karenintx - 7-22-2009 at 07:09 AM
Hola to all Nomads,
I will try to keep this as short as possible while still providing all the important details of our experience with Discover Baja Auto Insurance and
their claims adjuster Alex.
For anyone that is familiar with Cabo San Lucas, that is where we live. Jim (my husband) was returning back to our condo after a morning of playing
golf. At the present time there is road construction going on in the town so the traffic heading out of town now goes directly in front of our condo.
Jim stopped at the intersection, yielding to both cars and one pedestrian. He then processed thru the intersection and since there is a “tope” just
past the intersection he was going about 5 mph. That is when he heard “BOOM”. He comes to a complete stop and as he looked out of the driver’s
window he sees a young man (about 15 - 18 years olds) lying on the ground. He jumps out of the car, the young man jumps up from the ground and the
traffic policeman that was on the corner directing traffic runs over to our car.
I should first explain that Jim is not fluent in Spanish but understands a lot more than he can speak. I was in our condo so when Jim calls me I run
out the door, down the elevator to our HOA office to get our manger so he can help. The accident happened on the corner of our complex so by the time
Aurelio and I got to the corner the ambulance was just arriving. My husband introduces me to “an angel” named Sylva. I call her this because she was
the pedestrian standing on the corner Jim had yielded to a few minutes earlier. I quickly learned she owns the restaurant Casa Nova, is from
Australia, was raised in Spain and speaks Spanish fluently. She told Jim “I saw what happened.” In Spanish she told the traffic policeman “ The
young man was traveling behind the car in the same direction, after the car went through the intersection the young man tried to overtake and pass the
car on the left side. At the same time there where cars coming down the hill and that is when the young man tried to cut in front of the car but
misjudged and hit the car on the front left fender.
I grabbed the papers from the glove compartment and ran to our HOA office to call Discover Baja. While I am on the phone with them Jim calls me on my
cell phone to say “The policeman is telling me I have to follow him to the policeman station.” Between Discover Baja, Aurelio and the claims adjuster
it was determined it would be OK to leave the scene of the accident and Alex, the claims adjuster will meet us at the police station that is by the
Red Cross. Aurelio drives me there to meet up with Jim and he also speaks with the policemen. He then tells us “Everything will be OK, you just need
to wait for the claims adjuster.” Jim tells me that while I was in the HOA office and before he left the accident scene, a policeman that could speak
English asked “Do you live here?” to which Jim said “yes”…Policeman asked “how long?”…Jim said “Four years”. Jim said he got the feeling if he had
said “no, I am on vacation” then the policeman would have hit him up for some $$$ to make things go away.
About ten minutes after I arrived at the police station the young man shows up. We still don’t know how he got from the hospital to the police
station. He starts talking to all of the policemen and one of them that speaks English comes over to our car with the young man. By the way this
bike was so small it looked to be the size of a bike a five or six year old child would ride. It was leaning against a tree close to our car and the
policeman tells Jim “the kid says he is not hurt and if you will take care of his bike everything will be OK.” You would have to know my husband to
be able to “enjoy” the answer he gave to the policeman. With his dry humor he points to our car and calmly said “if he pays for my car, I will pay
for his bike after all he hit me”. The policeman smiled then replied “I see what you mean”. Jim then said “I am asking you to keep him here until my
claims adjuster arrives at which time we will do what he tells us to do”. Like I said earlier Jim in not fluent in Spanish but understand about 50%
…he never let them know that!
Five minutes later Alex the claims adjuster walks up. At little history on Alex. He represents several insurance companies and his territory includes
SJD, CSL, T/S and La Paz. He was professional but most of all bi-lingual. First thing Alex did was to ask Jim what happened. He then looked at our
car, I assume to confirm the story match the dent. He told us I am going to talk with the young man and I will be right back. We could hear the
young man talking about “derecha”. They exchanged a few words but we could tell by the sound of Alex’s voice he was not happy. We are thinking the
worse. When Alex returned to our car we asked “What happened?” He told us the young man said “I was on the right side of the car and the man turned
into me.” Alex asked the young man “then why is the left side of my client’s car dented? You are lucky I don’t have you put jail until you can pay
for his damages.” According to the young man he has no family. Like we believed that! Alex had the police type up a report stating the young man
was at fault and Jim was innocent. The young man, the policeman, Jim and Alex all signed the paper. Alex gave us our copy along with his personal
cell phone number. We told Alex “we have heard so many horror stories about going to jail”. It was at that time he told us when he received the call
from Discover Baja his first question was “do I need to get legal representation and bail money? Had they said yes I would have had you out of jail
FAST!”
The accident happened at 1:00 pm, we finally returned to our condo around 3:30 pm…not too bad for Mexico…heck it could take longer in the US.
We returned to the USA last Wednesday for a couple of months so we will have the repairs done upon returning to Cabo in October. The damages aren’t
bad but where the young man hit the fender it now makes the door “pop” each time it is opened and closed.
We will be sending Discover Baja a letter thanking them for the way they handled everything and also telling them how lucky they are to have a claims
adjuster like Alex. He was there to represent us and make sure we were taken care of.
What is funny about all of this…I had talked with an other insurance agent in Cabo recently. He was telling me he could get cheaper insurance for us.
Thinking when our policy expires we would change companies, we have decided we will not change companies but stay with Discover Baja.
Crusoe - 7-22-2009 at 09:49 AM
Karenintx......Great story and outcome.Just lovin all of it. Thanx ++C++
Udo - 7-22-2009 at 10:13 AM
We have been using Discover Baja insurance services for years, and were considering changing to the Vagabundo's plan. But after reading an earlier
story and then this one, Discover is the way to go.
sancho - 7-22-2009 at 11:27 AM
To me, the single most important
aspect of Mex Insurance is the rapid
no nonsense response of the Adjuster,
regardless of which Mex Insurance US Broker one buys
a policy from, I can imagine the adrenalin
spike that must occur when faced with
the prospect of jail time,
no matter how small,
Have heard of adjusters who were not
as professional as yours
Bajahowodd - 7-22-2009 at 11:32 AM
Sancho makes a valid point. Alex is undoubtedly and independent contractor and likely works for several insurance carriers. You were fortunate he was
on the spot.
karenintx - 7-22-2009 at 03:42 PM
This was our first AND hopefully the last time to deal with our Mexican Auto Insurance.
While our HOA manager was driving me to the police station he told me of an other condo owner that was involved in an accident that was his fault. He
did spend 24 hours in jail before his claim adjuster got him out. Also the adjuster did not pay the claim correctly and about a year later the Cabo
Police came to the HOA office looking for this homeowner. He had to hire an attorney...not for sure how much it cost him.
We do feel luck to have had a "concerned and caring" adjuster.
805gregg - 7-22-2009 at 06:14 PM
You go you take your chances, a third world country, with a forth world legal system.
bacquito - 7-22-2009 at 07:00 PM
good report, thanks. I recently renewed one policy and must do another. I've never been in an accident and hope never to be in one but I've been a
member of Discover Baja and plan on staying.
Kell-Baja - 7-24-2009 at 04:40 PM
I've heard many great things about Discover Baja
Oggie - 7-26-2009 at 10:37 AM
I went by Discover Baja's new office and it looks great.
DianaT - 7-27-2009 at 08:06 AM
We did have Discover Baja but decided this year to change to Baja Bound---very nice to deal with, and while we hope we never really need their
services, we hope they will be just as quick to respond.
Good story to share---Thanks
Diane