What's with that last part?

 

CarSmartNot,

Your comments continue to display both your youth and your ignorance.

My dealings with Geico are simply a professional business transaction, not a Mafia hit.

You've been warned before - think before you type....

 

Kudos to your mature patience, having been in accidents before, I have not had the opportunity to deal with an insurance company as professionally as you, they would treat me like a until a lawyer was called, then I would ask get what was a tad over fair for the sake of poor insurance effort

Best of luck!

 

Your right, sorry about that, sometimes I say ignorant things.

 

Update:

The local Geico rep called me today to inform me that they have decided to stay with their $2,500 offer to settle my Diminished Value claim....

So I filled out all of the required legal forms that I had obtained more than a month ago and headed down to the county courthouse this afternoon, paid the $70 filing fee, and officially filed my lawsuit. Court date is January 11th at 1:30 pm. I had to sue the driver who hit me along with Geico corporate. I called him before I headed downtown to provide a heads-up on what I was doing and why. He completely understood that my issue is against Geico, not him. I also explained that I'm pursuing financial compensation 100% from Geico, not him. He thanked me for calling and informing him ahead of the sheriff showing up at his door to serve him my subpoena for court and scaring the hell out of both him and his wife....

My Diminished Value appraiser still thinks that when Geico corporate receives my subpoena to show up in court on January 11th, they'll finally realize that I'm dead serious about this matter and they'll substantially raise their settlement offer to me in an effort to settle out of court. We'll see. At this point, I'm fed up with their games and unless they meet my terms in full, I'd just as soon take them to court and really run up their tab to the max....

Stay tuned, and Happy Thanksgiving to all....

 

mucho appreciated for the update!

 

Sheesh! Next time I get into an accident, I'm calling you!

 

I wish I could be on the bench when that case comes to court. I preside over small claims in a county in N.C. and that would be an interesting case to hear. Good luck Jon!

 

Thanks for the good wishes....

Although I just filed my lawsuit on Wednesday afternoon and it is Thanksgiving weekend here in the U.S., Geico corporate is finally reacting. This morning they sent me a do-not-reply e-mail informing me that my claim is being moved to a different department within their corporate infrastructure. Does that mean a truly acceptable offer to settle out-of-court is finally forthcoming from them? Who knows, but this could get interesting (and even more fun)....

 

Nice, so how much aprox. are you trying to get back, including fees, court fees, money for destruction of your car, etc?

 

I'll settle for five grand. I think that is fair and reasonable all the way around....

 

Update:

It appears that Geico has decided not to increase their Diminished Value offer to me. They will take their chances in court against me on January 11th. They've hired a local defense attorney and are sticking with their most recent offer to me of $2,500. I'll be seeking a full five grand when I get in front of the judge. Now that I finally know the course of action this little dispute will take, it's time to start preparing my case. The documentation I've assembled thus far is more than an inch thick. I'll need to carefully sort through all of it and whittle it down to five or six major bullet points that strongly support my case. My hired appraiser will assist in this effort, and he'll also serve as my star witness in court. I'm working on my opening statement this week and hope to be able to lay out my case, cover all the facts, and drive my major points home within the first three minutes. So I'll need to be clear, concise, organized, and persuasive. I think I can manage that without too much difficulty....

Stay tuned....

 

I surely would not want to face off against you Jon!!! Best of luck my friend.

 

Good luck Jon. Take the whole file with you. It may scare the dickens out of them.

 

Go Jon ......Good luck to you bud, and please keep us informed.
Just a word following on from Mohrd's comments - TAKE THE WHOLE FILE WITH YOU!
There's nothing like times / dates / names / letters / correspondance / faxes / emails etc etc etc in abundance to show weight behind your arguement and also that you are prepared and organised.
Albeit, you may have to use bullet points in the short time you have to put your case, but, the backup is there if you need it

All the best

 

Guys, not only is the entire file going to court with me, but it will actually go in triplicate (that's one copy for the judge, one copy for the defense, and one copy for me). It will probably take more time to present the documentation to the judge and to the defense than it will take for me to verbally explain my case. I know that my documentation will be the crushing blow against Geico. But in Small Claims Court, your "stage time" is limited to no more than 20 minutes per side. So I can't spend all my time passing around my documents. I have to file what is important, and then wait to see what additional backing documentation the judge wants to see or discuss. So document organization and an ability to get to whatever piece of paper is being asked for very quickly will be of utmost importance. I'll spend as much pre-court time organizing and cross-referencing my documents as I will preparing and practicing my verbal performance....

 

Maybe with a little luck, the judge will be a Jaguar Enthusiast to boot!

 

Funny, for the 7 months this going to enter, you would think that Gecko would have spent more than 2500 dealing with this internally not to mention incurring future lawyer costs... Is it just me?

 

Well, look at it this way. Geico wants to pay me $2,500 right now to settle my Diminished Value claim against them. I've told them that amount is not even close to being realistic, and I've filed a lawsuit against them. So they hired a local attorney to handle their side of my case on January 11th. They'll probably have to pay him at least $800 to $1,000. They'll also have to pay the guy they hired to inspect my car back on October 28th to show up in court to testify in their behalf. They'll probably have to pay him $400 to $500. So yes, by the time we reach court, Geico will have significant expenses committed to my case before a verdict is even reached. I insisted to Geico management all along that it would be less costly to them to reach a fair settlement with me and therefore avoid court altogether. I gave them every opportunity for more than a month to make a more reasonable offer to me. They chose not to. That's okay by me - I know they are running up their own internal tab, and if I clearly prove my case in court and the judge rules in my favor and Geico must pay me the full diminished value as determined by my appraiser, plus my appraiser's court appearance fee, plus all my court costs, as well as all the money Geico will have spent on lawyers and appraisers and who knows what else, Geico's final out-of-pocket costs in this case could approach $8,000 or more. My job on January 11th is to make certain that all of this indeed occurs....

 

Exactly. Make your case plain and simple and refer to your file as documents his or her honor may be interested in should they need clarification. Now Jon, remember that your time has value too. I hope you aren't spending more than $2500 of your own time and talent just to make a point of beating them. What is your small claims limit?