I like the quote from above: "Insurance companies and related CONSPIRATOR companies......" the implication is they are all involved in a CONSPIRACY.

in addition, what you said earlier about the insurance contract being offered as an adhesion contract on a 'take it or leave it' basis is only part of the picture. in reality, auto insurance is NOT a 'take it or leave it' offering.

instead, auto insurance is a 'buy auto insurance or you are going to jail' offering because if you drive without auto insurance you most assuredly will go to jail.

kinda like the Mafia, "Let me make you an offer YOU CAN'T REFUSE. i.e. EXTORTION or MONEY SHAKE DOWN."

the AUTHOR of the contract is known as the 'Czar of the Contract'. in other words, the Insurance boys tend to believe they are calling all the shots.

unfortunately, they do.

I dunno if this has been said, but Jim, why did you even claim this? It sounds like like $2k in damage. I wouldn't have claimed it. Gotten a junkyard impact bar, brand new cover from the dealer and a $300 spray and been done.

I recently got $1500 out of Progressive for a deer hit on my 83 SD. Walked away pretty happy with that, but certainly a rare bright spot in the perpetual darkness of insurance claims...

the difficult part of choosing an insurance carrier is that one can read many positive reports from customers of a particular insurance company and then, out of the blue, come across some real negative claims experiences for the same carrier!

talk about making the decision making process difficult......

I have always carried comprehensive at actual cash value on all my cars. I've hit a few deer and a falling tree branch plus broken windshields to the extent that I'm money ahead. I do not carry collision, except for the Miata which is insured as a collectable.

It seems Progressive pays very well. I got $5k out of them when their customer totalled my '82 300SD three months after I paid $2k for it. In all actuallity it was a real junker and looked like crap. I was so worried that I was gonna get a check for $500. I was a happy camper after that!

For the last twenty years I have not carried collision. 1. Buy only a car that you could replace out of your cash backup. 2. Buy at least 100/300/500 coverage and don't let them tell you can't get UI for medical, because you can. 3. Add up the cost difference and the years, then realize that’s $40,000

Good point. I propose that for an equal number of years in which it was called "Communist China" we now call it 'Capitalist China".

They seem to be better at being capitalists.

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I didn't say they were nice capitalists, just that they are very good at selling stuff to the west. They haven't been communist for a very long time.

The commies are still as firmly in charge there in red China as they are in North Korea and Cuba.

I'll be sure to look under my bed for those nasty commies. ;)

Give them time. They are slowly evolving out of communism/socialism or whatever it is you want to call it. Right now, they are only communist/socialist as far as the control goes and in name. Or do you think Marx/Engels had envisioned Chinese and Vietnamese Billionaire clubs? Nam and China have found that they want a better life than what Marx/Engels had envisioned for them. Obviously, if they just let loose, leadership looses it's power and that is way too important to them. I was in Nam a few years ago and it was nowheres near what we are at but it is on the way.

Just a thought. I would only have collision on my old $100 beater. If that breaks, I dump it and get a new one. HOWEVER, on my cars, none of which fall in that class, I have always had comprehensive.

My car is used. As such, I am willing to allow salvage parts and don't demand new parts as long as they are within acceptable standards. IOW, if I have a used tailight, a replacement would be fine as long as the condition is as good as the old one.

That said, I haven't had much trouble with insurance companies at all when it comes to claims. My biggest problems with them are that the rates can vary between companies. As such, I would shop ever few years and change if necessary. I am not married to any one company.