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I thankfully haven't had to deal with MPI for a long time (and truthfully, my personal experiences have been pretty positive), but their website suggests they will have to pay the deductible up front, but should get reimbursed once the issue of who is at fault is sorted out.
Is MPI flat-out refusing to pursue this? If so, what exactly are they saying to justify it?
The answer might be to make themselves as irritating to the adjustors as possible...nothing to lose, really.
That is correct, the deductible has to be paid upfront and is to be reimbursed if MPI successfully investigates. I'll request more information from my family member, but it sounds to me like MPI was stating that they did not want to investigate.
It does sound like MPI is just trying to cut costs by not investigating, as it's money from the left to the right pocket anyway. Damage is $2500 though, so I'm kinda surprised.
EDIT: Got a response, they just aren't making progress, so I guess I'll just have my family member keep reminding MPI to investigate and they'll hopefully get to it in the end.
Yeah hopefully they can get some traction if they just keep at it. Like I said, I've been pretty fortunate in the past, but I know people who have had some pretty bad experiences.
My only experience is with private insurance in Quebec. Police goes in, makes a report, gets footage for me, I provide footage to insurer, open and shut within a week. MPI is a whole 'nother beast hahah
Another Hail Mary approach if all else fails could be to shop the story around to local media. If anyone bites, it could certainly lead to a quick resolution.
MPI is notoriously bad for this sort of thing. All you can really do is stay on their case. I called them daily for over a month once before they finally got sick of me and did something.
Say what you will about private insurance, at least this sort of thing is handled better.