MADER'S 'BRANTS Car accidents, Insurance People and Con-Artists Part 1 February 28, 2005 - So the accident was Tuesday night. Wednesday bright and early in the morning I stop by my Allstate agents office. Very nice folk, very sympathetic. I explain the story tell them the whole thing from start to finish. And they ask me if I would rather call the other guys’ agent and straighten it out. It seems that it’s cheaper when you go through the person that caused the accidents people instead of your own. Which would be fine, except I have been paying Allstate every month since I was 16 to handle these things. “Okay, fine, not a problem. Our claims office will contact you later today” Four phone calls from these people and each time I had to re-explain the accident. That wasn’t as annoying as the fact they kept asking question unrelated to the event. Did you wear a seat belt? Did you have any space between you and him? Who was the 2nd president of the United States. Who won the 1953 World Series? What the hell does it matter? He got cited for the accident. I say so, he says so and most importantly the police say so. Truth be told, Allstate was just looking for a reason to jack my rates. So late in the afternoon I get a call from his insurance agency, Nationwide. One call very simple, you go to this place they will fix your car. We hope you have a nice day mister Mader. The other guys company was more polite than my own that has made tens of thousands of dollars off me over the years in premiums! I call the body shop make an appointment. Life was good. Until Thursday morning. Then the calls from the ambulance chasers began. In a span of 4 hours that day I got: 3 Chiropractor offices calling. They just wanted to make sure I was “okay.” I’m touched. 4 Auto Body Shops, 3 of which left voice mail. 1 Optometrist. Not sure why, but who am I to complain? CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THESE PATHETIC FOLKS! This does not include the 15 hang ups from unlisted numbers when I let the calls just go to my voice mail. No lawyers called, but they did send me mail. I got letters from 6 law firms wanting to make sure my rights as a victim had been protected. Now this all happened less than 72 hours after my accident. Apparently these sharks have runners that hang out at the police station ad wait for reports to be filed. Once they are the runners make copies and take them all over town selling them to low life’s looking to take advantage of some ones misfortune. The worst was the Body Shops. Some simple math, my hood, head lights, fog lights, radiator, nose skin and turn signals had to be replaced. This also included repainting etc. Total cost after materials and labor $2457.96. Then you throw in a stunningly crappy Ford Focus (an article unto it’s self) at $23.00 for 7 days so I have a car to drive and you get a total cost of $2618.96. Sounds steep, but I used to do body work and I still tinker with cars and I know that this really is about right. Three of the auto body shops offered to pay money back on the repair. In other words, if I brought the car to them they would give me a percentage of the money up too 500 dollars cash and a free car alarm. Now the repair costs what the repair costs. There are only two ways that someone could give me money back. (Listen to exhibit A) 1. Not repair the car properly and cut corners. 2. Defraud the insurance company and say that the repair actually cost more than it really did. I find this distressing because while what they are doing may not be illegal, it certainly seems unethical. Think about that next time you pay you car insurance and wonder why it costs so much. The list of “Sharks” (the ones I can prove with documentation) Lawyers: Anthony N. Gurvis Lisa M. Haywood Malek & Malek Attorneys at Law Walker Law Office Scott W. Schiff & Assoc. CO.,L.P.A. Attorneys at Law Auto Body Shops: Accurate Insurance Repair Aa Precise Collision Repair Inc Buckeye Collision 3sg Body shop Mid Ohio Collision Now are there any heroes in this story? Yes. Two as a matter of fact. Nationwide Insurance for getting my car fixed so quickly and Philip Green. He was the guy that hit me. It’s rare to find people that are so honest. He could have said the accident was my fault but he didn’t. If you ever need farm or construction equipment, new or used, go to Green & Sons Ltd. in London Ohio. Here is their web page www.greenandsons.com Ask for Phil! Later, Mader