Car Insurance: What are your experiences?

A buddy of mine totaled his car, which was insured through EH, and he wrecked his four-year-old Octavia. An adjuster showed up, looked at the damage, and asked if he wanted to go through a dealership or just settle out of court. My friend opted for the settlement, thinking if the price was right, he could just use a local body shop to save some cash.

They offered him 15 $0.00. He took it because parts were priced around 13 $0.00, and used parts would be even cheaper.

He waits for two weeks... nothing. Then another two weeks... they pass him off to their legal department and—BAM! Total shock. They claimed they later determined he was 40% at fault because he didn't pull over onto a nearby shoulder, so the valuation is now $2500. They said they’d be "fair" and offer him $3000. He refused, so they told him to sue them.

He called a lawyer, who told him they'd win 100%, but it would take about three years. Since my friend needed his car for work, he eventually settled for the $3000. I've added the rest.

My aunt went through the exact same thing, except she decided to have her one-year-old car repaired at an authorized dealership. EH ended up refusing to pay, so she had to pay the dealer in installments to avoid being sued by them. She finally won her court case recently after about two years.

So, think twice about that insurance policy, especially since they're planning to change things next year so that claims are paid out from your own policy first, with your insurer then trying to get reimbursed by the at-fault party's insurance.

The Atlantic is just one big mess!!!! I swerve to avoid some idiot flying out of a side street—of course, I end up hitting the curb and blowing out my entire suspension.
The police report clearly states he’s at fault, but these morons don't want to pay the full repair bill. Since there wasn't direct contact, they're trying to pull the "shared liability" card to pay half.
What was I supposed to do? Aim straight for that junker and ram them so I could get full coverage for my car??? Naturally, I sued them and settled for the original amount we agreed on. Just stay far away from Atlantic and Euroherc; they aren't exactly high-class players, let's be real, but this is a new low.

Absolute disaster. A complete joke. And yet, people actually try to defend these insurance companies. Disgraceful. 🤮

Honestly, I hear the most complaints about Adriatic, but I had no idea Euroherc was such a total dumpster fire of an insurer too.
Where else is a person supposed to go? Everything is garbage...

I had two accidents this summer. First, some guy rear-ended me; cracked my rear bumper and trashed my rim. I paid for all four myself $133, even though I got a payout from Euroherc $1933... and the car is 22 years old
.
Honestly, I just sold the damaged rim for scrap metal and got $67, then spent $500 on new ones.
The bumper was covered.

Second case: some college girl totaled me right before I was scheduled for a paint job. Filler everywhere. My old man fixed it in about 30 seconds—just two hits with a hammer—and I got $433... from HOK insurance...
.
Both insurance companies cut the checks within 8 days.

The police showed up for the first crash because the other driver tried to pin it on me. For the student, her dad just showed up, they handled the European paperwork, and shook hands like civilized people.

fadedlynx6 said:A buddy of mine totaled his car, which was insured through EH, and he wrecked his four-year-old Octavia. An adjuster showed up, looked at the damage, and asked if he wanted to go through a dealership or just settle out of court. My friend opted for the settlement, thinking if the price was right, he could just use a local body shop to save some cash.

They offered him 15 $0.00. He took it because parts were priced around 13 $0.00, and used parts would be even cheaper.

He waits for two weeks... nothing. Then another two weeks... they pass him off to their legal department and—BAM! Total shock. They claimed they later determined he was 40% at fault because he didn't pull over onto a nearby shoulder, so the valuation is now $2500. They said they’d be "fair" and offer him $3000. He refused, so they told him to sue them.

He called a lawyer, who told him they'd win 100%, but it would take about three years. Since my friend needed his car for work, he eventually settled for the $3000. I've added the rest.

My aunt went through the exact same thing, except she decided to have her one-year-old car repaired at an authorized dealership. EH ended up refusing to pay, so she had to pay the dealer in installments to avoid being sued by them. She finally won her court case recently after about two years.

So, think twice about that insurance policy, especially since they're planning to change things next year so that claims are paid out from your own policy first, with your insurer then trying to get reimbursed by the at-fault party's insurance.

What if he takes the money now just to have something, and then sues them for the rest later?

As for America? Honestly, I haven't had any real experience dealing with them yet...
When you step back and look at the big picture, all these insurance companies are absolute garbage when it actually comes time to pay out. They’ll nitpick over every tiny little detail just to drag their feet and avoid cutting you a check...

Basically, everyone is perfectly polite and helpful right up until they're taking your money, but the second it's time to cough up the cash, they suddenly become impossible to deal with.

In my experience, you won't find any bigger bottom-feeders than here in the United States...

The whole thing is a joke because that insurance company isn't actually going to cough up the cash. It’s all run by the same little kid anyway. Personally, I’m sticking with State Farm—I know people there, I know how their adjusters operate, it's all transparent. That's the only way you get anything done in America.☕

neondriver5 said:Absolute disaster. A complete joke. And yet, people actually try to defend these insurance companies. Disgraceful. 🤮

Honestly, I hear the most complaints about Adriatic, but I had no idea Euroherc was such a total dumpster fire of an insurer too.
Where else is a person supposed to go? Everything is garbage...

They told him he could have avoided the crash by hitting that small embankment on the right side, but then he would've totaled his car and walked away with zero dollars.

Bradley Wilson5 said:What if he takes the money now just to have something, and then sues them for the rest later?

Too late for that. It happened two months ago; we were grabbing coffee and he told me the whole story.

neondriver5 said:Absolute disaster. A complete joke. And yet, people actually try to defend these insurance companies. Disgraceful. 🤮

Honestly, I hear the most complaints about Adriatic, but I had no idea Euroherc was such a total dumpster fire of an insurer too.
Where else is a person supposed to go? Everything is garbage...

It's the same outfit.

My experience with Mercury Insurance was just as bad.

I've heard State Farm and Allianz are actually decent enough, but I won't take anyone's word for it until I personally get screwed over by them.😁

By the way, Adriatic and Euro insurance are owned by the same parent company. 😉

granitejackal15 said:The whole thing is a joke because that insurance company isn't actually going to cough up the cash. It’s all run by the same little kid anyway. Personally, I’m sticking with State Farm—I know people there, I know how their adjusters operate, it's all transparent. That's the only way you get anything done in America.☕

It’s true they don't have it... but personally, my experience with State Farm has been the best. America is fine, they pay out, just not as much as State Farm... but at least you get your money within fifteen days. That's just how it goes...

The problem, Joe, is that insurance companies act like total cheapskates. If they get even a whiff that you might actually collect a payout, you’re screwed. Instead of just taking your Toyota Camry to a shop and letting them settle their own mess, you'll likely end up losing out. They practically go out of their way to scam people—since what happened above was a total fraud—especially since out of 100 cases where they cheat someone, maybe only a couple ever make it to court.

A bunch of thugs—I honestly don't have any other words for them.

You're looking at this from all the wrong angles again—for stuff like this, you can't blame insurance companies. The real issue is the American judicial system, which is basically just a corrupt mess run by people who couldn't find their way out of a paper bag if they tried.
Every insurer has the right to claim their policyholder isn't even remotely at fault in a collision; it’s a standard right, and they use it just like anyone else—nobody is guilty until proven otherwise, after all.
If our courts actually handled simple cases within a month or two, and if the losing party had to foot the entire bill for filing a frivolous lawsuit, then these obvious situations wouldn't even end up in court—or if they did, they'd be too expensive for the person losing the case (which, in this instance, would be the insurer).
The blame for this whole situation lies squarely with the American court system.

I mean, they basically own the Sun too at this point. Who cares which insurance company you pick? Whether it's State Farm or Agram, it’s all probably just one big family-run conglomerate if I’m not mistaken. 🙄
My experience with the local agencies has been... fine, I guess. They dragged their feet a bit and left me in the dark regarding the specifics, but once I mentioned I was bringing in a lawyer, they settled everything promptly.

I don't buy the argument that the court system is solely to blame here. Insurance companies need to operate under some kind of moral compass. If it’s obvious their policyholder is at fault, they should pay out without the games. If they don't want to act responsibly, they shouldn't have the license to operate—they can go deal with the city water department management themselves.

neonfox10 said:You're looking at this from all the wrong angles again—for stuff like this, you can't blame insurance companies. The real issue is the American judicial system, which is basically just a corrupt mess run by people who couldn't find their way out of a paper bag if they tried.
Every insurer has the right to claim their policyholder isn't even remotely at fault in a collision; it’s a standard right, and they use it just like anyone else—nobody is guilty until proven otherwise, after all.
If our courts actually handled simple cases within a month or two, and if the losing party had to foot the entire bill for filing a frivolous lawsuit, then these obvious situations wouldn't even end up in court—or if they did, they'd be too expensive for the person losing the case (which, in this instance, would be the insurer).
The blame for this whole situation lies squarely with the American court system.

I've been saying for a long time that the American judiciary is the rot of this society. And all the nonsense—and I mean ALL the nonsense—stems from that one endless fact.

Same story, same deal with State Farm. Four years ago, I was driving a brand new Toyota Camry—only six months old at the time—with full coverage through them. Some guy slams into my passenger side, wrecking the door and the fender. The police show up, and he admits he messed up. But then we get to the adjuster, and that’s when the games begin. First, they made us wait a month for the police report, so I used a connection to pull it together in five days. Then, they tried to claim I was somehow 30% at fault. I told them there was no way I was even 1% responsible, especially since the guy who hit me already admitted it to their faces. They spent a month trying to push back until the owner and I finally marched into the adjuster's office together. We looked him dead in the eye and told him he'd be featured in The Chicago Tribune if he didn't fix this, and we'd see him in court if necessary. In the end, once the car was already repaired, they finally covered everything and even sent a written apology. Absolute crooks. Won't be using them ever again.

Insurance companies will always, and I mean ALWAYS, attempt to deny a claim if they calculate that it serves their bottom line better than paying out fairly. These "thieving" providers, like State Farm or Geico... by default, they just refuse to pay and wait for you to sue them. Most people simply don't have the liquid cash or the stamina to engage in legal battles for years on end, unless you take an aggressive stance, threaten to go to the press, or leverage some high-level connections to squeeze out a bit of cash, though for full coverage, you'll likely need a lawsuit 90% of the time in most cases.

Every insurance firm I’ve encountered—though there might be outliers out there—operates on the assumption that the cost of fighting a lawsuit is significantly lower than providing a fair settlement. And this isn't just a local issue; it happens all over the country.

Honestly, you should just be grateful you aren't dealing with certain parts of the US healthcare system where an insurer might reject chemotherapy coverage simply because they've calculated that a patient might pass away before the legal battle even reaches a resolution.🤣

Your heirs might eventually claw back a few million dollars from an estate, but they first have to wage a total guerrilla war against those bloodsucking lawyers...

Since we are talking about a vehicle rather than a human life—because if you perish due to someone else's negligence, well, you won't care much anyway—it's actually quite a blessing to drive an old clunker. In my two years of driving around New York City, I've been rear-ended twice already (neither my brakes nor my reflexes are particularly sharp, I suppose 🙄), while the culprits got off scot-free (one guy was even driving drunk at three in the afternoon 😬), leaving me with nothing but someone else's paint smeared on my bumper, perfect for a CSI investigation 😂. It was clear we weren't waiting for the police, but rather opting for a peaceful parting of ways, offering a prayer for the soul... 😁

The situation here is exactly what you would expect. The rot starts right at the top.

First you’re battling with your insurance provider, and before you know it, you’re stuck in the middle of a legal mess in court. It feels like a never-ending cycle.
Until we see some kind of real overhaul where all these crooks are finally cleared out, nothing in this system is ever going to actually work.

I know a guy back in the States who got totally screwed by his insurance provider. A buddy of mine had a nightmare with his Skoda RS—water flooded the engine and trashed it. He went through five different agencies trying to get it covered, arguing that the road conditions in Chicago were the culprit and that he had full comprehensive coverage. In the end, they pulled this ridiculous stunt where they claimed that while he has car insurance, the engine itself isn't technically "part of the car" under their specific policy terms. So, they only cut him a check for 75% of what a new engine actually costs. Like, wtf??