USAA Totaled Our Model X100D But No Payout Figure Yet.

[avesraggiana]

A little over a month ago, on April 7th, my mum's Model X100D was involved in an At Fault accident (my dad crashed it into the side of their house).

Early last week, at the beginning of May, the decision was made by USAA to write off the car, just as the still incomplete repair estimate from the auto body shop came up to $60,000. Earlier THIS week, on Monday the 7th of May, I gave my verbal formal release, allowing a tow truck company to remove my mum's Model X from the autobody shop's storage yard and transport it to an auto junk yard.

As of last week, I've not yet received any word on how much my payout is going to be. In releasing my mum's wrecked car to USAA and the tow truck company, I've relinquished what little leverage I had to have them hurry up with a settlement.

Does anybody know why it would take so long for an insurance company like USAA to propose a settlement figure? It's been over a month since the accident. The car was relatively new, at five months old with only 5,000 miles.

Thanks.

 

[Az_Rael]

My experience is Tesla's are not in their standard databases. So they have to do extra legwork to look up the value vs just using the standard program.

With mine, once they made the decision to total (which took about 3 weeks itself), I think it took another 2 weeks to get my first offer. After reviewing the comps they used, I determined they had none of my options correct, so I had to send them a bunch of data about my car (the original purchase history, reciepts for my brand new 21" wheels, etc). They had to chew on that for another two weeks. They finally came back with a better offer, and I think I still waited another week to get the check.

My insurance was Ameriprise via Costco. I was very unhappy with the length of time it took to settle the claim, but I have read similar timeframe stories here, so I just think insurance companies take longer when paying out for expensive cars. My adjuster kept having to go to higher levels of management for approval every step.

 

[TaoJones]

Geico paid out a monster claim in 25 days for a P car that the owner drove off the road. This was a few years back. There’s a forum thread and pictures and such.

I remember it because Geico paid $111K or $117K which included $6K or aftermarket as supported by receipts. The car was 5 months old. Trying to think of how to search for that.

Actually, I remember it because I was with Geico at the time and left them that day. My reasoning being that Geico was going to boost premiums with a quickness. The next year, premiums for Tesla owners went up as much as 30%. In different markets.

The TLDR version is that it’s possible for an insurance company to pay out faster. Not that it is to their benefit.

I left Costco Ameriprise because I’d heard their claims processing was suboptimal and because they wanted 50% more to insure 1 car after I sold a 2nd car. They have a great multi-car discount, evidently. Was 45% for that and 5% for being a Costco member.

Am now with Progressive for 2 reasons - decent gap insurance, and a feature called Combined Single Limit, which is nice.

But I don’t think they do blanket liability policies, which means checking with Wawanesa who I don’t think does those, else going back to Geico.

It never ends

 

[avesraggiana]

My experience is Tesla's are not in their standard databases. So they have to do extra legwork to look up the value vs just using the standard program.

With mine, once they made the decision to total (which took about 3 weeks itself), I think it took another 2 weeks to get my first offer. After reviewing the comps they used, I determined they had none of my options correct, so I had to send them a bunch of data about my car (the original purchase history, reciepts for my brand new 21" wheels, etc). They had to chew on that for another two weeks. They finally came back with a better offer, and I think I still waited another week to get the check.

My insurance was Ameriprise via Costco. I was very unhappy with the length of time it took to settle the claim, but I have read similar timeframe stories here, so I just think insurance companies take longer when paying out for expensive cars. My adjuster kept having to go to higher levels of management for approval every step.

Thanks for your prompt response. It's resulted in my mild anxiety revving down to almost nothing. There's just nothing left to do but wait, and be ready for their first offer.

 

[Bet TSLA]

Thanks for your prompt response. It's resulted in my mild anxiety revving down to almost nothing. There's just nothing left to do but wait, and be ready for their first offer.

You could try being proactive. Send them your detailed option info so that you don't have to go through the first step of them getting everything wrong because of ignorance. Yes, they'll still probably get some things wrong.

 

[avesraggiana]

You could try being proactive. Send them your detailed option info so that you don't have to go through the first step of them getting everything wrong because of ignorance. Yes, they'll still probably get some things wrong.

Thank you for your suggestion.

That was one of the first things I did, very early in the process. I took a picture of the original "window sticker" that came with the car, and still framed in my parents' garage. I then sent it, as well as my final configuration and order sheet to both the two USAA adjusters who came to see the vehicle, and to my claims representative.

Like you suggested, I'm still not holding out much hope that USAA will get their first settlement offer right. I had to tell my claims representative myself that my car had been totaled by the adjusters and the body shop. He wasn't aware, and kept insisting that the cheque USAA had sent to the auto body shop for $20,000 had closed out the matter. A few hours later, he called again and apologized, saying that the claims adjusters who had inspected the car had not updated their reports to reflect their writing off the car, when he'd reviewed my case earlier.

 

[mattack4000]

It's USAA, they will try to screw you over. Good luck!

To guard against them dragging their feet, I think I have a $5000 rental car policy. I figure if they don't pay out quickly, I will get a nice cool car to drive for a couple of weeks at least.

 

[avesraggiana]

It's USAA, they will try to screw you over. Good luck!

To guard against them dragging their feet, I think I have a $5000 rental car policy. I figure if they don't pay out quickly, I will get a nice cool car to drive for a couple of weeks at least.

That's dispiriting to hear. I just gave up what little leverage I had to get them to settle early by releasing the car to them. Damn...

 

[avesraggiana]

Uh, oh. Not looking good...just got this email:

May 14, 2018

We are writing regarding the following claim:

Your claim is unresolved because we are pending our extension and your acceptance of our total loss settlement offer for your 2017 Tesla X. Your total loss adjuster, Yohana Romo at 210-531-8722 extension 74691, will be reaching out to you shortly to discuss the process.
After this information is received, we'll review the claim and make our decision.

 

[Jayrod]

Uh, oh. Not looking good...just got this email:

May 14, 2018

We are writing regarding the following claim:

Your claim is unresolved because we are pending our extension and your acceptance of our total loss settlement offer for your 2017 Tesla X. Your total loss adjuster, Yohana Romo at 210-531-8722 extension 74691, will be reaching out to you shortly to discuss the process.
After this information is received, we'll review the claim and make our decision.

No numbers yet? Or they need more time?

 

[AviP]

Well, if they lowball get a lawyer. Let them know you disagree. For that, you should know what to expect in the first place. Do your homework. Everything can be negotiated reasonably and your insurance company does not want the headache of a lawyer either.

 

[avesraggiana]

No numbers yet? Or they need more time?

I think, both. There’s not even a whiff of a talk of a payout amount right now. I’m bracing myself for a tussle.

 

[avesraggiana]

Well, if they lowball get a lawyer. Let them know you disagree. For that, you should know what to expect in the first place. Do your homework. Everything can be negotiated reasonably and your insurance company does not want the headache of a lawyer either.

Thanks. The other day I went on various websites like cars.com, autotrader.com, etc to find comparables. Turns out there just aren’t many X100Ds built in 2017 with only 5000 miles on it, to be had. Even a nationwide search turned up fewer than half a dozen examples. And as for the Tesla website, nothing at all.

I think part of the delay is their inability to come up with an opening bid. Whenever they call, I’ll be ready, and the first thing I’ll ask for after they present their figure is a copy of the evaluation sheet they used to work up the number. I’ve already heard that many times insurance companies get this fantastically wrong.

And, yes. I’ve got a lawyer’s number in my Rolodex. I’m loath to use him because of his fees, but I will if things come to that.

 

[mattack4000]

Give your states department of insurance a quick call

 

[GOPJEW]

Thanks. The other day I went on various websites like cars.com, autotrader.com, etc to find comparables. Turns out there just aren’t many X100Ds built in 2017 with only 5000 miles on it, to be had. Even a nationwide search turned up fewer than half a dozen examples. And as for the Tesla website, nothing at all.

I think part of the delay is their inability to come up with an opening bid. Whenever they call, I’ll be ready, and the first thing I’ll ask for after they present their figure is a copy of the evaluation sheet they used to work up the number. I’ve already heard that many times insurance companies get this fantastically wrong.

And, yes. I’ve got a lawyer’s number in my Rolodex. I’m loath to use him because of his fees, but I will if things come to that.

Let us know what they said - I have USAA and had an accident in my S - they were awesome - only problem I had was staying on top of the adjuster/body shop but they were excellent to work with.

I had one other car totaled by USAA (not my fault) and they were amazing with it as well.

My guess is this is a very large coverage with, as others have stated, a still not-fully-understood vehicle/valuation so it may take longer and some negotiation.

Keep us updated and good luck!

 

[avesraggiana]

Let us know what they said - I have USAA and had an accident in my S - they were awesome - only problem I had was staying on top of the adjuster/body shop but they were excellent to work with.

I had one other car totaled by USAA (not my fault) and they were amazing with it as well.

My guess is this is a very large coverage with, as others have stated, a still not-fully-understood vehicle/valuation so it may take longer and some negotiation.

Keep us updated and good luck!

Thank you. I definitely will be posting future updates, as this saga unfolds.

 

[Malbrough]

I've been with USAA for 20 years, and they've been great. I'm interested in this thread since I have our 2017 Model X 75D insured through them. Our coverage costs us $200 per month for 100/300/100, with towing, rental reimbursement, etc. Don't know if that is good or not, but I've been happy with their service when I've needed it.

I just looked on Autotrader for similar 2017 Model X100D and saw a few priced in the low 100k range. Keep us posted and good luck!

 

[jbcarioca]

I also have been with USAA since the world was young. In my experience they have often not been terribly fast with unusual items but they have never been poor to deal with. Were it me, I'd follow up with them by telephone, and I'd also try to get a quote for a similar CPO from Tesla, if they have some. That will probably help. USAA simply will not have comparables, so they will be unsure. Keep in touch with them, it works.

 

[GOPJEW]

I've been with USAA for 20 years, and they've been great. I'm interested in this thread since I have our 2017 Model X 75D insured through them. Our coverage costs us $200 per month for 100/300/100, with towing, rental reimbursement, etc. Don't know if that is good or not, but I've been happy with their service when I've needed it.

I just looked on Autotrader for similar 2017 Model X100D and saw a few priced in the low 100k range. Keep us posted and good luck!

Damn am I jealous about your rate. No tickets/accidents on my account, but 5 cars and 3 teenagers on my account (with two cars corporate) costs me a heckuva lot more than you!

 

[avesraggiana]

Damn am I jealous about your rate. No tickets/accidents on my account, but 5 cars and 3 teenagers on my account (with two cars corporate) costs me a heckuva lot more than you!

The claim on the X100D my dad crashed into the house hasn’t even been settled yet and already my premiums have risen. Two Teslas with three drivers, to include myself and both my senior citizen parents, went from $265/month to $300/month.

My dad has declared he’s done with driving for good. I’m hoping to get a break on my insurance rates when I remove him.