Erie Insurance Review

This is our first encounter with Erie insurance--and hopefully our last!  This company is so unethical it hurts to think about it.  Furthermore, they hire adjusters who, unbelievably, are even more unethical than they are!

First,  I am not an Erie client--I am an Erie victim.  I was hit from behind by an Erie client in a Chevy Silverado with a snow plow attachment on the front as I sat a few cars deep at a traffic light.  The driver of the Silverado admitted 100 percent responsibility.  The police report stated it as such, as did the witness. 

So, I figure, "O.K.  No problem.  No one is hurt.  Her insurance company will just fix my car and life will go on as before she plowed into my backend."  Wrong!  Each Erie person we spoke with, from day one on, was nothing less than rude.  I knew from the beginning this was going to be a bad situation.  For information's sake I will begin this by stating two things:  1)  My car--a 1997 Chrysler LHS--is extremely well maintained and any parts which have been replaced throughout the years have been replaced with lifetime warranted items, and 2)  I LOVE THIS CAR!--not just "like"--I "love" it.  I wouldn't trade this car for any of the newest models out there.  This car has everything.  Every feature and every comfort, and I have owned and driven it for ten of its twelve years accident free.

That said, Erie has decided that my car is "not even worth the salvage money we could get" (their words, not mine) because they were able to find ONE car to use as a price comparison and they said it would cost more than the value of that car to fix it.  So, surprise, surprise, it has been totaled.  Kindly, however, they did offer us $2,600 for the car less the $250 it will cost us if we want to keep it and have it R-titled.  Nice of them, isn't it?  NOTE:  Our collision repair shop estimated it will cost somewhere in the vicinity of $3500 to have it repaired to its pre-accident condition.

Well, we researched all over the net, and we found several vehicles to use as comparisons.  One was even the same year, color, features AND mileage as ours ($5,999 was the asking price on this vehicle--well above the car Erie managed to "find" to use as a comparison).  We sent it to the Erie adjuster with the statement that the insurance codes state that the adjuster must use at least two comparisons and average them, and that he had not done that.  So, we would like him to reconsider.  He basically laughed in our faces and told us that we either accept Erie's offer or prepare for a long, drawn-out battle which will end no better than it started.  Once again, nice guy!

So, to make an already long story a little bit shorter--I, through no fault of my own, have no car (my LHS is undriveable), no money to purchase another vehicle of equal quality, and not enough money to have the one I do own fixed and R-titled.

So, just remember that when your loved ones tell you to drive carefully, it really may not matter if you do--especially if the other guy has Erie!  I hope everyone concerned in this case has an opportunity at some point in their lives to experience the frustration of being victimized in this way.  As they say, what goes around, comes around.  They will deserve it!  Listening, Dave M. and Nick V.?