Are there any current lawsuits against USAA - specifically their car insurance department? I'd like to know before searching for my own legal representation.
The basics - I own a 2015 Subaru Forester in good condition with 97k miles. On 7/20, a dead tree fell on my car and two other friends cars (each a different insurance claim, so my claim is considered its own claim, separate from the other two). I contacted USAA right away and started a claim. Damage to the windshield, hood, side pillars, fenders, and headlight/grill assy. Towed away to USAA's trusted estimate facility on 7/26. They do a "Virtual Inspection" (lololol) tell me it will be $3,751 to repair and they put that in my account so I can find a repair shop (which is my right as a consumer to pick my own shop. All good here.) I find a repair shop around a week and a half later, it gets towed to the shop I chose, Caliber Collision. A few days later, Caliber calls me up and says they've found an additional $10,000 in damages that the estimate shop missed, and it's all from water damage from sitting at the estimate facility, and that my car is now totaled (they want to replace the dashboard, and all the electrical components contained inside because it all got soaked). I'm pissed off and amazed how other people's incompetence put me in this position, and at this point I'd already been calling/emailing/"app-chatting" (their preferred method of communication) and asking for answers for two important questions I have: #1 if they went after the HOA who neglected to cut down the dead trees from their property (which we told them to do) - if they did so then part of the money received from them needs to be figured into my claim. #2 how TF their "Virtual Inspection" missed the majority of damages to my car! IMO as a consumer, these valid questions need to be answered before I allow them to total my car. All signs point to their V.I. facility either incorrectly installing the crash wrap that would have protected the interior of my car from a rain storm or two, or they didn't do it at all until after it rained and my car soaked it all in.
HERE'S THE BEST PART - after weeks of my insurance adjuster not answering my questions and instead pressing me to provide my zip code so they can finish the totaling process, I stop by Caliber Collision on 9/20 to inspect my car for the first time since the incident. THERE IS NO WATER DAMAGE. No mold/mildew smell, no soaked carpets, nothing. All of the electronics work perfectly, including the sensors in the rearview mirror. I kept these revelations to myself, and I took plenty of pics/vids that prove there is no water damage.
Caliber's excuse has always been they didn't want to vacuum up the glass and give me back the car because it would be a "liability for them to do so, because they cannot guarantee they picked up all the glass from the air ducts." Sounds good if you don't think it through, but I'm not an idiot. Any competent person can vac out all the glass in those air ducts, and then replace the air filters that all air passes through before escaping into the cabin. They decided to lie to me and tell me there is enough damage that the V.I. missed that ended up pushing my car over it's repairable limit, therefore there's nothing they can do. They didn't want to do the work because they have a car in their lot with a high re-sale value that they can sell by doing the minimal repairs - you know, the ones I need done so I can have my asset back.
My goals for compensation from a lawsuit would be:
or:
Do your thing Reddit, and let a brother know!
The basics - I own a 2015 Subaru Forester in good condition with 97k miles. On 7/20, a dead tree fell on my car and two other friends cars (each a different insurance claim, so my claim is considered its own claim, separate from the other two). I contacted USAA right away and started a claim. Damage to the windshield, hood, side pillars, fenders, and headlight/grill assy. Towed away to USAA's trusted estimate facility on 7/26. They do a "Virtual Inspection" (lololol) tell me it will be $3,751 to repair and they put that in my account so I can find a repair shop (which is my right as a consumer to pick my own shop. All good here.) I find a repair shop around a week and a half later, it gets towed to the shop I chose, Caliber Collision. A few days later, Caliber calls me up and says they've found an additional $10,000 in damages that the estimate shop missed, and it's all from water damage from sitting at the estimate facility, and that my car is now totaled (they want to replace the dashboard, and all the electrical components contained inside because it all got soaked). I'm pissed off and amazed how other people's incompetence put me in this position, and at this point I'd already been calling/emailing/"app-chatting" (their preferred method of communication) and asking for answers for two important questions I have: #1 if they went after the HOA who neglected to cut down the dead trees from their property (which we told them to do) - if they did so then part of the money received from them needs to be figured into my claim. #2 how TF their "Virtual Inspection" missed the majority of damages to my car! IMO as a consumer, these valid questions need to be answered before I allow them to total my car. All signs point to their V.I. facility either incorrectly installing the crash wrap that would have protected the interior of my car from a rain storm or two, or they didn't do it at all until after it rained and my car soaked it all in.
HERE'S THE BEST PART - after weeks of my insurance adjuster not answering my questions and instead pressing me to provide my zip code so they can finish the totaling process, I stop by Caliber Collision on 9/20 to inspect my car for the first time since the incident. THERE IS NO WATER DAMAGE. No mold/mildew smell, no soaked carpets, nothing. All of the electronics work perfectly, including the sensors in the rearview mirror. I kept these revelations to myself, and I took plenty of pics/vids that prove there is no water damage.
Caliber's excuse has always been they didn't want to vacuum up the glass and give me back the car because it would be a "liability for them to do so, because they cannot guarantee they picked up all the glass from the air ducts." Sounds good if you don't think it through, but I'm not an idiot. Any competent person can vac out all the glass in those air ducts, and then replace the air filters that all air passes through before escaping into the cabin. They decided to lie to me and tell me there is enough damage that the V.I. missed that ended up pushing my car over it's repairable limit, therefore there's nothing they can do. They didn't want to do the work because they have a car in their lot with a high re-sale value that they can sell by doing the minimal repairs - you know, the ones I need done so I can have my asset back.
My goals for compensation from a lawsuit would be:
1: Repair my car in it's entirety and give it back to me + pay %100 of my rental costs (my ins. policy covers a daily rental until repairs are complete, however I sense a fight coming on for that because USAA says my claim is "Unresolved" due to me not giving them my zip code so they can total my car, and I've been in a rental for over 2 months) + compensation for committing fraud, adjusted for time spent being neglected by my insurance company + a percentage of what USAA was able to receive from the HOA - if they reached out at all, I've never gotten an answer from USAA about that.
or:
2: Total the car, but bump up their "total loss" figure from around 14k to whatever a "maximum figure" would be that includes compensation from their attempted fraud, adjusted to reflect all the time spent on this outrageous journey, + covering %100 of my rental costs, and THEN I buy a new car. I'm thinking this option could pay me a lot more than 14k, but idk until I talk with a lawyer.
Do your thing Reddit, and let a brother know!
.