on mar 12, 2004 at 7 pm, I was leaving a grocery store. I was driving my 1993 nissan altima. I backed my car out of a parking stall and started driving down an isle toward the exit. while I was driving down the isle, I was hit on the drivers side rear by a chevy truck that was backing out of a parking stall. the driver wasn’t looking behind when backing up, so he hit me. I called his insurance company (GEICO) the next day and filed a claim. 2 days later R. Harding, a Geico liability adjustor contacted and interviewed me about the accident. he said as soon as we have a GEICO claims adjustor inspect the damage to your vehicle, I can let you know how much Geico will pay for the damage. I was certain GEICO would cover all repair costs since I was backed into while driving down a DRIVABLE LANE. it seemed like a pretty simple case to me. I get the car inspected by a Geico claimers adjustor (B. Hurst) 2 days later (march 18th). and the repair estimate was $2034.05. the damage extended from the driver rear door back to the headlight (over 4 foot wide area). I had been hit by the back bumper of this truck. the deepest dent was to the driver rear door (right on the door handle). the second deepest dent was right above the driver rear tire (quarter panel area). it was clear from visual inspection these 2 damaged areas were a result of ONE IMPACT. there was also a scrape from the gas cap area back to the tail light. this occured as a result of me moving forward while impact was made. the bulk of the cost to repair the vehicle was dues to replacement of the door and replacement of the quarter panel. At the beginning of the next week (on tuesday) I called Mr. Harding (Geico liability adjustor) and he says, BECAUSE YOU DID NOT STOP IMMEDIATELY (when being hit), YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR 40% of the DAMAGE. I asked for clarification. he said, had you stopped immediately, the only damage done to your vehicle would of been the rear door. otherwise, he’s saying there would of been NO DAMAGE to the QUARTER PANEL. IT WAS AT THIS POINT I KNEW THIS LIABILITY ADJUSTOR WAS NOT GOING TO BE FAIR, HONEST, OR ACT IN GOOD FAITH. he said he could mail out a check immediately (for a little over $1200) if I’d like. I said no thanks, I’ll hold off for now and hung up. I was upset to say the least. I then looked at the GEICO repair estimate and noticed the quarter panel repair was one of the most expensive areas of the vehicle to repair. the geico liability adjustor knew that if his driver was responsible for ANY DAMAGE of the quarter panel AT ALL, then GEICO would end up paying for MOST (IF NOT ALL) REPAIR COSTS. I can see now why he denied accepting the damage to any of the quarter panel. IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ACCIDENT ITSELF. It has everthing to do with the cost to repair that damaged area. I was very dissappointed my claim had not been treated fairly. I called Mr. Harding back a week later and said, what you’ve told me doesn’t make any sense. (I was still trying to reason with him thinking he might actually come to his senses.) I repeated, it is obvious from looking at pictures (which he had) to my car that the damage done to my rear door and quarter panel area (above the rear tire) WAS A RESULT OF ONE IMPACT (this damaged area is about 18 inches wide). I told him to call the geico claims adjustor (bradley hurst) that inspected my car and he would agree.

Mr Harding then changed the subject and said, well our driver also said you MAY NOT have had your lights on. it was clear MR HARDING WAS NOT HEARING ANYTHING I SAID. he had told me NOTHING about my lights having anything to do with the accident UNTIL NOW. In fact he had already told me that had I stopped immediately when hit, geico would cover all repair costs. In other words Mr. Harding is telling me that the other driver is 100% responsible for the collision. yet, now he’s telling me “hearsay of the other driver” is what he based his decision on. So Mr. harding is now telling me the geico driver is 100% responsible for the collison but IS NOT 100% responsible for the damage to my car. now, geico and mr harding are saying of the approximately 4 1/2 foot wide damaged area, GEICO is responsible for only an 18 inch wide area (the damage done to my rear door). let’s say I did as Mr. harding says (not that it is relevent or matters) and I did stop immediately (one second after being hit which is faster than many people would react) and I was traveling 5 mph. that would mean I was traveling 26400 feet per hour, 440 feet per minute or 7.33 FEET PER SECOND. Gee that means if I stopped in one second, the other drivers back bumper would of scrapped against my car for 7.3 feet. WOW, so if I use Mr. harding’s logic STOPPING IMMEDIATELY would of caused a wider damage area than 18 INCHES…..MUCH WIDER SAY CLOSE to 7.3 FEET!. isn’t that amazing. had I told mr harding this, it wouldn’t of made any difference. he wasn’t interest in the facts. DISHONEST PEOPLE aren’t interest in the facts.

the next day, I even went out and got a written statement from one of the local autobody shops saying the damage to the door and quarter panel area (above the rear tire) was the result of ONE IMPACT. I could of gotten written statements from the other 3 autobody shops that did estimates confirming that also but I haven’t (YET). it wouldn’t matter to Mr. harding or GEICO. He’s already decided what GEICO is going to pay ****PERIOD**** (and not a penny more).

He isn’t interested in the facts to this accident if it doesn’t benefit them. I know what the Geico liability adjustors job is…. to shift blame from his/her driver to me. however I thought he had to be somewhat fair when conducting an investigation. WAS I WRONG. in fact, My insurance agent (from Progressive) told me Mr. Harding had called him up and suggested a 50/50 split in liability was good to him. so am I suppose to think mr harding dropped my liability from 50% to 40% out of the GOODNESS OF HIS HEART. I don’t think so. again, this re-affirms the fact that Mr. Harding is more interest in make money for himself (and GEICO) than conducting an HONEST, FAIR investigation. I did request a check from geico for 60% of the damage ($1220.43). the repair cost was $2034.05. Mr. Harding was looking forward to getting it sent out to me. I have been

shorted a lot of money. ******GEICO OWES ME $813.62************* AS FAR AS I’m concerned, what has been done to me is the equivalent of STEALING. I know I have NO LIABILITY whatsoever is this accident. GEICO HAS NOT ACTED IN GOOD FAITH. from what I’ve read about GEICO since this accident, geico WILL NOT TREAT YOU FAIRLY IF YOU FILE A CLAIM against one of their insured (as I did). they deny the claim or lowball it to make sure they keep the lowest rates in the industry. If geico knows that the amount they owe you is small enough that you can’t afford to hire an attorney or may not be worth taking the time off of work to fight it in court they will GLADLY TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOU. over the past month in dealing with this claim THERE IS NO QUESTION IN MY MIND THAT IS A FACT! I’ve lived it, I’ve experienced it.

I will never own GEICO insurance (even if it was offered free, I don’t do business with dishonest people). my kids will never own GEICO insurance. after I talk to my friends, many of them WON”T OWN GEICO INSURANCE. AFTER I POST THIS MESSAGE ON VARIOUS COMPLAINT WEB SITES, many current/potential customers who view this message WILL NOT OWN GEICO INSURANCE.

Blyth A

Kaysville ,UT blythea