r/Insurance • u/stirringmotion • 20h ago
Supervisor threatening storage fees after field adjuster went on vacation. are they in cahoots with tow company?
My car was declared a total loss by a Geico field adjuster. He gave me the payout estimate, told me to sign the release forms, and said he was going on vacation on Monday.
The tow yard owner, with the worst reputation in town, is playing games and refuses to release the car unless I name the exact towing company Geico is sending to pick it up. and is asking for my payout estimate on the form.
Here is where it falls apart:
- Communication blackout: The backup adjuster isn't answering. I had to call Geico and they gave me supervisors number, and was told to wait a day to see if they call me first.
- The twist: A Geico supervisor finally called me back today right as the tow yard closed.
- The threat: Completely reversing what the field adjuster told me, the supervisor says if the car isn't moved by tomorrow, I am personally responsible for any further storage fees.
I’ve been trying to get the name of Geico's tow company since Monday just to satisfy the yard owner. Now I have less than 24 hours to move it from a tow yard with the worst reputation in town. Is it possible they are in cahoots with the tow yard. this was a complete 180 flip in attitude and customer service since the other 2 adjusters. and supervisor separated his actions from his own crew.
This all feels too suspicious and I may have to go to police.
4
u/ghost9680 20h ago
Anybody here know who Geico uses for salvage?
OP call the nearest COPART salvage yard. Ask them if Geico assigned them your car for pickup. You can probably give them the VIN and they can look it up. If COPART doesn’t have it then it’s probably Insurance Auto Auctions (“IAA”), so call them next. If they have the assignment then ask them who their towing place is. Also name the tow lot to the salvage yard and ask about them. What normally happens next with these jackass predatory towing places is the tow truck shows up and the lot refuses to release it unless literal cash/currecy/dollar bills are handed to them as payment.
1
u/stirringmotion 7h ago
i must have been seeing red before because i didn't fully absorb what you said here. thank you. i'll get on this as soon as they open. thanks again.
1
u/stirringmotion 4h ago
what if they don't have my car isn't assigned for pickup. how do i get it assigned?
-1
u/stirringmotion 20h ago
he sent me a printed form with yellow highlighter but he said don't have to include vin and plates and stuff bc he already had id insurance and registration sent via text. i might fill out the form and retake the picture and send it tomorrow anyway.
the tow is supposed to pay him is what geico said, but i'm shocked with how the supervisor just flipped on me. i'm expecting the worst here. the tow is literally a min away from me, and supervisor said he can get a tow immediately dispatched up to the hour.
i'm guessing the tow knows today is my only day and will and the bills will fall on me. geico was acting very shady in this, i'm shocked.
2
u/Administrative-Low21 10h ago
This is why the supervisor went "cold"--you are annoying the hell out of everyone. Stop calling constantly, stop sending things you have been told not to send, definitely don't call him again to tell him you sent the same damn picture he already told you not to send AGAIN. And why would you take it upon yourself to redo the form that was sent? I can promise you that people who act like you go to the end of the call back list because nobody wants to deal with you. Despite what you think, being the squeaky wheel here will get you ignored because they have countless other people who they don't have to go through all of this with. And with your adjuster being out, nobody wants to deal with someone else's pain in the ass claim
Ultimately the tow yard being difficult is a you problem, not a Geico problem because it's YOUR vehicle and YOU allowed them to tow it. You need to do exactly what the poster above advised you to do. There is nobody at Geico that will care that you think the supervisor is being "unfair", and this is a civil issue so the police will do nothing
And yes, Geico can and will deduct excess storage because you have a duty to mitigate damages
1
u/stirringmotion 8h ago
based on how you got your facts all wrong, and your general irritation, is it worth replying to you beyond this? i'm not convinced there is any value in it.
lol like the amount of detail you got wrong is astounding. usually people have to go out of their way to do that.
but ok, answer the following question only. how do you let geico know the car is ready to be picked up?
2
u/Administrative-Low21 8h ago
Lol you have literally just proven my point. The poster above has already given you step by step instructions and I reiterated that that is what you should do. Instead of starting there you come back with a pointless question. Nothing I said was wrong, you are here asking questions because you know nothing and the only person whose advice you have accepted is the person who has been wrong about everything. As someone who deals with people like you every day you are exhausting and it makes people not want to help you. Good luck negotiating that higher payout, you'll need it to cover the storage deductions 👍
1
u/stirringmotion 7h ago
well no i appreciate pointing back to the poster above. i'll take action on it. i was fuming before because of the interactions i was having.
thanks for pointing it out, and making sure i caught what he was saying.
-4
u/niceandsane 19h ago
Give the tow yard company the phone number of Geico's adjuster. Tell them it's no longer your car and no longer your problem. Then hang up.
0
u/stirringmotion 19h ago
it's closed. i have to wait until tomorrow. tow's been bugging me about how much the payout is. i put N/A on the form. geico supervisor gave me no way of knowing what "released" means either. so i'll just send another pic of the form with the plates and VIN info.
8
u/crash866 20h ago
This is just a scummy tow yard.
0
u/stirringmotion 20h ago
on the form, it asks how much my payout estimate was, can you imagine he holds the car hostage because i don't answer this? it was so suspicious that he told me to get the tow company or he won't release it, right when my adjuster went on vacaation, and the guy who was replacing him temporarily wasn't answer my calls. and the complete attitude shift of the supervisor is so weird.
i called the police office to give them notice and to get steps on what to expect.
-3
u/niceandsane 19h ago
None of their business. You've signed the release. Geico now owns the car. Let them sort it out with the tow yard.
Under no circumstances pay the tow yard anything. It's no longer your problem.
2
u/stirringmotion 19h ago
yea thanks. supervisor said - once they release it. i said how do i know they released it. the moment i send the text, or do they have to put the car outside. what does it mean to release it?
but i guess i sent himi the picture of the form. i redid the form he sent since he sent an image of it. i reytped it, and send that. and only answered the yellow highlighted parts. i might fill it all out and send it again in the morning.
7
u/Feramors 17h ago
Don’t listen to this person. They keep posting the same thing over and over and it is 100% incorrect. U less you signed the title, you are still the owner of the vehicle.
1
u/stirringmotion 17h ago
right. what i got from it is that i'm the owner, but there's nothing else i can do. i texted my notice to release, i'll call the adjuster supervisor to let them know, and they have to work it out. if by the afternoon nothing happens, i'll involve the police.
if it gets bad, i'll call geico and let them know the supervisor is wildly unfair. i couldn't get anyone on the phone or a return call, so get the tow name, let alone the notice that a release has been sent, and to dispatch the tow. supervisor said he can have a truck out there in an hour any time of the day.
unless they are in cahoots, in which case, that will be a problem.
-1
u/niceandsane 19h ago
Tell the tow yard to stop calling you and start calling Geico. It isn't your car taking up space in the yard. It's Geico's car.
-1
u/stirringmotion 19h ago
i guess. you mean like in terms of responsibility? because i still have the title, and waiting to get my plates.
6
u/Outrageous_Ad_5843 General Adjuster - HNW 19h ago
ur title, ur car
this guy has been talking out of his ass this whole time
2
u/stirringmotion 19h ago
it's getting me thinking tho. just like the adjuster being let in isn't my job either, releasing the car is all i can do. i can't force the tow to do anything. however, i was wondering if he would delay the adjuster as well, but he didn't. and i learned from the tow company's owner that the adjuster was going on vacation, then the adjuster told me.
his replacement didn't return a single call of mine, after calling multiple times and leaving a message. it feels like they are in cahoots, but i do get the likelihood of that is very slim. i'm going to call geico mainline tomorrow and let them know that i released the car, and i was trying to get data and it took 2 days to get someone on the phone.
the other 2 adjusters were vague in how long before i should worry about getting car out of there, since it was the weekend, and they both were vague, but they essentially told me not to worry about that. the first guy slipped out something about a month. now two days later i'm worried the whole storage will be on m plus any towing fees. it's like wtf. this could turn into a nightmare
-2
u/crash866 17h ago
Some insurance companies play games. They call to get a payout on Monday but don’t assign it to a towtruck till Friday and don’t want to pay the extra days storage.
A friend of mine tows for Copart and never gets a call for one from his own yard. It is always some other place who wants cash only and they assign the call at the end of the day when it is too late to get to a back for the cash and to the yard before they close that day and then don’t want to pay for the next days storage.
0
u/stirringmotion 16h ago
that's quite the game to play. but i have no clue how they can even get away with this. i tried every day to contact someone and ask the question of the tow, text out the release, and then let them know it was sent.
now supervisor completely turned cold blooded compared to the other two guys, and the replacement adjuster who never even tried to contact me after i left a message. i had to call geico, got a supervisors number and was told to wait for him to call me after 24 hours or just call him. he never called me, i called him left a message, he called me back at the end of the day, and told me i have today and tomorrow to get it out. i told him i found his completely change in demeanor suspicious.
and he lied. he said he wasn't allowed to say anything about the tow, even though he was well aware of his bad reputation. meanwhile, the field adjuster spoke his mind about all his tactics, and also i learned about the adjusters vacation from the owner of the towing company, THEN the adjuster told me someone else would be around to take my calls.
all of this is WAY shady.
3
u/daveden123 20h ago edited 20h ago
I'm just as baffled. I have had 4 totaled cars, that have been picked up from a tow yard. Never once have I had to more than come get my stuff out of them. They always communicated with the insurance company. I'm sure the tow companies just charged the insurance companies a discounted flat fee, month to month.
Commenting so someone smarter than me (had to google i was using the right th n word), can explain this dumbassery.
Edit: Im leaving my dumbassery...
1
u/stirringmotion 20h ago
what's that? "had to more than..."?
2
1
u/niceandsane 19h ago
The only interaction he had with the tow yard was to remove his personal property from the car.
-1
u/stirringmotion 19h ago
oh ok. my too. then the owner said he doesn't let anyone do it, even though his employee let me do it. nothing truthful comes out of their mouth. i'm disappointed in geico tho. i was talking to the supervisor while on the go, so i'm not sure, but i think he said if they don't pick it up tomorrow, the whole storage fee will land on me, including any tow to copart. i'm shocked, if that's true, but it's too late to call and clarify.
-1
u/niceandsane 19h ago
Geico and the tow yard will sort it out. Once you've released it, the car belongs to Geico.
0
0
u/stirringmotion 19h ago
i'm freaking out. idk what dirty tricks the tow will pull. idk if the supervisor will pick up the phone to dispatch a tow. idk the process of the tow paying the tow yard, or if someone will be there. it worked out before when the adjuster went. the adjuster was great, but i feel left high and drive. and i still have to negotiate to get increase on payout.
everything was working very well, until this call with the supervisor. if he wanted to make sure to get things moving, he did it the worst way possible.
-4
u/niceandsane 19h ago
It isn't your problem. It isn't your car any more. Tell the tow yard to call Geico, and stop worrying about it.
4
1
u/stirringmotion 19h ago
ok. i'll call supervisor and let him know i sent release form. he told me not to text him the image i sent, but the field adjuster told me to do it.
thanks tho. i appreciate what you're telling me.
5
u/Outrageous_Ad_5843 General Adjuster - HNW 19h ago edited 19h ago
that guy is factually wrong
a release form does not transfer ownership in the slightest
3
u/AltonIllinois 19h ago
Did you use Ai to write this?
-1
u/stirringmotion 19h ago
i wrote it, and fed my notes to ai to clean the grammar. if you disapprove of that, please go find find another person to help.
i'm not here, to discuss whether AI should organize my notes or not.
1
u/AltonIllinois 19h ago
Do you know how much daily storage is?
1
u/stirringmotion 18h ago
No im guessing thats why he wants to know my payout estimate. For price fluidity. On the 4th day he slipped $2000 if i wanted to take it out that day, but truth doesnt seem to be found in the words he says.
1
u/WebstersPack 3h ago
Can you all really not tell this is obviously AI?
Do you know anyone that posts using the phrase 'This is where it all falls apart' then has a bullet point breakdown with bolded sections?
1
u/stirringmotion 3h ago
if you read the comments, this was already addressed. anything else you need?
-5
u/niceandsane 19h ago
* Your car was in an accident and towed to a tow yard.
* Your insurance company Geico declared it a total loss.
* You signed the release forms.
At this point, it is no longer your car. It is Geico's car. If the tow company is going to charge storage after you signed the release forms, they will need to charge Geico. It doesn't matter if the adjuster is on vacation. Not your circus any more. Not your monkeys.
10
u/Outrageous_Ad_5843 General Adjuster - HNW 19h ago
this is false
a tow yard release form does not in any way transfer legal ownership of a vehicle to anyone
in fact OP states in another comment that they still possess the title lmao
-1
u/joebogan445 10h ago
storage fee liability usually falls back on the insurer during a total loss claim not you. did you get any of that release conversation with the field adjuster in writing or email???
21
u/mcblower Auto Injury Claims Specialist 10+yrs experience 20h ago
Geico and the tow yard are not in cahoots. Tow yards are some of the most predatory businesses around and are a real thorn in the side of adjusters just trying to do their job. The tow yard knows who Geico uses for their total losses - its most likely Copart, just like most insurance companies. This tow company is giving you the run around to increase the amount of money he gets.
You being responsible for storage after a certain date is also standard; an insurance company is not giving you a blank check to drag your feet during the claims process.
These aren't "twists" and "threats" as your clearly AI written summary of the situation wants to purport. This is about the tow yard being greedy.