Insurance company claim experience.

[Bunnylebowski]

Uh oh. I had a bumper scrape (probably happened at Kent hospital ironically). Hollis auto body charged USAA over $18K (happy to elaborate on all the unnecessary work they did). I realize you have no other choice for a Lucid approved body shop, but Hollis is filled with thieves.

Whoa. That’s steep. Front or rear bumper? How much of that was labor? They haven’t disclosed to me how much I’ll owe out of pocket since Esurance refused to pay their labor rates. I know for me they need to replace the front right wheel cuz I scraped the rim pretty harsh, front bumper also had some structures underneath that were damaged although the sensors were intact (they’ll still need to recalibrate), and repaint the frunk on the edge where it got scraped. I really hope they don’t say they needed to replace the frunk. They said they could get me the car back the week after next, this week is hard because of the holiday weekend. And yeah I got a door ding at Kent, they said they’d fix that also. Hope it’s not an extra grand for that ‍

 

[Dhimiter]

Whoa. That’s steep. Front or rear bumper? How much of that was labor? They haven’t disclosed to me how much I’ll owe out of pocket since Esurance refused to pay their labor rates. I know for me they need to replace the front right wheel cuz I scraped the rim pretty harsh, front bumper also had some structures underneath that were damaged although the sensors were intact (they’ll still need to recalibrate), and repaint the frunk on the edge where it got scraped. I really hope they don’t say they needed to replace the frunk. They said they could get me the car back the week after next, this week is hard because of the holiday weekend. And yeah I got a door ding at Kent, they said they’d fix that also. Hope it’s not an extra grand for that ‍

This was my damage. I kid you not. No panels were bent. The car was parked when the deed happened.

They replaced so much unnecessary stuff (including my driver side headlight, which then subsequently failed and took an extra week for them to source an actually new headlight). All this for a friggin bumper scrape. USAA was pretty outraged but they care about the customer and paid the bill. It was north of $18K.

 

[Bunnylebowski]

This was my damage. I kid you not. No panels were bent. The car was parked when the deed happened.

They replaced so much unnecessary stuff (including my driver side headlight, which then subsequently failed and took an extra week for them to source an actually new headlight). All this for a friggin bumper scrape. USAA was pretty outraged but they care about the customer and paid the bill. It was north of $18K.
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I wonder if they damaged the headlight in removing the bumper which necessitated a replacement. Mine does have a bent panel. The biggest concern I have is it having some kind of issue when I pick it up, needing a bring back like you had to do. Also every time I check the car on the app it says the frunk is open. I hope nothing is broken with it!

 

[Dhimiter]

I wonder if they damaged the headlight in removing the bumper which necessitated a replacement. Mine does have a bent panel. The biggest concern I have is it having some kind of issue when I pick it up, needing a bring back like you had to do. Also every time I check the car on the app it says the frunk is open. I hope nothing is broken with it!

They had left my frunk open for 5 days. I wouldn’t read into it. What I would suggest however is calling them and letting them know to call you if there are repairs being done beyond what the original estimate specified. My original estimate from USAA was somewhere around $1500. Next thing I know is they’re “done” with the vehicle and it cost $18K.

One more thing - it’s MA law that if you request the original parts they removed to replace, they have to give them to you. This will freak them out and they’ll only replace what actually needs replacing. That shop is know for fraud.

 

[Bunnylebowski]

They had left my frunk open for 5 days. I wouldn’t read into it. What I would suggest however is calling them and letting them know to call you if there are repairs being done beyond what the original estimate specified. My original estimate from USAA was somewhere around $1500. Next thing I know is they’re “done” with the vehicle and it cost $18K.

One more thing - it’s MA law that if you request the original parts they removed to replace, they have to give them to you. This will freak them out and they’ll only replace what actually needs replacing. That shop is know for fraud.

Yeah we’ll see what the total is like. They have communicated very very little to me. I knew it would be way over the initial estimate but hope it isn’t as high as yours since I gotta pay the labor out of pocket. This is really gonna suck if not only do I have to go to court with the insurance company, but then can’t trust the only shop that can work on the car. Thanks for the tip on asking for the parts. The upside is I drove the car for a month after the damage and everything was 100% functional, so anything they’d have to replace beyond bumper, repaint and recalibrate sensors would mean they broke it.

 

[Dhimiter]

They had left my frunk open for 5 days. I wouldn’t read into it. What I would suggest however is calling them and letting them know to call you if there are repairs being done beyond what the original estimate specified. My original estimate from USAA was somewhere around $1500. Next thing I know is they’re “done” with the vehicle and it cost $18K.

One more thing - it’s MA law that if you request the original parts they removed to replace, they have to give them to you. This will freak them out and they’ll only replace what actually needs replacing. That shop is know for fraud.

Yeah we’ll see what the total is like. They have communicated very very little to me. I knew it would be way over the initial estimate but hope it isn’t as high as yours since I gotta pay the labor out of pocket. This is really gonna suck if not only do I have to go to court with the insurance company, but then can’t trust the only shop that can work on the car. Thanks for the tip on asking for the parts. The upside is I drove the car for a month after the damage and everything was 100% functional, so anything they’d have to replace beyond bumper, repaint and recalibrate sensors would mean they broke it.

The recalibration has to be done at Lucid. So they will hand the car over to Natick. I hope they don’t gouge you. I’m almost happy to be moving to another area knowing I’ll never have to deal with Hollis Autobody again .

 

[Worldwide Beagle]

If you are a member of Consumer Reports they do a ranking of insurance companies although they did not include "Pure" in the rankings. At the very top was, no surprise, USAA with an overall satisfaction rating of 92; State Farm had an overall rating of 63. USAA is, of course, a limited membership company. The highest non limited national company was Amica with a score of 83.

When I added my AT to my USAA policy on Thursday, the young lady said: thanks for your 48 years of membership. Geez I felt old. I was told by a state insurance commissioner that USAA adjusters are taught to find a way to pay the claim, not deny it. They have always had my back.

When my father died years ago, I immediately called USAA on behalf of my mother, to inform them and start the policy changes. When, I called, I was transferred to a specialist in these matters. The very first words out of her mouth, after sorry for your loss: "this must be Colonel Rudy's son, Peter. We have you living at xxx, in Denver, with phone number xxxx. May we elevate your status as a primary contact along with your mother? And, we show your sister Beverly living in Annapolis MD. Shall I elevate her to a back up contact? And I have just sent a message to the US Air Force veteran affairs group with news of your father's death and your contact details. They will be in touch soon. (Father was a retired colonel). NOW THAT IS SERVICE.

 

[Bunnylebowski]

The recalibration has to be done at Lucid. So they will hand the car over to Natick. I hope they don’t gouge you. I’m almost happy to be moving to another area knowing I’ll never have to deal with Hollis Autobody again .

Yeah they told me the Lucid Natick guys come by and do the recalibration there, they’ll do them in batches like every couple weeks. Maybe since I’m paying out of pocket for labor and they know I’m getting a lawyer to get reimbursed for the labor they’ll not try to screw me over. We’ll see. Did you talk to Natick about Hollis being shady? It’s tough because since they do all these high end cars and are the only option I don’t know if Lucid can have much say since they already made them a certified shop, and Lucid was based out of there until the service center was built. What a mess. If there’s anything that would sour me on the ownership experience of the car, it’s actually this whole experience, though I do 80% blame the insurance co, who I’m getting rid of the second I get the car back.

 

[Dhimiter]

When I added my AT to my USAA policy on Thursday, the young lady said: thanks for your 48 years of membership. Geez I felt old. I was told by a state insurance commissioner that USAA adjusters are taught to find a way to pay the claim, not deny it. They have always had my back.

When my father died years ago, I immediately called USAA on behalf of my mother, to inform them and start the policy changes. When, I called, I was transferred to a specialist in these matters. The very first words out of her mouth, after sorry for your loss: "this must be Colonel Rudy's son, Peter. We have you living at xxx, in Denver, with phone number xxxx. May we elevate your status as a primary contact along with your mother? And, we show your sister Beverly living in Annapolis MD. Shall I elevate her to a back up contact? And I have just sent a message to the US Air Force veteran affairs group with news of your father's death and your contact details. They will be in touch soon. (Father was a retired colonel). NOW THAT IS SERVICE.

What a great story! Their service is unparalleled. Shame that more aren’t eligible to experience true customer service.

 

[Bunnylebowski]

Also I hate to say it but at least based on your pics, it doesn’t look like you have PPF? I think PPF would have just been able to be peeled off and replaced without replacing the whole bumper in your case. My impact was worse than yours because the panel was permanently deformed, but I was amazed at how less bad the damage looked when I peeled it off. It’s still $2K to replace front PPF but at least then it’s a detailing shop that does it and not Hollis. Hollis offered to redo the PPF but I told them no, I had someone else I wanted to, otherwise I bet my bill would be even more $$$.

 

[Dhimiter]

Also I hate to say it but at least based on your pics, it doesn’t look like you have PPF? I think PPF would have just been able to be peeled off and replaced without replacing the whole bumper in your case. My impact was worse than yours because the panel was permanently deformed, but I was amazed at how less bad the damage looked when I peeled it off. It’s still $2K to replace front PPF but at least then it’s a detailing shop that does it and not Hollis. Hollis offered to redo the PPF but I told them no, I had someone else I wanted to, otherwise I bet my bill would be even more $$$.

Guilty! I also don’t have a case on my iPhone lol

 

[Bunnylebowski]

Guilty! I also don’t have a case on my iPhone lol

Did they give you a reason why they replaced the headlight? I’m curious in case they do the same with my car.

 

[Dhimiter]

Did they give you a reason why they replaced the headlight? I’m curious in case they do the same with my car.

Retaining clips were broken. As you suggested earlier, they probably broke them during disassembly.

 

[Bunnylebowski]

I got my car back.
It cost me $19,214 to get the car back because my insurance company rejected the supplement because of the labor rates, then stopped communicating with Hollis auto body of me about next steps. They did however make sure my rental car ended today, making my choice to either leave my car I’m making payments on there forever and pay for a rental car too, or be my own insurance company and get my car back.
Fuck Esurance/Allstate/National General Insurance.
If any of you have them, get rid of them ASAP before the same thing happens to you. Because of this the shop told me they’re actually not accepting those insurance companies anymore.
I’ll get my $ back, they have to pay. Just waiting for the insurance commissioner to finish their investigation, and if they still don’t pay me back then hopefully lawyers can get them to pay me back. So glad to have the car back, but man, my head is spinning from how stupid this situation is.

 

[Dhimiter]

I got my car back.
It cost me $19,214 to get the car back because my insurance company rejected the supplement because of the labor rates, then stopped communicating with Hollis auto body of me about next steps. They did however make sure my rental car ended today, making my choice to either leave my car I’m making payments on there forever and pay for a rental car too, or be my own insurance company and get my car back.
Fuck Esurance/Allstate/National General Insurance.
If any of you have them, get rid of them ASAP before the same thing happens to you. Because of this the shop told me they’re actually not accepting those insurance companies anymore.
I’ll get my $ back, they have to pay. Just waiting for the insurance commissioner to finish their investigation, and if they still don’t pay me back then hopefully lawyers can get them to pay me back. So glad to have the car back, but man, my head is spinning from how stupid this situation is.

First, congrats on getting the car back.

Second, this situation completely sucks twofold and I’m sorry you have to deal with it without your insurance company’s backing. Not only is Hollis a professional insurance fraud institution but your insurance decided to screw you instead as punishment.

Did Lucid take the car for calibrating the front sensors? Give highway assist a try to make sure it works if you haven’t already.

 

[Bunnylebowski]

First, congrats on getting the car back.

Second, this situation completely sucks twofold and I’m sorry you have to deal with it without your insurance company’s backing. Not only is Hollis a professional insurance fraud institution but your insurance decided to screw you instead as punishment.

Did Lucid take the car for calibrating the front sensors? Give highway assist a try to make sure it works if you haven’t already.

Yeah Lucid did a great job with the car, recalibrating everything, HA works better than ever, it was dead-center on 495 and 95 the entire way home that I used it. They updated me to 2.0.17, did all the service bulletins, fixed a directional lamp that was failing QC after Hollis replaced it (I think replacing the light bar in my case was justified as I could see before I brought it in the seal had broken meaning water could ingress and short it out at any moment). Mark at Hollis went over everything with me in detail. I don't think they're fradulent, but I do think they're extremely expensive, partly because if even the slightest thing is off, they have to replace it, most things cannot be repaired due to their design, Lucid requires it as part of their contract. He told me they mark up Lucid parts 25% as there's no other parts source and part availability isn't great, meaning cars sit there for longer. Maybe your situation was different, but my bumper panel was visibly deformed and the light bar was visibly popped out from the seal under the frunk so I can see why they had to do such a big job. I'm sure all of this is scaring the bejesus out of insurance companies, but for them to just flat out reject the labor is beyond comprehension and absolutely a breach of contract and violation for RI and Mass right-to-repair laws. Like how do you fix a car without labor, when there is no other labor rate choice? It's the same rate as Aston Martin, which is even less defensible for the insurance co to reject given Lucid is now partners with Aston Martin.

 

[Worldwide Beagle]

Now we know why lawyers hate most insurance companies, even if we are representing them. So sorry for your troubles. Let me know if you need lawyer recommendations in Providence.

 

[Bunnylebowski]

Now we know why lawyers hate most insurance companies, even if we are representing them. So sorry for your troubles. Let me know if you need lawyer recommendations in Providence.

Thanks! I actually have someone already, and perhaps not-so-coincidentally a senior manager at NGIC/Esurance is suddenly taking interest saying he’s going to get it resolved. Funny how they ghosted me and the body shop for weeks until the insurance commissioner opened an investigation.

 

[Steveinarizona]

Thanks! I actually have someone already, and perhaps not-so-coincidentally a senior manager at NGIC/Esurance is suddenly taking interest saying he’s going to get it resolved. Funny how they ghosted me and the body shop for weeks until the insurance commissioner opened an investigation.

Well done. Typical insurance company practice. Deny, deny, deny until forced by circumstances (e.g., Insurance Commissioner investigation) to allow. The hope/expectation of the insurance company is that most insureds will give up before going all the way.

I applaud your efforts.

 

[Worldwide Beagle]

In law school, I wound up as a summer clerk for the Virginia Insurance Commissioner. Boy did it open my eyes that the goal of most insurance companies are out to only sell sell sell and really have no concern for the consumer REALLY needs. And, as you note, insurance companies really are afraid of the commissioners - they can halt sales in the state.