Stories from the Insurance files

[mctriumph]

Over the last 50years I have seen a lot of auto claims from both sides ,as a repairer and an adjuster.
The first accident in the 74 MGB brought to mind a good story from a few years ago,worth the telling.
"Bob" had a nice 65 Mustang convertible which he had insured with some farm or other for many years.
In the 90's when it was restored, he had purchased a stated value policy of 10K. Not too bad for the time
but 20 years on ,not at all adequate.
"Bob" had a garage fire that scorched the car pretty badly one day, and it needed well over 10 K to repair it.
His adjuster came out and offered him 8 k and he could keep the car. I heard his tale of woe , and advised him
to call the adjuster and say"if you do NOT want a large E&O claim against your company ,Bring out a draft for the
10K today."
He got paid promptly , and we were able to repair his car. Errors & Omissions on the part of the agent would have been a
good case in court. Bob(not his real name) got good collector car AGREED value insurance . He also learned that you NEVER
try to clean up spilled gasoline with a shop vac!!
Mad dog

 

[mikephillips]

And then there is the other side. Knew a guy when I was in high school used to "borrow" his dad's Alfa and run around the countryside. Well one day he had an accident, single car off road type, and bent up the body pretty good. So he and his dad took out into the woods well out of town, removed the seats and some other stuff, piled leaves and wood and stuff in it, waited a day and reported it stolen. Month later it was found and they got a full value check. Years later he was so proud of how they'd "taken" the system.

 

[NutmegCT]

"Years later he was so proud of how they'd "taken" the system."

And thus, everyone's premiums went up.

Sometimes I wonder about using classic car insurance to pay for transporting a vehicle from one place to another. Especially when many classic car owners could easily afford to pay for the transporting themselves.

 

[mikephillips]

Fate caught up with him about 25 years ago. He moved to Moscow and went to work for some questionable characters and was later found in an abandoned building with lead poisoning.... Karma is real....

 

[mctriumph]

Surprised you did'nt ask about the shop vac. It re-entered earths atmosphere later that afternoon but
sadly did NOT survive the landing. "bob" was released from hospital after 48 hours, mostly 2nd degree burns.
The only reason the entire garage was not turned to ashes was the close proximity to the firestation.
Mad dog

 

[Gliderman8]

Hard to imagine ~anyone~ would use a vac to clean up gasoline.

 

[John Turney]

Hard to imagine ~anyone~ would use a vac to clean up gasoline.

You haven't been reading the comments on some Internet sites.

 

[mctriumph]

Glideman, I can assure you it is all true. (except the vac entering low earth orbit) Names were changed as I would not rat out
a good customer...who was accident prone to say the least!!
Mad dog

 

[Gliderman8]

Glideman, I can assure you it is all true. (except the vac entering low earth orbit) Names were changed as I would not rat out
a good customer...who was accident prone to say the least!!
Mad dog

Oh, I believe it’s true. I guess his antenna didn’t pick up all the channels

 

[mctriumph]

It was lucky he was not killed, several gallons of gas got spilled from the tank of the Mustang he was fixing. The resulting fire
was horrific.. For myself, gasoline spills are the most scarry things in a shop. There are so many ways things can go straight
into the crapper.
I am with you ,never in my life have I ever imagined trying to vacuum spilled gas.
Mad dog

 

[NutmegCT]

Oh, I believe it’s true. I guess his antenna didn’t pick up all the channels

Or as we sometimes say here ... His chandelier is missing a few candles.

 

[mctriumph]

Nutmeg is not wrong, common sense IS an oxymoron. Bob had taught high school shop class before he retired.
One can only wonder at his safety lectures.......or their results.
This picture is the result of a bad decision made by a Doctor in turn 4 Heartland Park Topeka.
Mad dog