QUESTION: I was involved in an accident on March 7 this year. The third party ran a stop sign from a side street and totalled my car. The police charged him with careless driving. I reported the collision to insurers via my brokers. They asked me to give them a couple of days to sort out the matter. Three weeks passed and nothing happened. When I visited their offices they told me that I should sue the other party. He had denied liability. My car, a PPV, has been laid up for nearly two months. I do not have funds to buy another one. I only have third party cover. The other car is insured comprehensively. The police report, which I sent to the brokers, clearly shows that the third party was to blame. What can I do to get my claim settled before Christmas?
- JPSM, Mandeville, Manchester.
ANSWER: Your brokers have a very good name. It conveys many good things on paper. These include security, strength, and first class help for clients. The reality is, however, that the good things exist in name only. Claim service, a key part of their business, is non-existent. Customers get the exact opposite of what the company implies. The four-letter word S-O-F-T captures the essence of the type of advocacy that claimants like you receive.
I had a very long chat with the broker's Mandeville claims person after receiving your e-mail. She was clueless about the basics of her job. I got the feeling that she is not concerned that the accident has disrupted the lives of you and your family. It is her duty to help solve your problem, but you must exercise patience. This explains why she refused to say when settlement of the claim is likely. She promised to call me back but did not say if it was the next day, week, month or year.
Of course, it was not the next day or the following week. The discussions I had with officials at the broker's Kingston office were also unproductive. Many words were spoken but no one really seemed to care about solving your problem on a timely basis.
I believe that you are unlikely to get anywhere with these brokers and need to look at other options. These include:
1. Retaining the services of an attorney
2. Hiring a claims consultant
3. Cutting out the middlemen (that is the lawyer and claims expert) and negotiating settlement directly with the third party's insurers
4. Playing a waiting game with your brokers. (They phoned me last Friday saying they now have full details of your claim and are awaiting a 'deal direct letter' from your insurers. The letter will pave the way for them to negotiate settlement with the third party's insurers. Not a word was said about the third party denying liability). There are plusses and minuses to each option. In the case of one and two, you may end up having to split part of the proceeds with these persons or to find money to pay them upfront. On the other hand, you will have the benefit of their expertise and could probably get a larger settlement. If they are as inefficient as your brokers, settlement would be delayed and cost you money. A do-it-yourself approach could turn out to be a good choice, assuming that you have confidence and time to devote to this matter. Giving your brokers say, another two to three weeks to finish what they have started may also be a good bet, since changing horses midstream creates problems. Bear in also that it is not uncommon for brokers to use the claims process to 'control their customers,' according to the influential New York Times.
SIMPLE CLAIM
Your claim is very simple. All things being equal, it should have been settled within a two to three week period. Given its past and the latest developments I would suggest that it would be unwise to make a change at this time. In other words, I recommend that you give the brokers another three weeks to negotiate a settlement with the third party's insurers. In the meantime, I also suggest that you do two things.
Write to the broker's Kingston office and confirm your understanding that they have assumed responsibility for your claim and are awaiting a deal direct letter from your insurers.
Take the time to review all the headings of your claim, loss of use, medical costs, estimate of value of your car, the cost of police report, wrecker's and assessor's fees. Make sure that nothing is left out and that you can prove the charges. In the event that the claim remains unsettled at the end of the period please contact me and I will light a blaze under the feet of the claims staff in the broker's Kingston office. After all, as the customer, you are in control.
Cedric E. Stephens provides impartial advice on risks and insurance. If you need free information or advice to solve a problem, write to The Financial Editor c/o The Gleaner Company, or contact Mr. Stephens directly at aegis@cwjamaica.com
