Tractor Insurance am I being ripped off update

[LDWallace]

Tractor Insurance: am I being ripped off

I have tractor insurance on a 2022 48 HP tractor with 350 hours through EII Equipment Insurance International. I did not know anything about the company.. my dealer made all of the arrangements with the financing and the insurance. Recently I destroyed the engine.. It was stupid operator...

www.tractorbynet.com

Since my dealer listed my tractor and FEL as two line items on the Bill of Sale, my insurance company (Equipment Insurance International EII) is adamant that they are only responsible for the value of the tractor. I have pretty much given up on challenging that but perhaps I should send an email to my state insurance commissioner and their state commissioner in North Carolina. I wonder if that is worth the effort?

I did get them to agree that all of the parts of the FEL system. (Loader mounts, loader frame, hydraulic connections, and joystick) belong to me and I have a right to take them off the tractor. Now the salvage company wants to resubmit their bid. (That doesn’t matter to me EII will have to adjust the amount they pay me.) Plus more time till I get my payoff. As a separate deal I offered to sale the salvage company the FEL. No response yet.

Now to my point and the area where I need help from the community.

The adjuster (Gulf Atlantic Claims Service) did three comparables on tractors with 350 hours and got what I think is a fair valuation of $22.8k. But..,

He valued the FEL at $6.4K reducing the valuation of the tractor to $16.4. So the FEL is 28% of the value of the tractor.

I called the adjuster to ask how he got such a high valuation for the FEL.

To paraphrase he told me to “pack sand” and call the insurance company if I have a problem with his valuation.

I have tried to find the price of stand alone FELs on the internet. Tym does not seem to price FELs. I did find a link for John Deere. I plan to visit some local dealers tomorrow and see if I can get pricing.

So my question for the community:

1. Do you agree that is a grossly over value for the FEL?

2. How can I convince the insurance company that the FEL is grossly over priced?

3. Does anyone have web links that separately price FELs

4. Are there any dealers willing to “chime in” with their opinion?

Thanks for any help you can provide..

I hope some of you are like me… you don’t like being bullied and will fight back as best you can.

 

[bmaverick]

FEL manufactures are in the USA too.

The Koyer brand by Sioux Steel is one of the most popular in the industry. And buying from a retailer their FEL, the price as of today is nearly $5K.

Koyker Loaders

Koyker Manufacturing has front end loaders for all major tractor brands, including: John Deere, Kubota, McCormick, New Holland and Case IH. Koyker loaders are designed, engineered and built in the USA. All Koyker loaders come with a 2 year warranty. They are built to handle big loads while the…

www.siouxsteel.com

So, the Ins. company says the tractor is 1-item and the FEL is 1-item. SO, logically, since they are SEPARATE items, why did the price of the tractor go DOWN when adjusting to remove the FEL ???

 

[LDWallace]

BM,

When computing the value of my tractor all of the “comparable” tractors were valued FELs. The adjuster then deducted $6.4K from those thus reducing the value of my tractor.

My contention is that the value of the FEL should be more like $4.0-4.5k. That would increase the payout for my tractor by $2.0-2.5k.

 

[CalG]

BM,

When computing the value of my tractor all of the “comparable” tractors were valued FELs. The adjuster then deducted $6.4K from those thus reducing the value of my tractor.

My contention is that the value of the FEL should be more like $4.0-4.5k. That would increase the payout for my tractor by $2.0-2.5k.

It's easy enough to do the Kubota "Build My Tractor" thing and see how the sales cost varies.

 

[2manyrocks]

I think you're going to need your own valuation expert to get the adjuster to change his valuation. The opinions of TBN members may not matter to your adjuster.

 

[nyone]

 yyou blew the engine due to operator error and now your fighting over $6k? Your prety lucky they even would cover that.

 

[mllud]

You are going to lose your 2k. In the overall picture you are lucky. Take your settlement and move on. I wouldn't want to draw enough attention for them to reassess the whole thing. Ther could hold you responsible for the neglect. I don't see your complaint. Sorry, checking oil before getting on the seat is rule number one and watching gauges is #2. I'll bet the policy says neglect is not covered. Lesson learned. I'm sorry for not being sempathic. Hire competent people.

Edit
I just read the other thread you posted. I didn't read that thread before posting. It would have been easier to understand what happen to continue that thread. Bad situation to be in.

 

[Amateurwheels]

Call Collision Safety Consultants and see what he says. They deal with adjusters and appraisers and insurance companies. Mostly auto focused, but I bet he'd take a crack at this.

 

[CH4Ohio]

Call another TYM dealer and ask for a quote on a similar model (or same model if still available). Ask for a price with and without loader. Isn't that what you need to question the relative value of the two items?