My 1999 Pontiac Grand Am was in an accident recently in the Seattle
area (98102), and Geico (my insurance company) "totaled" the car at
$8990. This value supposedly includes all fees & taxes, and is still
subject to my $500 deductible. According to my math (8.9% tax & approx
fees), they are offering in the vicinity of $8000 (if not less) for my
car. This seemed quite low, even for an insurance company "lowball".

After reading that Geico was obliged to provide Fair Market Valuation
(instead of the "private party" valuation), I ran my car through the
"Retail Valuation" at the Kelley Blue Book site (link below) and found
the quote at over $10000.

http://www.kbb.com/kb/ki.dll/kw.kc.ure?kbb.WA;328411;WA033&98102;car&38&4;PO;R6
(Good condition, Mileage=60000 - Add Power Windows, Cruise Control,
Premium Sound, & Power Seats)

Since I can't talk to anyone until Monday morning, I have the weekend
to research and come up with a strategy for how to handle this. I've
printed out my KBB datasheet and many similar local "Auto Trader" ads
that support this valuation, and gotten some Washington state law from
the http://insurance.wa.gov.

The crux of the question is: what are the next few steps I should
take, and in what order? Do I seek legal counsel or get an independent
appraiser right away, or see if the agent will change his mind based
on my web printouts? Are there steps I've forgotten about entirely?

Extra credit for anyone who has personally experienced or been
involved in a situation involving undervalued auto "totaling", or
familiarity with Geico in particular.

Hello--

I have the answers to your questions. I have quite a bit of experience
with helping with consumer complaints and have researched your
situation.

The first thing you should do is place a call to your claims
representative and tell that person you are dissatisfied with the
amount of your claim. Be polite yet firm about how you feel. It sounds
as if you've already found out how much you should be getting back
through the Kelley Blue Book site. Tell your claims representative
what you found. A lot of times simply telling your claims
representative that a mistake must have been made is all it takes to
get results.

If, after you have spoken with your claims representative, you still
haven't gotten the results you deserve, then talk with a manager or
supervisor at Geico. Tell that person the same things you've told the
claims representative. You should also put your complaint in writing
to the supervisor and to the president of the company. You may read
some sample complaint letters for information on how to write such a
note online. The link is: http://www.howtocomplain.com/ In this letter
be sure to give the manager a certain time frame (i.e. seven days, two
weeks) to resolve this matter. And be sure to tell the manager exactly
what you expect (i.e. to receive an insurance check for the amount of
the Kelley Blue Book minus your deductible). You also want to be sure
to tell the manager that if you don't hear from him/her within the
time frame you've outline, you'll be forced to either hire an attorney
or report the company to your state insurance department.

Next, you need to be sure to follow through on your letter. After the
time has elapsed and if you still haven't gotten the results you're
looking for, call directly the manager and the president of the
company to whom you've sent these letters. Be polite and tell the
person you're following up on your claim dispute and wanted to find
out if they've been able to review your case.

If they are sticking to their guns and aren't giving you the money
you're owed, there are a number of different avenues you can pursue.
You should place a call to your state insurance department (in some
states they're called insurance commissions) and ask to file a
complaint against the company. Also, you'll want to contact your local
Better Business Bureau and file a complaint with them. The Better
Business Bureau can make calls on your behalf to Geico and try to get
results. Another option is to call a local television station or
newspaper. Many media outlets have consumer complaint divisions that
place calls on behalf of consumers and get results.

If this still doesn't work, you can contact a consumer attorney.
You'll want to find an attorney who works on insurance cases regularly
to most effectively help you.

In addition, I have found some information relating to Geico directly
from the Geico web site.

Geico writes: "What happens if the damages are more then the estimated
figure?
If the body shop determines that there is supplemental damage to your
vehicle, they will contact the GEICO auto damage adjuster and request
that the adjuster come back out to re-inspect the vehicle for
additional repairs. If the GEICO adjuster agrees, as is most often the
case, a supplemental payment will be issued." You may see this
quotation directly on Geico's site. The link is
http://www.geico.com/infocenter/claims_direct.htm#22

Geico answers many questions about the claims process on its web site.
The link is http://www.geico.com/infocenter/claims_direct.htm

You may read more about the Better Business Bureau and find the BBB
nearest you. The link is: http://www.bbb.org

You may read some advice at the ICBC web site. The link is:
http://www.icbc.com/Dispute/how_to.htm

To conduct this research, I searched the following search terms: "how
to" dispute insurance car total

I hope this helps!

darrel-ga

You probably have already settle the claim but I will post a reply in
case others might want to read info on this situation. I've been
handling auto claims for about 8 years and have handled many total
losses. First, GEICO will pay you for "fair market value" as you
mentioned. This is not the retail value as retail value takes into
consideration things like a dealer's commisions, advertising,
warrenties, etc (check http://www.kbb.com for more information on
this). A better comparison would be using Kelley Blue Books "private
party" value to determine the amount an insurance company is going to
consider. When I submit your vehicles information (using my zip code
as yours does not show up) I find a private party value of about
$7425. This is what you should expect to be paid if you sold your
vehicle to another individual, which is what is happening more or
less.

You should find out how GEICO arrived at the value of your vehicle. If
they used a 3rd party vendor such as ADP or CCC, then obtain a copy of
that valuation and review it for accurancy. I find that many times all
the vehicles equiptment/options are not considered on these
valuations. You should also let GEICO know of any recent
repairs/additions to the vehicle that might allow a higher value to be
considered (new tires, major mechanical work done, etc). Some of the
times these items can be considered, other times they just maintain
the value of the vehicle.

As far as GEICO's policy is concerned, it supplies information on a
disagreement... the statement is usually that both parties will hire
their own evaluators and share the cost of a mediator to determine how
the claim should be paid. I've never heard of someone doing this as
it's usuaully not cost effective. I also don't see ssking assistance
from some consumer group as a viable option. They have no authority.
The Dept of Ins would probably be of little help as it seems that the
offer being made is reasobable. The DOI usually only gets involved
when there are regulations in question, not just a settlement amount.

Here is a secret I'll share with you to get the highest possible
consideration for your vehicle when dealing with an insurance company.
When you speak to the adjuster, be as nice as you possibly can. I'm
not sure why, but some people think yelling at adjusters will some how
make them change their minds. I'm not sure why. Also, do some research
on the vehicle and know all the facts when you speak to the adjuster.
Present the information you have in a clear and simple way. The
adjuster will be much more willing to consider your statements if
presented this way.