Update:

Geico finally paid all subrogation costs as a result of the August 3rd accident earlier this month. State Farm in turn issued me a check for $500 to refund my deductible that I had to pay to get the repair process started way back on August 5th....

Here's where it gets interesting. In early October, I formally notified Geico that I would be filing a Diminished Value claim against them. The purpose of this is to reimburse me for the loss of value our S-Type has suffered after being plowed in the accident. Initial estimates range between $3,500 and $4,700....

Geico has offered me the grand sum of $400 for Diminished Value compensation. As you would expect, I told them to take a hike and I would see them in court. So they sent out their appraiser this morning to look at our car. I'm having our car formally appraised by my company of choice later this afternoon. Once I have my copy of the Diminished Value appraisal in hand, I'll have to sue Geico as well as the driver at fault to get both of them into small claims court so I can plead my case. No attorney needed - I'll handle my case myself. I'll go after my diminished value appraisal amount, my cost to obtain that appraisal, all court filing costs, and any other expenses that I must accumulate as a result of this case. The total amount I'll be seeking should approach $5,000....

It will be interesting to see if Geico comes back to me with a counter offer in an effort to keep me from dragging them into court. If they had been reasonable to start with, we would have already settled by now....

This should be fun. More to come as it develops....

 

...me love a good soap opera. My mom is really into the daytime court TV shows too.

 

So will you be fighting that little stupid lizard Geico thing in court.. and his stupid british gay accent?

 

Go Jon89!

 

Go Jon kick some butt
Good luck, hope it works out for you

 

Easy there...... Please remember that many of our wonderful members hail from accross the sea and that was not a very kind thing to say. I certainly hope it was made to poke fun at the Geico character and not a people..... Sorry Jim and H20 if I am taking away from your role here...

And... Go get 'em Jon... Keep us posted.

 

"insert" "1 size 13 boot and 1 Geico gecko smiley"
Jon, I wish you the best of luck. If the case does go to court, I'd love to see the faces when you pull out all the documentation since the accident.

 

Good Luck Jon. Geico is no fun to deal with on either side of the fence.

 

Thanks to all for the good wishes....

As I said before, this should be fun....

I'll do my best to keep this thread updated. Nothing new will occur until I get my copy of the diminished value appraisal from my hired appraiser (which should take about 10 days). He spent 90 minutes with the car yesterday, took more than 100 photos and many, many different measurements, and finished up by driving the car for about 5 miles. The Geico appraiser spent less than 10 minutes with the car, took one photo, and never even got in it. I was surprised at how little he was interested in documenting any of the repairs....

Stay tuned....

 

If I were you i'd try to shred geico and take every dime you can possibly take, because of the fact that they tried to screw you even though you were playing it with a 'i'll be nice' type of mind.

If I were you i'd show my inner jew and really go after them for every penny.

 

Update:

Geico raised their Diminished Value offer to me this morning from the initial $400 to $2,500. Just by hiring a professional appraiser last week (which cost me $325, by the way), I immediately got their attention - I guess most folks in my situation threaten going to court but never follow up. I haven't received my appraisal yet so I can't say how far apart the values are. This gets more fun all the time....

 

Hi Jon,

Things are looking up. Sounds like the old line..we've established what you are, we're now dickering over price. I still think you should sic your wife on them. That would be fun to watch.

Mike

 

CSN, are you really not that smart in other ways? Some may find this offensive. I do.

 

I love jewish people, it was a joke...

 

Mike,

Believe it or not, I'll be a hell of a lot tougher in court than my wife would be. She's in court at least once a month prosecuting lousy parents who don't send their kids to school as required by law, so she has a professional reputation to protect. Me, I can just haul off and go for the jugular without worrying about my reputation....

 

Hi Jon,

Good luck and I say go for it. I have Geico and have had my ups and downs with them. A few years ago my wife had a small accident with my '96 XJ6. No bodywork damage but just some replaceable parts when she jumped a curb. The right side shock was toast and I wanted the left side replaced to match but was denied. I had to do that out of pocket. On the plus side, the rates are pretty reasonable and I get a retired military discount of 15% among other discounts.

Mike

 

Update:

I received my copy of the diminished value appraisal in the mail over the weekend. Per the Auto Appraisal Group Inc. experts, our S-Type lost $4,225 in diminished value as a result of the August 3rd accident caused by Geico's insured driver. So I forwarded a copy of my appraisal to Geico corporate headquarters in Virginia this morning via certified mail, essentially informing them that I'll settle out-of-court right now for $4,550 (which is the $4,225 diminished value assessment plus my $325 cost of having the professional appraisal performed). If they will meet my terms right now, they can save having to pay attorney costs, court costs, my appraiser testimony costs, etc.

It will be interesting to see if Geico decides to cut their losses now and pay up....

 

jon, update please.

 

Update, as requested:

I received the Certified Mail Return Receipt in yesterday's mail, so I know my package has been received at Geico's corporate headquarters. It was signed for on November 12th. I'll give Geico ten business days to respond to me. If they do not respond, or if they respond with a higher but still unacceptable offer, I'll file the necessary paperwork against them and the driver who hit me to bring my case to Small Claims Court here in Raleigh....

I do expect a substantially better offer from Geico. Whether it will be good enough to avoid going to court remains to be seen....

 

Go after then for all the money you can get, and some on top of that. You tried to be a good citizen but they were greedy.