Flyin Miata

This is not a guarantee the vehicle is clear, but an easy and free way to get some peace of mind is through the NICB (National Insurance Crime Bureau). Most major insurance companies will report stolen VIN's through this database. Free VIN search: https://www.nicb.org/how-we-help/vincheck

I do not envy your commute.

I drove it this summer in the fiancé's Civic. Never been afraid of heights but knowing how close you are to the edge with no guardrail is unnerving. They tell you not to ride the brakes on the way down and to engine break but with the CVT it was tough to do. I failed the mid-way brake temp test by 7 degrees.

Agreed. If they see that you aren't scared to file in small claims court and intend to go all the way through with it, they may decide it is in their best interest to settle. You do however run the risk of it getting all the way through the small claims process and they also say it was word vs. word and you don't get any award so... all depends how much time/money you want to spend.

A lot of insurance companies now are looking into liability closer than before. For example, someone pulls out in front of you but you say you did nothing to avoid the accident (assuming you had time to react), then they may place 20% fault on you for failure to take evasive action. Could have been something as simple as your son telling the insurance company he didn't see the other car before the accident. If the police report is in his favor then I would just refer them to the report.

If it's truly a minor injury, you may not necessarily get more money going through a lawyer (remember they have to get paid too). I would say do some research online, determine what you think the value of his pain/suffering is, add in any lost wages and his medical bills and come up with a number. See what the insurance company offers, never take the first offer and try some negotiating with them. Insurance companies are ultimately in it to get a signature on a release and they will pay for it if you're reasonable. If they don't come back with a number you feel is reasonable then you can go the attorney route, but I see so many people automatically get an attorney and end up getting less of a payout after attorney fees than they would've gotten by doing some research and negotiation themselves. Also, you can use the fact that he hit/ran to bump the settlement up a little bit, along with the fact that your son is younger and I'm assuming generally active. If the injury caused him to not be able to do things he would normally do (sports, work, go out with friends, etc) that can also bump the value versus someone who is middle aged and just sits on the couch after work for 6 hours.

Just a heads up, but DAS does not own all of their own trucks (I'm not sure if that's different with enclosed ones, but I know this is true at least for open trailers). They sub quite a bit of their work out to smaller carriers. I've worked on a lot of cargo claims where they brokered loads to companies that are insured by the company I work for. Not saying they are a bad company, but as far as transport brokers go their business model is just the same as the others.

Working in insurance (and not for USAA) I can say they really do have great customer service. Whenever I've needed to contact them on any claim they've been quick and helpful. Tough to say for a lot of companies.

That I can agree with. My main point though is that there are socioeconomic factors (among other things) that can put someone at a severe disadvantage over someone born into a better situation. Not saying that it is impossible for someone to overcome those hurdles, but the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" mentality that people think is the answer to the problems of this country is a huge oversimplification.

I understand what you're getting at, I just think it is narrow-minded to assume there is nothing preventing someone from being a billionaire and that everyone has an equal chance. Some of those reasons are self-inflicted, others are not. Maybe sociology classes gave me a biased view, who knows. Remember, plenty of lazy people become billionaires too .

If nothing is preventing anyone from it, why isn't everyone a multi-billionaire?

Also remember most companies rate on risk history they get from claims throughout the years. IE if Progressive has had a lot of claims for 27 year old males living in Sacramento driving 02 Ford Explorers then they'll charge a lot but other companies may not. Best bet is to just compare rates every year or two.

Here is a fairly quick and easy guide from the FMCSA, I'm sure there is more in depth info out there but this is a good read for anyone planning on hiring a mover: https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/protect-your-move/how-to/valuation-insurance . I handle commercial cargo claims for a large insurance company and some of the stuff I've seen would blow your mind. But basically a mover is only required to be liable for 60 cents/lb and anything over that they are allowed to charge for "extra coverage". I saw a lady pay $17,000 (not a typo) for a company we insure to move everything she owned in one truck from CA to WA. The company used a rental truck and hired another company to do the unloading (both are big no-no's under our policy) and we weren't able to pay anything on the claim. She had thousands of dollars of missing jewelry and other damaged items. One of the few times I truly felt bad after denying a claim since it was no fault of her own.

Whatever you do, make sure you read the entire moving contract. Unless you specify that you want replacement cost in case something happens (damage, accident, etc) then most moving contracts limit the mover's liability to 60 cents/lb of your damaged items. I handle a lot of household moving claims and they can get messy.

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Came to post this basically. With most things generally being equal between the two, it's tough not to choose the one that pays their employees a real living wage.

You can always cancel and go to another carrier. If you paid in full for the entire term you'll get a pro-rated refund. Just like other services (cable, phone, etc) most insurance carriers have retention departments that exist to try and lower your rates and keep you from cancelling. I'd give that a shot and if they can't do anything then get a new policy in force somewhere else and cancel what you have. I work more on the claims side of things now (for another insurance carrier) but I have worked on the policy services side of things as well. I'm always open to PM's if you have specific questions.

I handle cargo claims where I work and a lot of what I handle are these car hauler guys. My best advice is go with a broker who will take care of you if something does happen to the car (these are generally the larger companies, I believe Quicken is one of the better ones). And please please PLEASE check the car over well (I'm talking every inch, with a flashlight if you have to) when it is delivered and get a signed bill of lading. If they try to rush you and leave, don't get caught in that trap. Unfortunately if you notice damage after the transporter has delivered the car and left, you have very little chance of getting it taken care of. Honestly after my experience handling claims for people who get their cars shipped by some less than reputable carriers, I've decided I'll never ship a car unless there is no possible alternative. But I also only see the bad side of the business so I could be biased.

http://www.columbusracing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=120086 I'm sure this is a long shot, but if you are going to be in the Cleveland area sometime soon we could work out a deal on these.

gone

The Uber site gave a range at the time I checked of $22 to $32. It can go up later at night on weekends during peak hours so I went with the higher number to be safe. I've only recently started using both Uber and Lyft here in the Cleveland area, but the few trips I've done have been great and the driver will usually have some interesting stories if you ask. I also like that you get a picture of the driver and car picking you up. Hell the last guy had mints, water, phone charger cable in the back, etc. I didn't even use any of it but it's nice to have it available.

Looks like this service is $17.50/hr. Let's say you leave your house at 7 pm, come back at midnight, that's $87.50 before tip or tax. Also factor in cost of using your own car along with your own gas. Uber gives a high range estimate of $32 from Dublin to the short north area. At most, you'd be looking at $64 total before tip, plus you don't have to worry about using your own car and having something happen to it. With how quickly you can usually get an Uber car if you live in a city or suburb, I just don't see why you would use this site.

This made me actually laugh out loud.

Or you could use additional words to form a coherent explanation, which would keep people from interpreting your post in a way other than it was intended to be. But that's just my interpretation.

Most of the time they run a break-even analysis which includes how much the company will pay on rental, taxes, possible supplements, etc. If it's cheaper to total the vehicle and the damage is within a certain percentage of the value of the car, then it will be totaled. I test drove an IS350 there a few years ago. Place is sketchy as hell. I guess you can save some money there but I would be getting a THOROUGH inspection and history of any vehicle from a third party before even considering a car from that lot. I came back not even 5 minutes after I took it on a test drive and it was in such poor shape I just gave the guy his keys back and walked away.