overwhelmed by insurance lowballing

[kimberlysmoore]

We are fulltime rvers based in oregon. September to October 2016 we were visiting family in california, with plans to scoot southeast during winter and relocate our home base to texas sometime in 2017.
In October a drunk driver hit our parked rv and totalled it. It is falling to pieces and the generator is crushed. We have almost 2 years of fulltiming under our belts and we finally had most things upgraded, repaired, or scheduled for refurbishment at the RV ralley in quartzite arizona in january after a long stint of issues. A new external vinyl skin, new flooring, and an upgraded front end suspension was all being done by february. We finally felt in control of our fulltime life and we had a sense of well being in our rv home. We had fulltime employment inside Costcos, Sam's clubs, and wholefoods. We had to travel and expenses were not yet covered but the company we work for was warming up to paying for a portion of our travel expenses...Yay!
Our insurance company has offered us $3800?
Her insurance company keeps lowering their offer very time we talked to them. They are currently at $8700?
The girl is claiming she wasn't drunk and she has a big expensive lawyer. We can not afford a lawyer and the $4000 savings we had for all of our upcoming upgrades is now gone, being used to survive this crisis. We are currently "stuck" in a very expensive place for rv purchase prices and the rvs we've founder for the insurance offers are broken down, moldy, water damaged, the list of dysfunctions are over the top. Please...rvers of rv.net ADVISE.

[time2roll]

+1 to skip the lawyer. With no personal injury there is no big prize to chase. May get you a bit more but the fees will take at least 30%. I realize you probably want to stay off the treadmill but I think a job and a small short loan is what is needed to get rolling again.

[westernrvparkow]

naturist wrote:
I am not an attorney, nor do I play one on TV. But I have to agree with the others here that you need the assistance of a licensed lawyer. Most common these days for companies (insurance companies among them) to not take you seriously until you have legal representation. And a good lawyer will not cost you money, they will make you money.

Unfortunately, in this case, a good lawyer is probably not going to happen. There is just no value in one taking this case. There is no injury which is the big fish in the tort pond. There is very little value at stake since a mid 80s RV is just not that valuable. As for living expenses and the like, the law may require reasonable compensation, but it also requires the damaged party to make efforts to mitigate those loses. You cannot drag your feet on making other arrangements so you can stay at the Four Seasons and live on Room Service. I happen to agree with some of the previous posters, it sounds like what is being offered is pretty close to fair. This may serve as yet another lesson as why putting a lot of money into repairing and upgrading an old RV is sketchy at best. And it is an even better example of why full time living in an RV without a substantial financial cushion is also living on the edge.
And no, I am not a lawyer either, but I have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express.

[beemerphile1]

Drunk or not means nothing, fuggetaboutit. If you were parked she is at fault.

Any work you may have done is meaningless, your 1987 isn't going to be worth much. Work with the insurance company on the replacement value using comparables together with book value.

You are also entitled to other costs such as any personal items that were destroyed or damaged and if living in the RV, temporary alternative housing.

[2gypsies1]

From reading your Profile you've been having a difficult time for years. . . so sorry about that. However, if you feel you're being short-changed you really need to get some legal help. A RV forum isn't going to be able to do what you want done. Good luck.

[naturist]

I am not an attorney, nor do I play one on TV. But I have to agree with the others here that you need the assistance of a licensed lawyer. Most common these days for companies (insurance companies among them) to not take you seriously until you have legal representation. And a good lawyer will not cost you money, they will make you money.

[Old-Biscuit]

Sorry that this happened.....makes it harder when it was your 'home'

Ins wise.....
You have been FTng for 2 yrs----did you have Full Timers Ins Policy.....just like homeowners policy?
When we had to out our 'home' in shop for repairs our FTrs policy covered 'expenses' motel room etc

I know it's isn't any help now but when you get this settled and back on the road FT you really should have 'complete' homeowners coverage PLUS standard 'auto' type coverage.

The 2 numbers you quoted....
IS that 'total' from EACH ins company?

[Tyler0215]

What is your insurance company offering $3800 for?
Why are you talking to her insurance co. Let your insurance company handle this.
That's what you pay premiums for.
For a 1986 MH. $8300 doesn't sound too bad.

[Sam_Spade]

time2roll wrote:
If you are getting $3,800 and $8,700 I do not see the lowball issue.

I think that is OR....not AND.
Given what you provided, I can understand the 8,700 but not the 3,800.

[Sam_Spade]

winnietrey wrote:
Your MH is worth what it is worth.

Alas THIS is the bottom line.

Any repairs or improvements you made likely will NOT be recovered unless you have a specific provision in your policy for that.

The MOST you can realistically expect to get is a comprehensive "average" of the "blue book" figures. If the higher offer is near that, you might as well stop fretting over it.

This is how the insurance industry WORKS. It is NOT low-balling.

You need to do most of what he suggested in his post before you can decide whether or not a lawyer would do you much good.

Many lawyers will do a quick review of your situation for little or no fee. Some do insurance work on "contingency". If you REALLY think you are being screwed, understanding that upgrade costs will NOT be recovered, start calling some lawyers.

[time2roll]

I see 9 to 11 thousand as the NADA value on a mid level 1987 Pace-Arrow.

Your upgrades are going to add virtually no value. If you are getting $3,800 and $8,700 I do not see the lowball issue. You could pressure them to find three similar RVs for the price offered.

http://www.nadaguides.com/RVs/1987/Pace-Arrow/M-G-Eleganza/3024723/Values

[MarkTwain]

gbopp wrote:
The girl is claiming she wasn't drunk? Was she charged, is there a police report/involvement?

It sounds like you really need legal advice.

The girl's claim to have an expensive lawyer is just B_ _ _ S_ _ _ _!!!! Her being drunk or not drunk has no bearing on the damage to your RV. Her being drunk will only result in a DUI for her. Your Insurance company should be the one negotiating with her insurance. Talk with your agent

[DutchmenSport]

I feel for you. But did you have insurance on your camper? (Edit... sorry, I missed this when I first ready. YOUR insurance company offered a settlement for you) ..

I can honestly say, I have never been involved in an accident involving another driver (although I have banged up my own vehicles myself). But my son has had involvement with another driver. The insurance companies of both drivers duked it out. When my son was even threatened with legal action involving courts and such, his insurance company took it all over. His insurance company lawyers did all the "push back". Eventually, the other insurance company gave up and paid. My son didn't have to do anything, but sit back and get a report of the cat fight.

If you had no insurance on your camper, I can see where you are now experiencing difficulty. Depending upon the age of your camper, and if you are personally fighting against a more powerful agency, the cost of your legal representation can outweigh the recovery cost of your loss. Sometimes, it just makes more sense to cut your loss, because if you fight back, it actually costs you more in the end.

I don't know all the ramifications of your situation, but you really need to consider the "math" pretty careful and determine if you can afford the battle or not. Sometimes, set-backs in life completely wipe out everything we've worked for and we have to start all over. I've been there twice in my life! But each come-back turned out much better than what I had before.

Only you can judge the complexity of this mess.

[newman_fulltime]

The age of that motorhome it won't take much to total it.So take what you can get find something somewhere else if anything fly out to it and get it

[ScottG]

It cost me a lot of money to figure out that legal stuff is not a DIY project.
Unless you just want to take what ever they give you, you need to talk to an attorney, which will probably cost you 3~400 for an hour or so, and if he/she feels you have a case, pursue it.
Otherwise there is nothing else to do.

Speaking from experience, once you have an attorney speaking for you, your ins. company will change it attitude quickly.