Greetings folks. So I've the insurance settlement and am ready to move on.
Coparts will be doing their auction "whenever" but I no longer expect it quickly... the last word I heard is that it could take weeks for unknown reasons. I've had to move the process at every step of the way and figure that once my foot is off the gas it *will* take weeks.
Anyway, to close out the thread I thought some of you might be interested in how the insurance side of things worked out.
Every step of the way their default position position is to fall back on the VIN number and a low ball “kelly blue book” style valuation quote. I’ve seen this now from many multiple departments at My Insurer (State Farm) and the Shop Insurer (Nationwide). At each juncture a few things have been helpful:
a) my van was registered and insured as a motorhome. every single representative at state farm misses this the first time and i have to make them go re-read the initial contract; but once they have done so they stop arguing. i think the process would have been much more difficult without this.
b) nationwide was very helpful but they didn’t see/understand the van and didn’t have existing paperwork to fall back on. The “sportsmobile” and “quigley” branding turns out to be helpful here. They are unmistakable in photos and adjusters can relatively quickly turn these into search terms for comparable vans that are for sale. (NOTE: i gave up on getting nationwide to followthrough on this once State Farm offered a settlement. So despite Nationwide’s better communications they started to fall behind due to the lack of contract clearly indicating the motorhome status).
In recent discussion my state farm representative he confirmed the importance of keeping them clear on exactly what they are covering. He indicates that everything permanent is covered and that the more clarity i provide (see above) the easier the process will be. Exactly conforming to our experience. I will be specifically requesting stickers and branding on my next van even though my normal preference is to remove them.
I haven't made an insurance claim in a long while and never anything of this magnitude. I'm happy with my decision to "pay more" for good insurance and will insure my new van with state farm. (i may comparison shop at nationwide or others).
In the final tally they paid out a reasonable valuation for the vehicle. With Nationwide covering my deductible and some incidentals I consider myself "whole" financially. I *would not* have sold my vehicle for this price or at this time but I might have considered it next fall. So a fair price.
This entire experience has amounted to a magic fairy (evil? puck quality mischievousness at least) replacing our perfectly setup 2004 Ford Quigely 4x4 with a 2017 Sprinter 4x4 low roof crew van and no camper conversion. Oddly it has the Active Safety Plus package with all the safety bits and features and shoulder belts for 5. I can't imagine why that was our priority over camping comforts.
We are in the queue for a pop-top and conversion and I'll probably start a build thread to discuss ideas. Thanks for you're all's support during this!
RIP Vanimal.