Question
Dear Richard,
I wrote to you mid June and am writing again with hope of further advice. I am still having difficulties dealing with a claim against Auto- Owners. I have included a letter, dated June 22, which I sent to the regional Auto-Owner claims supervisor. I modified it to assure anonymity and am including it to help refresh your memory of my problem.
Letter follows:
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June 22, 2007
Dear Mr. A,
On June 21st I met with my State Farm Insurance representative concerning difficulties I am having with a claim denial (#*****) by Auto-Owners. After she was unsuccessful in trying to deal on the phone with Mr. E., at your office, she suggested that I appeal to you.
On June 1, ’07, I had a traffic incident involving Mr.C., an individual insured by Auto-Owners. His vehicle, a Toyota pickup truck, damaged my legally parked, unoccupied Subaru Outback. We were parked side by side facing the same direction in the Oleson’s East Plaza parking lot. I was nearly finished loading groceries into my vehicle via the door behind the driver’s door when Mr.C., who was parked to my left, started his pickup and proceeded to exit his space by driving forward. As he did so his passenger side rear wheel well caught the edge of my open door and pulled the door forward beyond its opening limit. The exterior buckled near the hinge, and the door opens & closes poorly. Being unfamiliar with auto body repairs, I didn’t think the damage was too bad. It wasn’t until I received the repair estimate from ***’s Body Shop ($1,019.47) that I realized the cost involved to repair the door.
I submitted the accident claim form to Auto-Owners and several days later received a short letter from Mr. E. stating my claim was being denied because I had been “parked in a manner to create a hazard, unreasonable risk with door open and was the cause of the accident.” I totally disagree with his decision, as does my agent. I was parked within my space doing a common, everyday procedure. As the driver of the moving vehicle, it was Mr. C.’s responsibility to be sure he had a clear exit from all sides before proceeding . Had he taken the time to observe that my door was open, I want to believe he would have had the courtesy to wait until I had finished my task and closed that door. Everyone I have spoken to feels that Mr. E’s statement is inaccurate and his decision on behalf of Auto-Owners is totally unfair.
I am enclosing a copy of the police report that I obtained after the accident. In the report Mr. C. admitted that his action damaged my car. I do not feel Mr. E’s decision, on behalf of Auto-Owners, is fair or legally correct.
As Mr. E.’s supervisor, would you please review this case? The damage involved was caused by Mr. C., your insured, and I should be reimbursed for the required repairs.
Thank you for your time spent dealing with this problem. I truly appreciate it.
Sincerely,
Jeanette B.
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A couple of days ago I received Mr. A’s response. He supported Mr. E’s position, contending that “ When a door is opened it does encroach into the parking space next to it and would be considered an unreasonable risk.” My stance strongly differs. A vehicle’s open door in a supermarket parking lot is a very predictable event. Everyone opens their vehicle, usually via its door, to load groceries or buckle up/release their children. With the width of a parking space at the involved plaza lot being 103 inches and the width of my compact car, with only one door open, being approx. 108 inches ( or 144 “ with both door open ) , I would say that it is also unavoidable to keep that door from “encroaching into the space next to it.” and unreasonable to be expected to do so. I still strongly believe that it is up to all drivers to make sure they have a clear passage on all sides before moving their vehicles. Auto-Owners does not agree and has denied my claim ( Mr. A. suggested that I turn this into my own collision carrier, but we do not carry collision on our fully paid car.)
What do you think, Richard? With your knowledge of insurance laws, do you feel I have a valid argument and should continue my claim against Auto-Owners?
I truly appreciate your time spent and thank you sincerely in advance. Thank you for all of your help!
Respectfully yours,
Jeanette
AnswerHi Jeanette,
Based on your description of how the damage occured, I believe you are correct. Unfortunately, you have both the claims adjuster and his supervisor sticking to their denial of your claim. This may sound cruel, but, I believe they know they are wrong but have a policy of denying small claims knowing that you will likely not file a law suit because the costs of doing so could be more than the claim itself. This is unfortunate but is a fact of how many insurance company conduct business.
There is an old addage, "the squeeky wheel gets the grease". I think your best chance of getting them to pay is to start squeaking. Send them letters all the way to the president of the company. Threaten to call the consumer TV news person to do a story on the unfair claims practices of this company. Leave numerous voice mail messages, etc. In the alternative, you could file a small claims law suite against the at-fault person and represent yourself. You seem to have a very good way of explaining yourself and you just may be able to convince a judge that you are right. If you win, it would be the insurance company that would have to pay you.
I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh
