I Need to Vent

[Prinux]

Okay, I'm sorry, I just need to vent this to other people that are as wild about their Prii as we are..

My husband got in an accident, totaled our 2004... This was on Sept. 5.

Today, we're still waiting for the settlement check. It's MADDENING.

We've agreed on a settlement (they were actually very good about this), and they've paid off the bank... But they neglected to, er, mail the check anything other than First Class mail. I'm not even sure they insured it. (I hope they did. It wasn't chump change.)

The check is going to our insurance agent, which is fine... And then to us. But the thing that gets me... Our Insurance company is in the middle of the state, the insurance agent is maybe an hour drive from there... And they couldn't get a COURIER (or at least mail the check USPS Express?) to deliver it? It's not a million dollar check, but it is a fairly beefy amount. Gah. I can't see sticking it in an envelope with a 37 cent stamp and sayin' "Here ya go."

So anyhoo, we've got our new Seaside Pearl waiting patiently for us on a lot, our name's on it, we just need to sign the papers and give the dealer the down payment... but that relies on us getting the insurance check.

They mailed it the middle of last week. Why is it taking this long to go that distance? Did they send it by Pony Express? Carrier pigeon? Turtle?

So we call the insurance agent, and she's GREAT, but we didn't get to talk to her. They got a bit snarky and said, "When it's here, it's here..." Yeah, well. This is a bit of an upsetting situation... Our rental period runs out real soon, and WE'LL be paying for the crappy rental car while we play "wait for the check" with them. We're driving a crappy Taurus when we could (and should) have our Prius.

I know that there probably aren't too many people out there who have had something catastrophic happen to their Prii... but possibly to their other cars... Is 20 days from accident to (still waiting) for check... an unreasonable time frame?

We just want this behind us, and to be in our new Prius.

shoe

[SSimon]

Can't you ask them to put a stop payment on the check that they've mailed (you can even offer to pay for this as an incentive) and have them overnight a new check to you?

[qbee42]

The check's in the mail...

Tom

[ricklin]

Hey Shoe,
This is very typical big corporation behavior. It does not benefit them to get the money to you quickly. So yo u don't get the money quickly. It really is that simple. The larger the amount, the more they drag their feet.

Of course they know you are gonna stick with them, heck you just had a big wreck, it's unlikely you will go insurance shopping.

Sorry, I don't mean to sound so cynical, as each day passes I find yet another reason to despise large corporations, particularly ones that are public. They answer only to their stockholders.

Next will be "it got lost in the mail" we will have to reissue the check.

They want to keep the money as long as they can, be a pain in their backside, call them daily, be the squeaky wheel, let them know you have a computer and you know how to use it.

If that don't work, detail it out here and include the company name.

[kimgh]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Prinux @ Sep 24 2007, 11:43 AM) [snapback]517008[/snapback]</div>

Okay, I'm sorry, I just need to vent this to other people that are as wild about their Prii as we are..
.
.
.
I know that there probably aren't too many people out there who have had something catastrophic happen to their Prii... but possibly to their other cars... Is 20 days from accident to (still waiting) for check... an unreasonable time frame?

We just want this behind us, and to be in our new Prius.

shoe
[/b]

My experience with the insurance process after an accident is that it has its own pace, and almost nothing you can do will hurry things along. I know it's frustrating, and it probably shouldn't be that way, but that's the way it is. I've had altogether too much experience with this sort of thing to think your situation is a fluke. There was a period of 18 months a few years ago when I was hit 4 times (not in a prius, this was before they were invented).

The other industry with this "any time is OK" philosophy is the medical industry, especially hospitals. The added problem with hospitals is that no one gets out of one with his or her dignity intact.

Having said that, I hope it breaks loose for you soon. Hang in there!

[chogan]

Waiting for a big check to arrive can definitely be tense. I get a lot of checks from large corporations in my business, and I'll give you my two cents.

I've never (knock wood) literally had a check lost/stolen in the US mail, in 9 years of business. What I have had, a lot, is the mailrooms of large corporations take the own sweet time about actually getting the check in the mail.

In my experience, when somebody says the check has been sent, what that means is that, according to the accounts payable department, the check has been cut (ie, printed). And after its been printed, there's no tracking internally. They sent it off to be mailed, so they think it's been mailed, but ... that depends on what the mailroom actually did. I'll get checks dated one week, with a postmark the next week, the difference being the time it took to get through the corporate mailroom.

So I'd say it's too early to assume something has gone wrong. I'd give it a couple more days.

[Prinux]

Thanks... We live in the People's Republic of Massachusetts, so there aren't many insurance options (but they're changing that soon.)

I guess what concerns me is that one check cut for $90 the day AFTER the big check was cut got to our house on Saturday, and really, the big check wasn't going any further.

The mail room explanation makes a bit of sense, I mean, our insurance agent is a little four person office, but I imagine getting OUT of the main office is another thing. Although you'd think checks would hit a certain amount and they'd immediately insure/courier them... I mean, crud, this well over 10k they just dropped in an envelope with a Forever Stamp.

We do half suspect the check is sitting on the agent's desk, in today's mail, as yet unopened. But if it's not there tomorrow, it might be time to call HQ and tell them we want it canceled and overnighted, or possibly (I don't know if they can do this) wired to our agent and SHE can write us the check and give us the necessary paperwork declaring the Prius deceased.

Our dealership has been really peachy about not really complaining about holding the car... They know what it's like dealing with insurance... But we'd BOTH like the car off the lot by Oct. 1!

shoe

[paprius4030]

Try Erie Insurance. We had a car plow into our business a few years back and the check was in our mailbox before the construction crew completed the repairs.

[Springtime]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Prinux @ Sep 24 2007, 02:43 PM) [snapback]517008[/snapback]</div>

I can't see sticking it in an envelope with a 37 cent stamp and sayin' "Here ya go."

[/b]

If they put a 37 cent stamp on it - you do have a problem - postage has gone up to 39 cents.

When I was in an accident 14 yrs ago the agent hand carried the check to me! They wanted to settle ASAP because I had full tort coverage and they wanted to get it settled before I changed my mind and considered taking legal action. I waited a few weeks to be sure I didn't have anything more than a mild case of whiplash before I agreed to a settlement.

I also had a free and clear title - so the check came directly to me. Any time you have a third party involved it is bound to take longer.

I was a bit surprised when the first question out of the mouth of the other driver's insurance agent was "do you have full tort coverage?" However, that seems to have definately put me on the fast track to getting my check hand delivered to me in less than 48 hours after I agreed to the settlement.

Springtime

[IsrAmeriPrius]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Springtime @ Sep 24 2007, 05:09 PM) [snapback]517160[/snapback]</div>

If they put a 37 cent stamp on it - you do have a problem - postage has gone up to 39 cents.[/b]

It is up to 41 cents in this part of the world.