69L71

Here's the latest for anyone who has been following my saga:

Gemini sent the claim to their broker on 3/29. The broker sent it to The Hartford Insurance Company. The Hartford sent it to Crawford Associates, which I assume is the underwriter or investigation firm. I have a call into the adjuster at the last company (the underwriter - I hope), but he wasn't available so I left a message. No reply so far.

I sent a nastygram to Gemini today just to keep heat on them. The owner of the company told me that he told his broker he wanted to see me taken care of inside 30 days. Well the 18th day is coming to a close and I haven't gotten as much as a phone call.

I'm still sitting here holding Larry up for taking the convertible, and have a garage with trashed cabinets and a twisted wreckage of a lift taking up lots of space. Thankfully I got fed up waiting and shipped the 96 out for repairs. Now at least I have a little room to work on the L71.

That noise you hear in the background is me grinding my teeth....


[Modified by 69L71, 8:54 AM 4/18/2002]

ddecart

All I can say is

UGH!!!!

I hope it gets resolved pretty soon. What a PITA!

73Ken73

You should try to charge them for the loss of your garage for a month or more. I think the company should fix all your damage, give you a new lift and refund what you payed for the original lift.

1979toy

They will drag their butts as long as you will let them. You don't pay your taxes before April 15th either do you? When they do think that they will have to pay or go to court they will tell you that it's a case of "sign now or we can't garentee what you'll get". Hire a lawyer now. He'll beat you up for about 75.00 to put a letter on his letterhead to the companies involved. They WILL move.

73-454

I am a bit confused I thought you settled and received the cash from the lift companies insurance company, 2nd question wondering wat kind of sttlement did or will you receive for the convert you sold. Are you double dipping or does the insurace company take the vette in lue of paying you. knowing insurance companies they don't pay cash and leave the car behind. What deal have you agreed to.

69L71

I have a commitment from Gemini that they will cover the damages to my house, the lift, and both cars. They turned over the claims to be paid but I haven't seen a settlement yet. As for 'double-dipping' this isn't an an issue. The car wasn't totalled. It was damaged, and my claim is just for the cost of repairs. Gemini (and whoever insures them) is liable for returning my car to its 'whole' condition. I'd agree that they'd want the car if it were totalled.

I might contemplate a lawyer. In fact I might suggest that to the adjuster if I talk to him tomorrow. I actually have a local lawyer that I've discussed this with, but I think I'd need someone in Texas.

PRNDL

Good luck getting thru all this. Accidents and dealing with insurance are never fun, and always a net loser. They never pay you for your lost time, loss of use, stress & aggravation, loss of value - even if your property is repaired, it is never as good as it was, it is never "no-hit" again. Just try to get thru it as whole as you can. The only ones who come out ahead are the ones engaged in insurance fraud. I guess you could file a lawsuit for all the items listed above, but who actually does that? MJ :rolleyes:

stickboy

I hope you get this straightened out soon :cheers:

Paul Borowski

Sure is IRONIC that when we get insurance bills, there is a "DUE DATE". How about a "due date" when they owe us money :confused:

Good luck Chris, hang in there and remember, NO BUMPING :lol:

Alwyn678

[QUOTE]Sure is IRONIC that when we get insurance bills, there is a "DUE DATE". How about a "due date" when they owe us money :confused:

:lol:

69L71

Yeah... But they're more than happy to reserve rights to that money as long as possible.

The lastest is that Crawford Associates in California has forwarded my claim to their local Maryland office. That's step number five! You wonder why your insurance rates are so high... You know every one of these stops has a cost associated with it. I did finally get a call from the representative in California. I explained the background of the case. He told me the local adjuster will be doing a technical analysis to determine the cause and effect of the failure (ie. they want to know if I caused it out of negligence). I offered to send him my analysis and pictures but he wasn't interested. As least things are (supposedly) with someone in my state...

I just wish I knoew if I should be talking with a lawyer in Maryland (where I live), Texas (where Gemini is), or Missouri (where Lifts Unlimited is).

Fevre

Probably gonna need to retain one in all three states!

:mad

You'll end up owing more money to your lawyers than you'll get from the lift company's insurance! You should have said you were tramatized by the ordeal and you will be suing for mental pain and anguish. They would have ponied up a check in a hurry. :)

VettePower

Wow - You are now getting the royal runaround!! This ploy they are doing now about doing their own analysis is bulls**t!! It is definately time to call out the dogs (lawyers), and sic them on every one of these basta*ds!! And beleive me when I say this, I WILL NEVER BUY A LIFT FROM GEMINI!!!! If I was you I would call Gemini, and tell them that you are going to send your pictures to every one of the car magazines to publish as a warning to others!! :mad :mad

Rockn-Roll

A very valid concern. Since I'm not an attorney, nor a member of any state bar I'm free to give you advice without anyone breathing down my neck. Your question is concerning VENUE. In other words...where would the complaint be filed and where would the court be to hear the complaint.

The answer is that you can file anywhere and move the complaint to where you want it to be...PROVIDED that you have a valid reason for it. In EVERY case the claim SHOULD be filed at the nearest superior court near the location of the loss. In your case this would be the nearest superior court to your home. The defendants will have to hire a lawyer in your area to answer the complaint. However, they can try to move the complaint to their location...but of course you simply submit a request to deny the motion since the loss occured there and the judge is PROBABLY bound by State code to ensure that it stays there.

I'm sure your attorney would say the same.

Here's my take on this. You were operating a lift which was sold to you as a device which you, as a normal everyday person, can safely operate it. The manufacturer is responsible for providing that the quality of the product will last for one year...after that you are on your own, unless there is a written extended warranty for the lift. This implied warranty and the fact that the warranty expires is there to protect manufacturers from people using equipment that is too old. In the case of a lift one year is not very long. With this in mind can you share with us what your warranty period is?

Patience is a virtue, but in situations where you, or your property has been damaged it's a weakness that is always exploited by anybody that is afraid of any action you may take. If it's been a month and you don't receive at least a check for the tow trucks, and a visit by a field adjuster from their insurance company then either go through your insurance company (recommended method), or get an attorney. With the attorney path you will be paying up front costs for the attorney to begin the action with a retainer...possibly $2,000 dollars or more, which (if you win) will be paid by the manufacturer. If you use your insurance then THEY will hire a lawyer and sue the manufacturer, and if they win then your premiums should not go up cause the insurance company will get all their money back that they paid you.

The final difference between getting an attorney or using your insurance company is that the insurance company can get you money to fix everything now, while getting an attorney will mean you have to wait possibly a year or more before you see a dime, while forking out cash to the attorney to battle the motions in court.

If it were me I'd go to through the insurance company. If I was the manufacturer I'd look at the concequenses of paying for your damages...it may set a presidence and trigger other people to petition them for damages they incurred as a result of using their lift. I just don't think the manufacturer is going to pay for all of the damage you incurred. I think the best they will do is replace the lift free of charge, and have it professionally installed including literature on safety procedures and maintenance of the lift; however, that is actually a very courteous action by the manufacturer and I would consider that the extent of their generousity and be thankful for it cause some manufacturers would hide and not come out unless they feel the threat of a law suit.

Jeff73454

I just got a repair kit for my lift sent to me from lifts unlimited. The letter I got with said to install this bracket on the pulley's to prevent lift failure. The letter said that a customer had a lift fail and caused damage to his car.

It looks like they have admited the problem so they should take care of your claim :D

C5GARY

Jeff,
Fill us in.. what does this pully bracket look like and where does it install??
Gary

A C

Here, here :cheers:

Insurance companies run the biggest scam in North America. I waited for two months when I was in high school for my vandalized back window to be repaired. I hate to get off on another subject, but it's about time we forcefully disassociate insurance companies from politicians. They get too much protection from our congressmen, IMO.

Good luck with your ordeal :cheers:

AC

69L71

Rockn-Roll Makes some great points. Its great to hear from someone with some legal knowledge.

The latest info is that Crawford Assoc. in Baltimore forwarded the claim to their office in Annapolis (step 6). To their credit, I did al least get a call from the guy in Baltimore.

I think I'll talk to the Annapolis office this week and see what they're thinking. If there are ANY more delays or lack of response I think I'll take Rockn-Roll's advice and submit to my insurance companies and let them fight it out. I also intend to call Gemini this week and make sure they realize that I'm making continuous updates here on the forum. They're very concerned of their public perception. They've made clear that they recognize that they can't reverse my situation but feel (correctly) that taking care of my loss will help alleviate the bad press.

I'm anxious to see Liftsunlimited's new braket looks like and how its installed.

Jeff73454

Sorry about the delay, I have been out of town . I will take pics of the bracket and instuctions and post them here tomorrow.

verskel

Man, the saga continues.... it'll be Christmas before this thing gets resolved. I feel for ya man - it seems like most insurance companies have a mandatory 3-month waiting period no matter what.... :(

You need to tack on a 'garage' rental fee, too ! :yesnod: