I like my insurance company!

[judi]

National General Insurance through Good Sam.
On Good Friday I was at an rv park near Taos, New Mexico. The park has a security gate. After checking in I was given the code to the gate, and when I went through the gate the owner of the park was there greeting me. Alas, the gate malfunctioned, bouncing and hitting my rv a few times, then proceeding to make a deep scratch from front to back on the driver's side. I thought I was going to have to resuscitate the park owner. He and his wife are the nicest people I have met in a long time. They had just returned from a long church walk in celebration of Good Friday, and this incident did not dampen their sense of peace on a holiday so important to them. I told them to wait until Monday to contact their insurance company and I would do the same. I am now in Nevada, and the rv dealer I bought my rv from recommended a body shop not too far from my son's house in Henderson. To make a long story short, my insurance company approved the estimate immediately and my rv is now being repaired. They will need 5 days to do the work, and when I explained to my ins co that I was traveling, they expedited the approval for the work, and put a check in the mail immediately. I had them send the check directly to the body shop to make things easier. Hopefully they will be reimbursed by the park owners' insurance, and I will get my deductible back.
These things are never pleasant, and force you to rearrange your schedule, but I have to say that I was very pleased with the way my insurance company responded, and I have made new friends (the rv park owners) in New Mexico.

[judi]

And now I have to amend my post. I just heard from my insurance company that the rv park owner said I took too long to go through the gate - it stays open for 90 seconds. Why in tarnation would I sit at an open gate for 90 seconds? Or even a minute? I promise I did not take too long to go through the gate!!! He is changing his story now, and according to his insurance company I will not be reimbursed for my deductible. Ggggrrrr and he said to me that he will take care of it and that's why he has insurance. Meanwhile, my insurance company continues to respond quickly and professionally, and I do like them! Why do people lie???

[JudyJB]

Why don't you very nicely call the park owners and tell them you are concerned that they have changed their memories, and that you are part of several RV forums. You have already posted about the incident, but are considering posting this incident on RV Park Reviews, but are hoping not to have to, etc. etc. (Maybe someone can come up with better wording.)

You certainly want others to be aware of the malfunctioning gate, etc.

[MandysMom]

How about a call asking if the owner was aware you have cameras on your vehicle because you are being told differently than what they said to you and you would hate to see them get in trouble?! No need to mention its rear view without a recorder.they probably got told their rates would go up.
Velda

[Bethers]

Two good suggestions here.

I'm glad you're insurance company is doing their job and I hope these people get their Christian honesty back. As a matter of fact, I'd mention how the only reason you waited was because they were so honest and you can't believe you're hearing things right now, how could you have so misjudged them and where is honesty and faith going these days?

And is there a sign telling you you only have so long? Throw it back in their court. Tell them you really don't want to get an attorney involved, but will if necessary.

[judi]

The more I think about it, the angrier I get! So I've decided to not dwell on it for a while hours and then I will write the park owners an email followed by a hard copy in the mail. Tomorrow I will think about what to write. They cannot now change their story to their insurance company because lying to an ins co is a crime, so I don't expect to get my deductible back. I just want them to know that I know they are not being truthful. I feel so stupid, being fooled and thinking they were such nice people.

[snowball]

I would think Judi that you could ask them to pay for your deductible!!
good luck
sheila

[MandysMom]

If you could be in the area you could take them to small claims court..the idea of a suit and it's costs might sway them to,settle with you and get it over with.

[Redetotry]

I am so sorry to hear this Judi, having your trust betrayed is almost worse than having to deal with the insurance problems.

[judi]

I have thought of all sorts of things to do - drive back to Taos and talk with this man face to face and let him know how disappointed I am, write a letter saying shame on you, have an ex-boyfriend who is a judge write a letter to him and to the insurance company - there are lots of options. I would not get myself involved in a lawsuit for 500 dollars. But I have decided to do nothing. This man knows he lied and anything I say or do will not affect that. He obviously has no hesitation to place blame on others for his own gain, and that's how his moral compass works. He knows that I know he was not truthful. Nothing I do will change the situation at this point. I don't want to stop trusting people but I'm leaning that way. Lesson learned - get a dash cam.

[bikerchic777]

This makes me angry, just reading it As suggested, I would tell him I'll be seeing him in small claims court! I did that once, to a landlord, when he refused to give me my deposit back. I received it the same day!

[Cudedog]

Judi:

I think that this is a really unpleasant incident, but I agree with you - getting angry about it does not help.

There are a couple of issues with this, however.

Every electric gate like the one you describe that I have ever seen had either an "in and out" switch kind of set up (push the button on a post to open the gate, go through the gate, push a second button on a second post on the inside of the gate to close the gate) or some kind of electronic "eye" that would stop the gate from smashing into anything.

The fact that this gate had neither of these things, nor did it have a sign stating that you had a fixed amount of time to go through, or the fact that the campground owner standing right there didn't tell you had a fixed amount of time (and seemed surprised when you got smashed!) seems a bit fishy. These are definite safety issues. At the very least, the time needed to go through the gate should have been posted - I can also imagine a great many scenarios where someone might not be able to get through the gate in the allotted time, and should not expect to be "punished" (by getting smashed) for not being in a hurry to get through!

You might think about contacting your own insurance company again (forget the campground people and the campground insurance company - if there is one!) and explain, in writing, sent by Certified Mail, that this was a safety issue and you are definitely not at fault because you were not told of the limitations of the gate, nor were these limitations posted, nor were you verbally informed, so you had no way of knowing that the gate would smash into your vehicle.

It is not your job to go after the campground people for having an unsafe set up, it is the job of your insurance company, because the campground unsafe set up caused you to have a loss. The campground is at fault due to the unsafe set up.

You should not be seen as being at fault.

And make no mistake - since you are paying the deductible (and not getting it back) you are likely being considered to be at fault, this is likely to count as a "hit" on your insurance and on your driving record, your rates will likely go up due to this loss, and it might make it difficult to get other insurance down the line due to this loss.

Good luck.

Anne

[MandysMom]

I'm pretty sure you can't get a hit on your driving record on private property! I do, however believe their gate is a dangerous situation. What if it had been children on bikes going in after a RV and the gate closed on them! Like our windows in cars are required now to retract of they hit an object, so should the gate have safety measures in place. Insurance should go after them based on safety violation and risk.
Velda

[retiredhappy]

God save us all from "good Christians." I would threaten a law suit as sometimes a threat works. I agree with contacting your insurance company and explaining the situation. I like the "camera" idea. Tell the owners in writing, that you will wait 10 days to be reimbursed for your deductible and then you're going to submit a copy of your video tape to their insurance company and "your" attorney.

[gingerK]

Anne has the right of it, your insurance company will go after the park owners' insurance for reimbursement. So turn it over to your insurance company and let them deal with it.

Also, post a bad review of them on the RV park review site. That'll hurt em.