors.
I have talked to so many people at the insurance company and have got so many stories it's rediculous. I was even told by one supervisor that if the engine is bad and it has body damage that it might be written off as a loss...but that guy is on vacation till the beginning of the year. These people don not return phone calls and I am real tired of not having a vehicle to drive.
I guess my questions are:
A) what percentage is my responsibility in a "betterment charge"
B) why should I have to pay anything, besides my deductable, since it was in perfect running order before it was stolen and now I have a bad engine.
C) Do I have to settle on an engine that the insurance finds or can I have the vehicle towed to another shop where they can get me a low milage engine for less money than the shop where it's at right now.
D) If the insurance wants me to pay more than I can afford right now in a betterment charge, can I just get a check for the share that they would cover, then when I can afford to, fix it myself?
E) how long is an auto insurance claim legally open for
F) do I have to accept their offer/ are there any other avenues I can seek out such as the department of insurance……is it worth it?
AnswerLots of information provided and a lot of questions so let's get started.....
CAVEAT - not fully familiar with all of Michigan's applicable laws...
Situations such as yours are outside the norm and difficult for most insurance companies to deal with... all you can hope for and expect is that in the finan analysis they are FAIR.
The ONUS is on you to demonstrate that any engine damage is DIRECTLY related to the theft and further that it is DIRECLY related to HARD USE. If the failure is due to normal wear and tear (even if while the thief was driving it) then you are out of luck as that is not covered... theft or not.
Your veh is 8 going on 9 years old and at 125K miles it has above average mileage (12.5K is considered average for a year - and you are approx 25% over that average).
The question (that I can't answer off the top of my head) is what is the life expectancy of your type of engine in your type of vehicle (both as to mileage as well as age)... I will assume for the purposes of this diatribe that the average is in the 200-250K range which would mean that you have a betterment factor of 50-62.5% (your piece of the action).
When a situation such as yours arises it is the DUTY of the owner to demonstrate a RELATED failure.. that is normally done in the case of an engine or transmission by a tear-down... just about all insurance companies will require that same be done and the related costs borne by the owner until such time as it can be shown that any damage is DIRECTLY related to the theft...
You mention an "empty tank" but made no mention about the oil/crankcase and that's more important. The carrier is going to have trouble accepting/agreeing that a failure could result in a one day period of time during which the vehicle was driven several 100 miles...
The concept of betterment provides that you be returned to your pre-loss status... in this case with an engine that is as old as yours and with as much mileage... if you were to get a new engine or a low mileage engine then you would end up "ahead of the game" and that is not the purpose of insurance.
To support your position on a LOWER betterment number and as you have had the vehicle only three months and have poor maintenance documentation as I understand it I would look to the prior owner and his mechanic as well as yours for support that the vehicle and more importantly the engine was in average-above average condition.
You should attempt to arrive at a fair settlement with your company (get your agent involved if needed) keeping the above in mind.
If that does not work out the you can file a complaint with your State Insurnace Dept.. they cannot/will not force the carrier to do what you necessarily want.. they will simply intervene to see that the matter was handled properly (per the contract of insurance, applicable State laws, timely, etc.)
If that doesn't work then your policy probably has an Arbitration clause requiring you to take the dispute to Arn as opposed to Court.
Once you arrive at an agreement with your carrier they should agree to pay you directly (less your deductible) and assuming there are no lien holder(s) on the vehicle. You can then opt to do what you want with the money. The only possible issue is that your carrier may want proof of repairs in order to allow you to maintain COMPREHENSIVE (theft) coverage on your vehicle.
Your claim is valid for as long as the applicable Statute of Limitations in your State permits... as this is a contract issue that would be the applicable statute.
I hope and trust that the above answers your numerous questions and provides some direction....
Get back to me with any further questions/issues related to this matter.
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Thank You....
