Why Your Insurance Company Will Get Away With Denying Your Auto Theft Claim - The Podcast

"SteveLehto" (stevelehto) 09/08/2016 at 09:00 • Filed to: None

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If your car was stolen in Michigan, there is a good chance your insurer will deny your auto theft claim and they will get away with it. And you can predict if your claim will be denied by checking the color of your skin.

I primarily handle lemon law claims but I get calls about all kinds of other “car” cases. I often hear from auto theft victims whose claims have been denied by their insurance companies. Most often, the callers are black and live in Detroit. Which is ironic, since insurers make Detroiters pay insane rates.

And yes, I used the word “ironic” correctly. You see: They charge more since they claim the risk is higher. But then they deny the claims at a higher rate than the denials in the suburbs.

But worse, in Michigan you have few remedies and you will never be made whole if you have to sue your insurer. And, since they know that, they are even more likely to deny your claim.

Lansing won’t help. And it is the same in many other states across this great nation. It’s a mess, but I do my best to unravel it in this week’s podcast.

Here is the audio:

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And the video:

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Steve Lehto has been practicing law for 24 years, almost exclusively in consumer protection and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! He wrote !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

This website may supply general information about the law but it is for informational purposes only. This does not create an attorney-client relationship and is not meant to constitute legal advice, so the good news is we’re not billing you by the hour for reading this. The bad news is that you shouldn’t act upon any of the information without consulting a qualified professional attorney who will, probably, bill you by the hour.

yamahog > SteveLehto 09/08/2016 at 09:09

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“They charge more since they claim the risk is higher. But then they deny the claims at a higher rate than the denials in the suburbs.”

This really pisses me off, especially since the insurance rates are the main reason my fiancé and I are not looking at homes in Detroit proper. Such a scam. Really goes to show the pervasiveness of institutionalized racism.

jimz > yamahog 09/08/2016 at 09:18

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insurance rates are the main reason? I can think of at least 693 others I’d put above that.

yamahog > jimz 09/08/2016 at 09:24

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Good for you. Not everyone wants to live in the suburban subdivision hellscapes in the metro area or commute in all the way from East Podunkville. We are having a hell of a time trying to find something to meet our preferences, and being able to add Detroit back onto our list and afford insurance on 4 cars and a sportbike in city limits would be great.

PotbellyJoe and 42 others > SteveLehto 09/08/2016 at 09:40

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Thanks for this, Steve.

It’s truly crazy how long scams like this can fly under the radar.

Heading to Detroit from the East Coast to ride in the Tour de Troit next Saturday. Would love to see a true resurgence in that city, but crimes like this propagated by these cozy relationships in Lansing are really disgusting and hurting cities like Detroit and Flint.

haveacarortwoorthree2 > SteveLehto 09/08/2016 at 10:56

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Steve, can you provide the Mich SCt opinion or the cite where they struck down the “insurance company pays attorney’s fees” rule. Would be interested in the rationale they provided for doing so. Thanks.

Wil Haginen > SteveLehto 09/08/2016 at 10:59

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My jimmies are thoroughly rustled, Steve.

SteveLehto > haveacarortwoorthree2 09/08/2016 at 11:22

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It will make your brain hurt. The case is called Smith v Globe. There, they ruled that the Consumer Protection Act does not apply to merchants. Then, they said it does not apply to non-merchants.

The implication was that the legislature (decades earlier) had drafted it so badly it covered no one. In reality, the Mi S. Ct can’t read.

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > yamahog 09/08/2016 at 11:25

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If insurance pita you off, have you looked at property taxes? Holy hell, it's double or triple a comparable purchase in the suburbs. And those are the nice suburbs. Also factor in 3% resident income tax rate, and there is really no good incentive to move into the city proper. Sad really, there are some nicer areas with awesome older homes.

Urambo Tauro > SteveLehto 09/08/2016 at 11:49

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I feel that my options are rather limited...

Wil Haginen > SteveLehto 09/08/2016 at 12:12

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Law question that may or may not be specific to Michigan: Just because the law says that the insurance agencies don’t have to pay the plaintiff’s legal fees, is there anything that prevents the plaintiff from going after the insurance agency for more than the disputed amount?

yamahog > merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc 09/08/2016 at 12:25

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As far as property taxes, my mom lives on the east end of Long Island, so everything out here still feels like an amazing deal in comparison.

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > yamahog 09/08/2016 at 12:35

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I would imagine so. It's all relative I guess.

SteveLehto > Wil Haginen 09/08/2016 at 13:19

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You can ASK for anything you want. The courts will only give you what you can get legally.

TallDrinkOfWater > SteveLehto 09/08/2016 at 14:56

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I notice you deleted a comment from someone who questioned your research into this topic. Does deleting the comment make the research question less necessary? Why not simply reply with the statistics you used to author this? CIPR stats? FBI stats? III stats? Or, you simply can’t take it when someone disagrees so you delete it?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > SteveLehto 09/08/2016 at 15:20

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just wondering how long before your insurance carrier cancels your coverage for some obscure reason.

SteveLehto > TallDrinkOfWater 09/08/2016 at 16:57

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No, the commenter insulted me. If I called you a moron, I bet you’d delete my comment if you could.

SteveLehto > xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 09/08/2016 at 17:01

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Considering all the hate comments and emails I’m getting, I can bet you they are looking me up to see if they are insuring me!

jimz > SteveLehto 09/09/2016 at 11:53

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As an aside, is R&T going to be putting you in print, or is your column online-exclusive?

SteveLehto > jimz 09/09/2016 at 12:07

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I think we are virtual-only at this point.

jimz > SteveLehto 09/09/2016 at 12:25

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at least they’re one of the few print mags who seem to “get” this whole Internet thing. contrast that to Cycle World which is a holy mess.

SteveLehto > jimz 09/09/2016 at 12:28

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Yes. There are a few that don’t even appear to know what the Internet is. (Like Mopar Action.)

jimz > SteveLehto 09/09/2016 at 19:00

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Holy crap, is that site from 1996??? I’m surprised the URL isn’t http://moparaction.geocities.com

1111111111111111111111 > SteveLehto 09/09/2016 at 21:45

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You said you were going to be on the radio talking about this subject today. Do you have a transcript or link?

SteveLehto > 1111111111111111111111 09/09/2016 at 22:33

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No transcript. I’ll upload it later and post a link.

1111111111111111111111 > SteveLehto 09/09/2016 at 22:55

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Thanks!

SteveLehto > 1111111111111111111111 09/10/2016 at 09:23

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If you - or anyone - wants to hear it (it’s only 3 minutes) email me directly and I’ll send you the link. It was not put up by the network so I had to upload my recording of it to soundcloud.

Lehto@kennon.com