AIG Auto Insurance Unresponsiveness to Claim

littleluke

New Member
1
I'm not a forum person, but feel compelled to relate my unpleasant experience with the AIG claims group that handles auto claims. This is with the hope that anyone else that encounters them knows what to expect. I don't know if I was just dealing with a couple of morons or if this is systemic. After reading other blogs re: AIG, I suspect the latter. Here's the chronology of my experience with them:

Thurs. 1/1
Illegal left turn accident caused by AIG insured. Admitted following GPS audio instruction not knowing he was on a one way street.
Searched internet for AIG auto claims number to call since not shown on insured's proof of insurance card. Called number shown on AIG homepage and was forwarded to a 21st Century rep who took the info for 25 minutes and was told claim now opened and rep will contact me within 1 business day. Contact number given to me.

Fri. 1/2
Apologetic AIG insured driver calls and says he contacted AIG to submit claim.

Mon. 1/5
Called number given by 21st Century rep and spoke to AIG person who was unaware of any info given to the 21st Century rep previously. Repeated info to this person. Was asked if I had the phone number of the other owner. Was told claims rep would contact me within 24 hours and a claim number was given.

Tues. 1/6
10 AM - Called AIG claims rep (justin) and left message re: claim number __.
2 PM - Called again. Left message to call.
2:05 PM - Called again and pressed 0 to speak with person who said Justin is in but must be out to lunch and will relay the message.
4:50 PM - Called and left another message to call me
4:55 PM - Talked to receptionist again who said she would email him requesting that he call me.

Wed. 1/7
!0:45 - Called AIG rep (Justin) and was given the phone number of PDA (Property Damage Appraisers) adjuster who would be assigned to appraise the damage to my car. I said I can send pictures I took of it, which I did. So now I have his email address. No acknowledgement tho.

11 AM - Called appraiser from PDA (Chris) who said he will view my car the following day. I ask if he wants my accident pics via email. He says sure.

Thurs. 1/8
11 AM -Appraiser from PDA (Chris) arrives and quickly takes pics of car in my driveway. I point out obvious areas of concern that he didn't photograph (but then does). Says the AIG rep will be contacting me.

Mon. 1/12
2:45 PM - Called AIG (Justin) voicemail and left message to call me re: claim status

Tues. 1/13
3 PM - Called AIG (Justin) and left message to call me
3:15 - Called appraiser from PDA (Chris) and left message to let me know if he had gotten the info he gathered to AIG
3:35 - PDA appraiser (Chris) calls and said he got the info to AIG (Justin) last week
5 PM - Emailed AIG rep (Justin) explaining my dissatisfaction with AIG's unresponsiveness

Tues. 1/20 (1 week later)
10:45 AM - Called AIG rep (Justin) and left message to call me
2:45 PM - Called AIG rep (Justin) from another phone so my number wouldn't identify who was calling. He answered and we discussed the claim. Said other party admitted fault and that damage to my vehicle was appraised at $1,676. I said that's considerably lower than my body shop's preliminary estimate. He said he could add the cost of 4 days car rental and arrived at a payout figure of $1,804. I agreed, since I can do the repairs myself and be rid of AIG and the need to drive a rental for at least a week.
A done deal (supposedly). He said he would email me a screengrab of*the form he just filled out as we spoke as confirmation and the check would be sent to me. No confirmation email received.

Tues. 1/27 (1 week later)
2:45 PM - Called AIG rep (Justin) and left message re: status of confirmation email and claim payout check

Wed. 1/28
4 PM - Called AIG rep (Justin) and left message: "What's the story?" with claim number and my name

Thurs. 1/29
4 PM - Called AIG rep (Justin) and we spoke. He says payment got "hung up" and explained the check got "kicked back" to him.. something about the wrong zipcode was entered. He's sorry. and says the check will be sent via overnight mail. Also, he will send me an email with the confirmation screengrab.
4:45 PM - I read the AIG rep's emailed screengrab attachment and see that the check disbursement request is less than the amount we had verbally agreed upon ($1,676 instead of $1,804)! This is EXACTLY why I had wanted confirmation emailed to me 9 days earlier! I emailed back and left a phone message about the error.

Fri. 1/30
8:05 AM - Received email from AIG rep (Justin) with apology and corrected amount shown in screengrab of updated form.

Wed. 2/4 (5 days later)
Check received via overnight mail. I deposit it and am now waiting for it to bounce..
 
I am sorry you had such a bad experience. AIG is typically pretty quick and fair in my experience. One thing that does slow them down is the use of 3rd party (PDA) damage appraisers. More steps = more time. It also doesn't help when the at-fault party takes their sweet time making their statement to their carrier.

I am in OH and I run a body shop. I can tell you that around here, from the Monday before Thanksgiving to late January, getting quick response on any claim was almost impossible....unless the car was not driveable. Companies will triage the claims as best they can when they are overwhelmed. At one point we had a 3 week waiting list because so many non-drivers were getting towed in.

On the rental car - make sure they didn't set that up as a direct bill to AIG. Some companies will pay it to you but some prefer to just bill it out. That's actually preferable from my end as it makes the occasional repair delay easier to handle because it's not my customer having to go back and ask for more money.

Anyway, I hope you are all settled up now and back on the road.

ETA: As a body shop, we don't worry about the carrier's estimate being less than ours. We work for the car owner. We will get the money we need to fix the car. Since you are doing the repairs yourself, you will need to document any additional damage and parts required, and go back to AIG for more money if needed.
 
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