Believe me, it happens.  The insurance companies are ruthless.

Never even call to ask if you're covered on something that happened,
unless you're comfortable with your rates going up.

Not anymore.  If they know that it happened, it's a mark against
you--whether they pay or not.  The simple fact that it happened is
enough for them.

You'd think that would be a wise move, but not in this day and age of
in-your-face business attitude toward the customer.

It's all about how much money they can put in your pocket.

I've never heard of that happening.  Basically, if the insurance co doesn't
have to pay, as far as they are concerned it didn't happen.  At least this
is how it worked for me in the past first using All State as my co, and then
(and still) as a customer of NationWide.

I keep him in the loop just in case any difficulties arise, he isn't new to
the game and already knows what's going on.

Bingo.

The ONLY reason to subrogate to your own insurance company is if the
other guy has no insurance, AND it's a large claim.

Nowadays, even that can raise your rates.

Keeping your own agent completely out of the loop is the only safe thing
to do.

Should have been able to.  I have when I've been hit.

I always go after the other drivers insurance directly.  I don't want my
insurance company to pay out, possible not get all their money back form the
"other guy" and then raise my rates as a result.

I simply inform my agent of what happened in the event I need to get them
involved, but then go after the other company.

Let's see here:  someone else caused your car to be out of commission,
and you didn't make that person pay for your rental?

Sure, you subrogated the collision claim to your insurance company (not
necessarily the right thing to do).  But that doesn't mean you can't go
after the other guy separately for a rental, does it?

I, in an 04 Ody, tboned a car that ran a red light going 45.  The officer
and I both thought the van was totalled.  But no, in my case the engine and
tranny were untouched but the entire front end was a gone.  They did have to
drop the engine and tranny to rebuild the front support.

I have Farmers and had the work done at an Farmers approved Acura
dealership.  I have had no major problems with the workmanship and the
dealership fully backed all their work for one year.  My biggest complaint
was that my agent did nothing to help speed up the process.  We were without
a van for a full month and didn't have rental on the policy.  That sucks.

I would say that the shop is incompetent or the replacement engine was junk.
Hopefully your insurance will help out.

Scott

I rear-ended a very nice lady in an old Ford Bronco and about 25 MPH.
The front end of the minivan looked totalled, but my insurance
appraiser said that it was a very straight-forward procedure to replace
the existing enine with another from a different Odyssey. He told my
wife that we would "never know we were in an accident". Since then (9
months) we have had to have the van back into the shop 3 times because
the serpentine belt keeps coming off. There is a bolt near the
alternator that mounts to the engine block and the bolt has broken
twice now. And, the last time, our trans fluid was completely gone and
we had a leaky shift shaft seal. I can clearly see that the belt
*wheels* are not aligned and that this is why the serpentine belt keeps
shredding.

Anyway, I think the insurance appraiser messed up and missed that the
frame was bent in the original accident. But, I am not sure that I can
prove this. I am wondering if anyone has had thier engine completely
replaced and whether or not they are having similar problems. Also, any
general advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!!!!