A rough morning…

[BajaTym]

USAA contacted me this afternoon, it seems the driver only has $25k in coverage, nothing more. So, I've reengaged Allstate and initially received a bunch of pushback, but after about 20 mins of stern discussion, and highlighting my 20+ years at Allstate, things seem to be moving in "a" direction.

Things I've learned today:

1. $25k is minimum insurance SC requires
2. That there's such a thing as Uninsured Motorist Coverage
3. Insurance sucks HEAVY goat balls
4. I have no idea how this "adventure" will pan out

Oh the fun!

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[USMC_1Wire6337]

USAA contacted me this afternoon, it seems the driver only has $25k in coverage, nothing more. So, I've reengaged Allstate and initially received a bunch of pushback, but after about 20 mins of stern discussion, and highlighting my 20+ years at Allstate, things seem to be moving in "a" direction.

Things I've learned today:

1. $25k is minimum insurance SC requires
2. That there's such a thing as Uninsured Motorist Coverage
3. Insurance sucks HEAVY goat balls
4. I have no idea how this "adventure" will pan out

Oh the fun!

That sucks! And to think, it was just a few days of Starbucks to get the right coverage to help people out. If you can't cover ruining someone's life, take a bus. /end rant

 

[NachoRuby]

USAA contacted me this afternoon, it seems the driver only has $25k in coverage, nothing more. So, I've reengaged Allstate and initially received a bunch of pushback, but after about 20 mins of stern discussion, and highlighting my 20+ years at Allstate, things seem to be moving in "a" direction.

Things I've learned today:

1. $25k is minimum insurance SC requires
2. That there's such a thing as Uninsured Motorist Coverage
3. Insurance sucks HEAVY goat balls
4. I have no idea how this "adventure" will pan out

Oh the fun!

This has happened to me before, they hit 3 of our street parked vehicles in succession, asleep at the wheel. And the minimum in my state is only $5000! That was several years ago. But I have under insured motorist coverage, and GEICO took care of me. Hopefully allstate does the same here.

 

[BajaTym]

This has happened to me before, they hit 3 of our street parked vehicles in succession, asleep at the wheel. And the minimum in my state is only $5000! That was several years ago. But I have under insured motorist coverage, and GEICO took care of me. Hopefully allstate does the same here.

Good to hear you were covered and that they took care of you.

As for me, before today I’d never even heard of underinsured motorist coverage, or knew there was a need for such specific coverage. I’d blindly assumed my insurance simply covered me and would go after whoever caused the accident. In all my years if driving I’ve never dealt with an accident that was more than a couple $k. Even then, it involved my wife’s car and in every instance it was just covered.

Before the end of 2017 I was in the military and moved around a lot during my 22 years of AD. We switched to Allstate over 20 years ago and have just been moving cars to/from the same policy. Things just got busy and I failed to stay on top of the state-to-state details.

This experience has forced us to take a serious look as the coverage across all 4…correction, 3 of our cars (my wife’s, and 2 daughter’s). We discovered that we’ve been a little lazy over the decades and were all under the impression that we had “full coverage”.

Once all the smoke clears we’ll be making some serious insurance assessments and taking all this more seriously.

in the end, I may come down to getting an attorney and filing a lawsuit against the other driver. I’d rather not, but $25k is a long way away from what I paid and might be required.

 

[AmosMoses01]

Good to hear you were covered and that they took care of you.

As for me, before today I’d never even heard of underinsured motorist coverage, or knew there was a need for such specific coverage. I’d blindly assumed my insurance simply covered me and would go after whoever caused the accident. In all my years if driving I’ve never dealt with an accident that was more than a couple $k. Even then, it involved my wife’s car and in every instance it was just covered.

Before the end of 2017 I was in the military and moved around a lot during my 22 years of AD. We switched to Allstate over 20 years ago and have just been moving cars to/from the same policy. Things just got busy and I failed to stay on top of the state-to-state details.

This experience has forced us to take a serious look as the coverage across all 4…correction, 3 of our cars (my wife’s, and 2 daughter’s). We discovered that we’ve been a little lazy over the decades and were all under the impression that we had “full coverage”.

Once all the smoke clears we’ll be making some serious insurance assessments and taking all this more seriously.

in the end, I may come down to getting an attorney and filing a lawsuit against the other driver. I’d rather not, but $25k is a long way away from what I paid and might be required.

Hat tip to you sir, thank you for your service! Also, thank you for being a wonderul example of someone with a great attitude in the face of some really cruddy stuff happening to you. When I was in college in the 80's I was in multiple accidents over the span of six months that all weren't my fault, but the other parties either left the scene of the accident or had almost no insurance. From those painful experiences I learned to make sure insurance was dialed up a bunch.

I truly pray that your physical health is back to 100%, and when everything settles your vehicle situation ends up with you taken care of and being in an even better situation/rig than when this all started.

 

[rr11]

Not sure of the law in SC, My wife was rear-ended a few years back, the 17 yo did not have but 25K in insurance. My USAA policy paid the difference.

 

[BajaTym]

Hat tip to you sir, thank you for your service! Also, thank you for being a wonderul example of someone with a great attitude in the face of some really cruddy stuff happening to you. When I was in college in the 80's I was in multiple accidents over the span of six months that all weren't my fault, but the other parties either left the scene of the accident or had almost no insurance. From those painful experiences I learned to make sure insurance was dialed up a bunch.

I truly pray that your physical health is back to 100%, and when everything settles your vehicle situation ends up with you taken care of and being in an even better situation/rig than when this all started.

You’re too kind. All I can say about my attitude is that I do my beat to keep things in perspective, life is too short to get worked up over foolishness. Simply, I can imagine that, on my deathbed, I’ll even remember this incident. It’s far less important than any amount of time I’ve spent with my wife, children and close friends. So, while I’m not happy about any of this, in the end it truly won’t matter.

 

[BajaTym]

Not sure of the law in SC, My wife was rear-ended a few years back, the 17 yo did not have but 25K in insurance. My USAA policy paid the difference.

Yeah, I’m not 100% sure of the law in SC either. I’m fairly confident that Allstate will cover the cost of repairs/replacement. It’s more of a waiting game at this point. As it stands neither company has even inspectied it yet. They’ve only looked at the photos I’ve submitted. Of the 4 or so insurance reps I’ve spoken to over the phone, one said it looks repairable (as in cheaper than replacement), one said she wasn’t able to comment on that, one said it looks like it’ll be totaled, and the last went back and forth between totaled and repairable.

Thanks for the post. ?

 

[BajaTym]

UPDATE: Long story, short... since I hadn't heard anything from Allstate (my insurance company) since I filed my claim, I decided to reach out to my claim officer via the Allstate mobile app. After three days of no response, I called and got an, "I'll be out of the office until Aug 1st" message, but his mailbox was full so I couldn't leave a message. So undeterred I did a little digging and found the claim officer's manager and called her. Unfortunately I wasn't able to speak to her either, but I did leave a message.

About an hour latter I received a call from anther Allstate rep explaining that they've determined the vehicle to be a total loss and will awarding me a small amount over what I paid for it (approx. $60k). I'm sure it'll take a few days to process, payoff the bank, and then forward the difference to my account. I also get to keep using the supplied real for an additional 7 days.

Now comes the difficult part, what to do from here. From the way I see it, I have 5 clear options (and possibly more):

1. Buy another Gladiator off my local lot, a close match to what I had (will probably be a different color).
2. Buy another Gladiator, but from Gupton (which I've not looked into beyond this thread).
3. Buy another Gladiator off my local lot, but a lower cost package (maybe an Overland or Sport), then use the savings to lift/mod the truck.
4. Buy a used Tacoma (preferably 2000 or older). I've owned an 98 and 2000 Tacoma Ext Cab 4x4 in the past and loved/miss them.
5. Go back to a more affordable Wrangler.
6. Not sure, maybe just wait and watch what comes available.

While this shouldn't be a difficult, it is. I don't regret buying my other Gladiator, I've have a few Jeeps and enjoy them, but the end cost of this Gladiator has never sat well. I do tend to have a difficult time buying things for myself, regardless of wether or not I can afford it (which I can).

Thanks for all the comments and support, this community is awesome.

 

[Gren71]

I don’t often read all the way through threads like this but I really appreciate your updates and info. Really is great food for though for all of us who haven’t been in your position.

Its great to have a bit of a strip map of the process now just incase something happens.

Im VERY glad it seems like its all working out for you.

As for the next vehicle. I get that being a hard decision. But the best advice i can offer is that its okay to treat yourself to nice things when the budget allows. And with the insurance payment it seems like it would be an even, or nearly even, break for your budget.

This would be a good opportunity to really feel out what your end goal is for your vehicle.

Daily driver only?
Mall crawler?
Bro dozer?
Off road machine?
Overlander?
Tow horse?

Then plan out what option, with what upgrades, would meet that need / desire.

Id be surprised if you landed on another taco. Personally the more i look at them they’re bland and unimpressive.

 

[MOJTAVE]

UPDATE: Long story, short... since I hadn't heard anything from Allstate (my insurance company) since I filed my claim, I decided to reach out to my claim officer via the Allstate mobile app. After three days of no response, I called and got an, "I'll be out of the office until Aug 1st" message, but his mailbox was full so I couldn't leave a message. So undeterred I did a little digging and found the claim officer's manager and called her. Unfortunately I wasn't able to speak to her either, but I did leave a message.

About an hour latter I received a call from anther Allstate rep explaining that they've determined the vehicle to be a total loss and will awarding me a small amount over what I paid for it (approx. $60k). I'm sure it'll take a few days to process, payoff the bank, and then forward the difference to my account. I also get to keep using the supplied real for an additional 7 days.

Now comes the difficult part, what to do from here. From the way I see it, I have 5 clear options (and possibly more):

1. Buy another Gladiator off my local lot, a close match to what I had (will probably be a different color).
2. Buy another Gladiator, but from Gupton (which I've not looked into beyond this thread).
3. Buy another Gladiator off my local lot, but a lower cost package (maybe an Overland or Sport), then use the savings to lift/mod the truck.
4. Buy a used Tacoma (preferably 2000 or older). I've owned an 98 and 2000 Tacoma Ext Cab 4x4 in the past and loved/miss them.
5. Go back to a more affordable Wrangler.
6. Not sure, maybe just wait and watch what comes available.

While this shouldn't be a difficult, it is. I don't regret buying my other Gladiator, I've have a few Jeeps and enjoy them, but the end cost of this Gladiator has never sat well. I do tend to have a difficult time buying things for myself, regardless of wether or not I can afford it (which I can).

Thanks for all the comments and support, this community is awesome.

Hi, I am very sorry to hear about your accident. I hope things are ok with you and your family.

did you ever retain an attorney? If so, what was the outcome?

 

[Silverator]

1. That there's such a thing as Uninsured Motorist Coverage

So sorry to hear about your jeep, and your personal tragedy. One additional thing I learned the hard way (broken back and a couple years of recovery) - there is ALSO a thing called UNDER insured coverage. That is the one you really need to up, as everyone is buying as cheap as possible these days. If I had had that, I'd have been good. As it was I lost a ton of work, etc.. Didn't need a rental car - I could barely walk for a long time. Note to the wise - up that UNDER insured coverage.

Ironically, I maxed it out AFTER the accident. How much you might ask? An additional $12 per 6 months.

 

[shokker70]

It's amazing how much damage can be done. Mine was hit back in early May. Didn't want them to total mine, because I ordered exactly what I wanted, and it can no longer be ordered. Almost 3 months later and mine is still in the body shop. So I guess consider yourself lucky! At least a little bit!

Glad no one was seriously injured! Good luck with whatever decision you make!

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