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Subject:Re: BLACKBREARD - the debacle
From:Don Hanson
Date:Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:35:46 -0800

Some have mentioned trying to insure a vanagon as an "assigned risk"...(I
think that is the term used by Insurance______s.)  Where you pay to have a
set value agreed upon for your vehicle, and then they tell you how much they
will charge for that..

 I looked into that after my rip-off with the 928.  The one where they were
supposed to, since I was an innocent victim of their client,   restore me to
a pre-incident vehicle, in like condition...  I was about $15 grand out of
pocket to replace my lost vehicle...So on the next go round,   I researched
the 'agreed value' option.
  First, it was exceedingly expensive to get the value I wanted..About 4
times the normal fee..Second, there were all kinds of restrictions on the
type vehicle and amount of use for the vehicle....I won't go into the
details here.  Third, my attorney and some other insurance-savvy
acquaintances I made during all that legal wrangling said the coverage was
not really viable anyhow.  There were too many 'escape routes' the insurance
company(s)  could (and would) use to refuse full and timely payment and just
again give "low-ball" token payment,  in case of a claim on that type
policy.
  I'd be very careful when considering an insurance policy  written like
that.  Be very sure to read and get legal interpretation of all the fine
print before you pay and count on being covered for the agreed
value...Probably you're ok with the Pay part, but the coverage?..My advisers
said it was "iffy" that in case of a loss, I'd ever be paid the full agreed
value amount..just doesn't happen much..
  Don Hanson