Insurance & Tuners: Beware of the Trend

[RockSnake]

Klay, Please re-read my post.

I did not say that insurance created chop shops. I said that it caused a proliferation
(see dictionary.com: pro·lif·er·ate To increase or spread at a rapid rate). By refusing to pay for new parts, they exponentially increased the demand for used parts, ergo chop-shops.

Likewise, I did not say that insurance fraud does not exist. I said that the only concern insurance companies have about fraud is how it can be used to justify increases. I know from experience that they will do NOTHING about it.

As to the source of these facts...I lived it.

[klayfish]

Rock,
I read the post a few times. Chop shops were proliferated long before insurance companies did not always pay for new parts. Without going into extended detail, there are a few reasons insurance companies don't always pay for new parts. Dishonest body shops (they aren't all dishonest, but many are) and people like Lee Iococa. Insurance companies still do pay for new parts, but not under all circumstances. It depends on the cars age, condition, etc... Insurance companies owe to put you back in the condition you were in prior to the loss, not provide you with all new stuff.

As for the insurance fraud thing, what I asked was if you thought fraud didn't raise your rates...not if you thought it didn't exist. They don't use it to justify increases, it is a reality. I have no idea of your personal experiences, but I can tell you for an absolute gauranteed fact that insurance companies spend millions of dollars and devote tremendous resources to fighting fraud. Either that, or I spend 45-50 hours a week doing nothing. It's a much more complicated and difficult issue than it seems on the surface. It's not as easy as having someone say..."That person is commiting fraud" and denying their claim and/or locking them up. There are laws insurance companies must follow, lawyers out to get them at every turn, juries who will be overly generous to a plaintiff, even on a questionable claim.

Don't take it as a personal attack, but the myths about auto insurance companies are so inaccurate it's a shame. Are they perfect? Of course not (they don't pay me enough for one... ), but it isn't what people think.

Steve

[RockSnake]

Quite honestly, I would not have commented on this thread, If rumors and myths were the source of my information.

I worked in the auto-body industry in the '70s...hence my labeling my information as circa 1970. I don't know the current state, but at that time, insurance would not authorize the use of new body parts AT ALL. At that time, federal statistics showed a dramatic increase in car thefts.

As to fraud; I know it exists, and I know it is used to justify increased rates. However, I have written letters, and personally called to report instances of fraud. Their responses could best be paraphrased as 'go away kid you bother me'.

Insurance is the classic example of a pendulum swing...or put another way; 'what goes around comes around'.

1) An ethical consumer has an accident
2) An insurance adjuster trivializes the issue and cuts every corner to keep his/her costs to a minimum.
3) In an effort to be treated in a humane manner, the consumer hires a lawyer.
4) A settlement is reached that must now include the attorney fees. This results in a settlement that substantially exceeds the cost of treating the consumer fairly in the first place.
5) The insurance company raises rates to offset increased costs.
6) Less ethical consumers and attorneys see the insurance companies as ready source of big bucks and file extravagant lawsuits.
7) return to step one.

FYI - I lived steps one through five. I never wanted to hire a lawyer, all I wanted was for life to return to the way it was before the accident.

LIkewise, not a personal attack. But I will always belive my personal experiences over any corporate propaganda.