2012 Tacoma Doublecab work truck

[BritKLR]

Sorry to hear about your accident and thrilled that your're ok!

I've been in your position with my 60 (Britklr versus a mini van. IH8MUD) and the one thing I took away from the negotiations with the insurance adjuster is get an attorney and document everything in an e-mail to the adjuster, as a matter of fact, towards the end of my ordeal I no longer would talk on the phone to the adjuster(s) because of all the lies I caught them in.

The deck is stacked against you and it's all about reducing the claim. Good luck.

 

[deadbeat son]

I used to work for an insurance company. I'm sorry to say, you insured your truck with them. If you didn't notify them of the accessories you added, they don't have to cover it. It takes a special rider policy to cover accessories. It's unfortunate, but it's just the way it is. Additional value over the standard value of the vehicle equal added risk for the insurance company. Additional risk equals a higher premium. That's the tradeoff.

However, if the other driver was at fault, it is their insurance company's responsibility to make you whole again. That would include the accessories.

 

[hornytoad]

Arggg!!!!!!!

Thanks for the info guys.

Yes it was the other driver's fault so I'm expecting everything to be replaced, medical bills covered, rental vehicle etc....

The truck is insured as a work truck so I'm assuming that it should be handled as any other self employed business vehicle (i.e. plumber, electrician, welder etc..) The trucks are the business and their livelihood. If their is an insurance gap than I will need to discuss this with my agent as sometimes I have equipment the the vehicle that's worth more than the rig.

Right now MY insurance company is pushing me to settle ASAP as cheap as possible. I am assuming that they would go after the other company for full market loss and keep the difference (approx %25) difference. But seeing how this is the other driver's fault and both of us have insurance and we are both OK, I'm having a hard time figuring out why I have to get a lawyer to get my insurance company to help me rebuild vehicle that was %100 on the 11th and scrap metal on the 12th.

How do I get to go back and be Peter Pan? Being a responsible adult sucks!!!

Off to shop for lawyers....

 

[Plannerman]

Push back on your insurance company. I have a similarly named insurance company with both "State" and "Farm" in the title and they have been amazing at taking care of me when in an accident that was 100% the other driver's fault. I would suggest that you call your agent, not the adjuster, and complain to them. Hopefully, your agent will respond and help advocate for you.

 

[deadbeat son]

Thanks for the info guys.

Yes it was the other driver's fault so I'm expecting everything to be replaced, medical bills covered, rental vehicle etc....

The truck is insured as a work truck so I'm assuming that it should be handled as any other self employed business vehicle (i.e. plumber, electrician, welder etc..) The trucks are the business and their livelihood. If their is an insurance gap than I will need to discuss this with my agent as sometimes I have equipment the the vehicle that's worth more than the rig.

Right now MY insurance company is pushing me to settle ASAP as cheap as possible. I am assuming that they would go after the other company for full market loss and keep the difference (approx %25) difference. But seeing how this is the other driver's fault and both of us have insurance and we are both OK, I'm having a hard time figuring out why I have to get a lawyer to get my insurance company to help me rebuild vehicle that was %100 on the 11th and scrap metal on the 12th.

How do I get to go back and be Peter Pan? Being a responsible adult sucks!!!

Off to shop for lawyers....

Do you have the truck insured as a work truck, or do you have your business insured with them? There is the difference. A plumber or electrician has their truck insured as a business vehicle, but their tools and equipment are likely under a separate business policy, not the vehicle policy.

I truly wish you the best through this process. If it were me, I would wait and deal with the other driver's insurance company and not take a settlement from yours at all.

 

[hornytoad]

END of build

Thanks for the advice and well wishes everyone! I'm going to quite venting about the accident on this board, and start thinking about the new build and will start a new work truck page when the dust has settled a bit.

- Hornytoad

 

[huntsonora]

Just glad you're ok. Looking forward to the next build

 

[ebg18t]

Horneytoad - I went thru this back in September. In the end after meeting with an attorney since my vehicle Did not have a seperate rider indicating the expense of the upgrades I was pretty much **** out of luck. My geico policy was writtain pretty tight and in Certain states if your policy (even if not at fault) doesn't include detailed info in the upgrades they other responsible parties insurance doesnt have to consider them.

Get everything in writing and keep pushing. Check with an attorney locally and get their advise.

 

[hornytoad]

egb18t, deadbeat son, Plannerman, BritKLR: thanks for all the advice.

Going from a KBB quote and receipts for 100% equipment replacement I'm looking at eating 10k. FYI I have consulted with a lawyer, his advice was to stick to my guns and deal with the other guy's insurance. He could get involved but this case is borderline in cost of Attorney VS Insurance payout. it's not worth a full blow lawsuit but might be worth get legal help with arbitration/ negotiation. Plus my company needs a layer anyway and this might be a good exercise to see how the firm works.

Tires, the topper, skid plates and the CES tank are being serious sticking points. The adjusters aren't even willing to look at the tires as assets on the vehicle. I guess any black doughnut shaped thingy is a tire in their eyes. The topper is ruined, hard to tell from photos but it cracked in the roll over.

I might have to look at having the insurance company take the truck to a shop and have them strip the skid plates and the gas tank and reinstall the OEM stuff. (which thankfully is in my shed).

Makes me want to go back to school and get a law degree just so I can sue insurance companies...

I guess the advice I can give everyone is to have YOUR insurance company cover the equipment you install on your rig. Well worth the time to talk to your agent and make sure that the racks, RTT, bumpers, winch, toppers, suspension, wheels/tires, lockers etc...is covered. Also make sure that your property damage is enough to cover your vehicle with the accessories. Un-insured motorist is a huge plus too.


On the plus side:

The Toyota dealer has several white 2013 doublecab V6, 4x4, 6 speed Tacomas with the TRD off-road package that have been sitting on their lot for the past few weeks.

Discount tire will give me store credit for the factory tires, making the (5) 245 75 R16 E-rated BFG comp TAs a little more affordable.

The Snugtop Snugpro fiberglass commercial topper is the same price as the Custom ordered Leer that I had installed and has side mounted toolboxes in their Cab -hi model.

Hmmmmm
I feel some building coming on

 

[SOAZ]

Absolutely great info.
I recommend A. paying for good insurance. Look up the top rated companies like USAA and use them. Good insurance companies pay out, no questions. B. Pay the $5 a month or so more to have coverage for $____ in aftermarket installed equipment. You still need to have something to go off of to show what you paid (receipts), but you will have it covered!!

or

Pay the absolute least you can and consider yourself partly self-insured. Meaning you in theory put aside the amount you save by getting too little insurance and hope you never have a loss. If you do, then the money you sat aside over many years should help to pay for the lack of coverage.

egb18t, deadbeat son, Plannerman, BritKLR: thanks for all the advice.

Going from a KBB quote and receipts for 100% equipment replacement I'm looking at eating 10k. FYI I have consulted with a lawyer, his advice was to stick to my guns and deal with the other guy's insurance. He could get involved but this case is borderline in cost of Attorney VS Insurance payout. it's not worth a full blow lawsuit but might be worth get legal help with arbitration/ negotiation. Plus my company needs a layer anyway and this might be a good exercise to see how the firm works.

Tires, the topper, skid plates and the CES tank are being serious sticking points. The adjusters aren't even willing to look at the tires as assets on the vehicle. I guess any black doughnut shaped thingy is a tire in their eyes. The topper is ruined, hard to tell from photos but it cracked in the roll over.

I might have to look at having the insurance company take the truck to a shop and have them strip the skid plates and the gas tank and reinstall the OEM stuff. (which thankfully is in my shed).

Makes me want to go back to school and get a law degree just so I can sue insurance companies...

I guess the advice I can give everyone is to have YOUR insurance company cover the equipment you install on your rig. Well worth the time to talk to your agent and make sure that the racks, RTT, bumpers, winch, toppers, suspension, wheels/tires, lockers etc...is covered. Also make sure that your property damage is enough to cover your vehicle with the accessories. Un-insured motorist is a huge plus too.


On the plus side:

The Toyota dealer has several white 2013 doublecab V6, 4x4, 6 speed Tacomas with the TRD off-road package that have been sitting on their lot for the past few weeks.

Discount tire will give me store credit for the factory tires, making the (5) 245 75 R16 E-rated BFG comp TAs a little more affordable.

The Snugtop Snugpro fiberglass commercial topper is the same price as the Custom ordered Leer that I had installed and has side mounted toolboxes in their Cab -hi model.

Hmmmmm
I feel some building coming on

 

[Adventure Copan]

WOW!! I was reading along on your build thinking, cool... and then blammo! That is a bummer on the accident, but as it's been said (glad you walked away)! One of our rigs is completely modded out and I went to the insurance company and requested more coverage and they submitted it and I got it for a small extra fee per month. Although I'm sure it won't cover everything in an accident, it will be better than nothing. Interested to see what direction you take with the new truck and how everything turns out with the insurance. Best of luck!

-Daniel Kent

 

[FireGuy]

Keep updating this thread. The insurance advice you are sharing is invaluable.

 

[hornytoad]

Uhhhhh OK

so you want more of the horror show????

So the other guy's insurance was state minimum. 25k Personal injury/ 10k Property damage.

What does that mean when you have a new truck? They gave my insurance Co the 10k and walked. I have uninsured/underinsured motorist insurance (NM has a bad rep for non insured motorist). The 10k goes towards the replacement cost of the truck that my insurance company is going to pay off.

The other insurance company is still responsible for the personal injury however they are now out of the picture for property damage.

So my insurance company has a neat little phrase called "actual value". What does this mean, to me it means 100% replacement cost of what was destroyed/stolen/ect...
To an adjuster it mean the retail price one would expect to get if you sold your vehicle. NOT replacement value. They will use your base vehicle and run it though NADA to establish base value, then they hire an outside firm to look at your truck and give an estimated value.

In my case the base truck is a 2012 Tacoma double cab, automatic, V6 with the SR5 package and tow package - base value is more than retail. (funny but that's what happens in ABQ)

Now we add:
BFG comp TA's
Leer Topper
Bub Built Skidplates
CES gas tank
AFE air filter

Now if your me you have a stack of invoices and a base value for the truck. You expect 2+2 to=4 in this situation but this is insurance. They take the value of parts and asses what value that would add to an auction vale of your rig. In my case they have offered less than 20% of the replacement cost of the parts (which buy the way are now part of the truck since everything is bolted on).

So I am trying to get my truck re valued by an independent estimate to see how to make up this vast price difference.

The main sticking point is the CES tank and the Bud Built skidplates. Since both of these items are "rare" in insurance people's eyes they just jump to the worst conclusion and call them valueless.

A couple of people have ask about taking off the skids and the tank. This might come up however those items are not unscathed from the wreck. A lot of force went into the crash and I don't know what forces the tank took. If I can pull 30 gallons of gas out of it and pull the tank I would then want to talk to Shane about how he does the pressure test, and or have the welds checked by an engineering firm. At a minimum it's a pain in the *** and needs some new tank straps. I would rather deal with a new one (And Shane will ship them now!!!!)

The skids have at least one plate that is bent, the rolled steel is hard to bend but once it has it will be impossible to straighten. If the frame bent more than a few inches (and it did) than all the plate mounts will be tweaked and will be a huge PITA to deal with. Better to start over with new plates.

On top of it wiplash showed up a week and 1/2 ago. Some X-rays and a bone scan later and I'm hoping to get by without long term injury. For the time being I'm restricted from work and being fed lots of happy pills.

I'll update when I get some new word from the insurance companies. Until then document, document document your rigs.

NOTE: if your like me and run a business with your truck look at commercial truck insurance. I had the high liability coverage (2mil) for a personnel vehicle used for business but did not have my truck accessories itemized. ( like an electrician/ welder or plumber's truck) When my agent and I get through this mes I might have some recommendations for the insuring of rigs/campers/toys. I have been telling her about some of the rigs on ExPo and her eyes get wide and she starts worrying about some of her clients....

 

[huntsonora]

I hate hearing about your troubles! It's a travesty that the other guys insurance pays 10,000 and walks.

I hope your double vision, recurring nightmares, hurt back, severe migraines and whiplash goes away soon

 

[BenMara]

eww i cant imagine how the insurance company would feel after they found out i have more then $2k into hamradio equip in my pickup...