Help! Insurance towed my car to auction...andd

**WV Brian** · 12-20-2011, 11:00 AM

My car was considered a total loss for a left side impact. I thought I was repairable so I had the car initially towed to a ford dealership for the repair work. After getting news that it was a total loss I was told that I could get my parts off the car and also collect my personal belongings inside.

Long story short, I called to have the car towed back to my house and take the parts off and found out my insurance towed my car and the ford dealership just gave then my car and keys.

It now is in canton ohio at an auction with my plates on it, my parts on it, my checkbook and bank statements in it also. I have not signed the power of attorney over to geico.

They have offered to tow it back to my house but have yet to calm and make arrangements. Who knows what's happening to the car as we speak.

So what do I do. If it's mine and they took it Do I have a right to be a little irritated.

I guess I am curious as to everyone's view on the matter. I feel the dealership had no right to turn over my keys and the insurance had no right to tow it.

Thoughts? Legalities? Please enlighten me

**pop's stang** · 12-20-2011, 11:13 AM

I would hope that common courtesy they would let you get your personal things. Just a question, did you own the car or were you still making payments and the bank still owns the car? Could be the reason why they let it go to auction.

**WV Brian** · 12-20-2011, 11:41 AM

Originally Posted by pop's stang

I would hope that common courtesy they would let you get your personal things. Just a question, did you own the car or were you still making payments and the bank still owns the car? Could be the reason why they let it go to auction.

Making payments still. I'm more nervous abt my personal information being exposed. I've called all morning trying to et something done. Finally called the auction and they had a note that I wanted my wheels and tires which makes no sense. I'm not too fond of geico as of right now

**PaxtonShelby** · 12-20-2011, 11:58 AM

I would be screaming at my insurance agent right about now, demanding that they take care of this immediately...

I hope you can get this sorted out.

**Balaska347** · 12-20-2011, 12:09 PM

It would have been nice for them to have the common courtesy to let you get your belongings. As for you still making payments, unless you got a personal loan to finance it and have the title in hand, you probably dont own the car. Who ever holds the title owns the car. From my understanding, when the car is deemed totaled and the insurance company appraises the vehicles value they then will send the check to the title holder. You are responsible for your personal belongings and I dont believe you have free reign to strip what ever parts off the car you want. How long was the car at the dealership that you didnt get your personal belongings. As for legal rights, there is nothing there. Your responsible for your belongings. These are just my thoughts. I could be wrong about all of it. Good luck...

**Mater** · 12-20-2011, 12:09 PM

Geico SUCKS,,U can get all ur stuff back,U may have to drive to the auction,What kind of car & year is it!Did u receive any payment? Insurance company get cars moved to auctions because it cost them money to set @ tow pounds & body shops!

**Mater** · 12-20-2011, 12:16 PM

https://www.iaai.com/Vehicles/Vehicl...&RowNumber=177

**SonofaBish** · 12-20-2011, 12:19 PM

Yea, kinda crazy to me that they towed it with your personal belongings in the car... for example, if someone took your checkbook and/or stole your identity, i'd think the insurance company put themselves at a major legal risk for, in a sense, allowing this to happen... although, their argument probably would be that when you dropped the car off at the Ford dealer, you should have never left your stuff in there in the first place

Good luck

**Balaska347** · 12-20-2011, 12:27 PM

Originally Posted by SonofaBish

Yea, kinda crazy to me that they towed it with your personal belongings in the car... for example, if someone took your checkbook and/or stole your identity, i'd think the insurance company put themselves at a major legal risk for, in a sense, allowing this to happen... although, their argument probably would be that when you dropped the car off at the Ford dealer, you should have never left your stuff in there in the first place

Good luck

You got it, why is the insurance company responsible for personal beongings left in the vehicle when it went to the dealership. Im not trying to be a dick, Im just not sugar coating anything. If you want your things call the auction and tell them your coming to pick it up. Thats pretty much it.

**WV Brian** · 12-20-2011, 01:36 PM

Originally Posted by Balaska347

You got it, why is the insurance company responsible for personal beongings left in the vehicle when it went to the dealership. Im not trying to be a dick, Im just not sugar coating anything. If you want your things call the auction and tell them your coming to pick it up. Thats pretty much it.

Thank you for all the input. I hold the power of attorney to the vehicle. The vehicle is clearly not geicos. My name is on the title however as you stated, if anyone owns it then my bank owns it. Car was there for a week while getting appraised and geico did their thing. I didn't have access to the vehicle however I do agree with you and that I should have removed my personal belongings from it. I was shaken up and it wasn't on my mind at the time of the accident

Yes that's my car. Surprised they totaled it. It's located two hours away and geico is currently footing the bill to tow it back to my house so I can have my parts and property back. I was granted permission to remove the parts.

If anything, geico had no right to touch the vehicle as it is mine until i sign over power of attorney from what I understand. (from what I understand)

I asked the geico supervisor if it was legal for them to take the car without having the title or power of attorney. Said he wasn't sure if it was legal or not.

**yeahloh95** · 12-20-2011, 01:40 PM

My sister had the same thing happen all be stuff in it they never told her til it was moved to a yard and we had to get permission to get her stuff out

**WV Brian** · 12-20-2011, 01:42 PM

Originally Posted by Mater

Geico SUCKS,,U can get all ur stuff back,U may have to drive to the auction,What kind of car & year is it!Did u receive any payment? Insurance company get cars moved to auctions because it cost them money to set @ tow pounds & body shops!

06 black gt. It was a super clean car. I believe if very fixable if someone wanted to put the time in. For what it would cost for me to do I'll just get one another time. No payment yet. And dealer wasn't charging them for storage to my recent knowledge and talking to the dealer

The auction location is 2 hrs away. They have approved a payout to tow the vehicle back to my house then back to auction.

**WV Brian** · 12-20-2011, 02:12 PM

Also let me add that I'm in no way looking fo a lawsuit or anything along those lines and will say that before this mishap geico has been great to deal with. Obviously this leaves a sour taste in my mouth but I just want this to be done with and my stuff back. Just looking for some feedback.

Sucks to see my car on the auction listing. ..

I have the appraisal for the work that needs done if anyone is thinking about it

**Balaska347** · 12-20-2011, 04:01 PM

Wow thats good to hear. I think thats great that they are towing it back to your house. I dont know how many would do that and let you take parts off it though I dont know what parts. If they told me I could take parts off it I would strip the thing down to a shell. Glad things worked out for you.

**PaxtonShelby** · 12-20-2011, 05:43 PM

Not sure if this is an option for you...but what would they want from you to buy the car back? Very often you can part it out and make a bunch of $$. I bought my '95 SHO back for $200. The parts alone were worth well over $2k ( but I didn't part it out - a buddy took it and used it for enduro racing ). Just a thought...

**WV Brian** · 12-20-2011, 06:29 PM

Originally Posted by PaxtonShelby

Not sure if this is an option for you...but what would they want from you to buy the car back? Very often you can part it out and make a bunch of $$. I bought my '95 SHO back for $200. The parts alone were worth well over $2k ( but I didn't part it out - a buddy took it and used it for enduro racing ). Just a thought...

They offered it to me for 3500. I thought it was a little steep and didn't see an advantage of building it up or making a profit parting it out. Another mustang another day I suppose. I the price was better I would have jumped on it

**mustang50lx** · 12-20-2011, 09:11 PM

Did you actually talk to the adjuster? I would never let them tow my car with out my direct consent. It's still your car. They have no right to tow it away without your permission. I'd be going ape shit right now.

**WV Brian** · 12-21-2011, 10:04 AM

Originally Posted by mustang50lx

Did you actually talk to the adjuster? I would never let them tow my car with out my direct consent. It's still your car. They have no right to tow it away without your permission. I'd be going ape shit right now.

Initially when the car was discovered to be towed she informed me it was on hold and shouldn't have been done. After expressing my concerns with her she opted to stop returning my calls. I then spoke to her supervisor throughout the matter. Hasn't been an enjoyable experience that's for sure and I think it's extremely unprofessional not to return my calls when something like this is happening. I'll be politely expressing my dissatisfaction with the entire matter once it's resolved.

**CollinsPC** · 12-21-2011, 10:38 AM

When you get the car back, call who you have been dealing with and offer them 500.00 scrap price for it. They typically throw out a number to see if you bite. I have yet to buy back a vehicle from insurance company for more than that. Glad to see things are working out for you and sucks about the car.

**PaxtonShelby** · 12-21-2011, 12:56 PM

I agree with Randy. I bet they'll let you have it back for significantly less than $3500. I bet you could sell the motor and tranny for a few grand. Lots of people are looking to upgrade from stock cloth interior to leather, so that would be a relatively easy sale. At the end of the day you could scrap what is left and get the $$ from that. It does take some work, some space, and some time to do it, but if you end up a few grand to the good it could be worth it.