(CA) Uniformity in Coverage Between Carriers, Standard or Non

[bronzo]

Is coverage is the same between carriers since there is insurance regulation made by each state?

For example:

-Aftermarket part (wheels, bodykits, etc) is covered by company A, does it mean all carriers in the same state will cover it too?

-Does permissive drivers always be covered under all carriers? I assume it is under the regulation from CDOI but can a company deny coverage if they state it in the fine prints?


I was looking at the review on yelp on anchor general company ( nonstandard in California) and found something interesting, here is the quote of the review:

"My truck was stolen and recovered. The thieves damaged the body and removed the seats, wheels, etc. The removed items were not recovered with the truck. I got an unpleasant surprise when I submitted my claim to Anchor General; they attempted to charge me over $5,000 above my deductible in betterment to replace the seats. The original seats were heated/leather and cost over $10,000 to replace, and Anchor General calculated a 50% reduction in value. An honest company would have simply totaled the vehicle because of the cumulative cost of body work and replacement parts.

Under California state law CCR Section 2695.8, betterment should not be deducted for the seats. Betterment applies to objects like car batteries, tires, etc. Items that degrade regularly during the life of the vehicle and are replaced. Betterment should definitely not apply to leather seat covers, a metal seat frame, a seat heating element, a seat motor, handles and levers, etc.

So far Anchor General has refused to reimburse me properly and I have had to file a request for assistance with the Department of Insurance. Hopefully this issue will be resolved soon."

I am now wondering if nonstandard company does not need to follow code and regulation made by the state, like a non-admitted company? How can that company get away pulling stuff like that?


If you have any info please chime in. Thank you.

 

[djs]

All carriers have to follow the rules and the law. But... that doesn't make all policies the same.

I'm not clear on why you say that under California state law CCR Section 2695.8 betterment should not be charged for the seats. It allows for it with the exception of the labor cost. Lets look at this a bit more.

Normally, seats get stolen. You didn't say how old your truck is, but lets say 10 years just for the story. The repair shop would normally obtain replacement seats from a 10 year old truck, take them out of there, put them in your truck, replacing your 10 year old seats with similar 10 year old seats.

If you come along and say "Hey, I don't want 10 year old seats, I want new ones", then they will do that, as long as you understand that they will charge you the difference. This is what they are classifying as 'betterment'.

Now, it takes exactly the same amount of labor to put in old seats as it does new ones, so they can't charge the labor part to you, but, the additional value of the seats can be.

Most insurance policies don't allow for 'betterment', its a moral risk that carriers are not willing to take on. A few do allow for this in some isolated cases for an additional premium.

The reason you read about tires and batteries, normal wear and tear parts, is you really don't want to put almost bald tires on a car or a battery that won't start the car. These are somewhat unique cases where betterment is almost required as opposed to optional.

The seats, as long as they function correctly and are in decent shape, don't really matter if they are new or not (functionally speaking).

Dan