Experience following an auto accident leaves me with questions about CMA policies and management…read more A CMA executive driving a dealership vehicle hit our car, was found to be at fault, changed his story, and stood by, allowing questionable actions to delay resolution of our claim. Why am I wary?
(Based on reports from my husband, Virginia state police, insurance company representatives, and personal observations):
1 -- Our vehicle was hit from behind on I-64 east. The CMA executive was cited by police for following too close. No one else was ticketed. After saying he couldn't stop, the CMA executive changed his story and blamed a lane change by my husband for causing the accident. Completely untrue.
2 -- The CMA executive had no insurance or registration info with him at the scene, and later provided a contact who failed to respond to multiple messages. After about a week of silence, we contacted the dealership and were told not to call again, but to wait to hear from the contact provided. More time passed, and still no response. Eventually, research revealed the "contact" was a former employee at CMA's insurance sales brokerage, neither an agent nor active employee of an insurance carrier able to process our claim for damages.
3 -- More research led us to an actual insurance carrier for the dealership and vehicle which hit our car. CMA documents showed the vehicle was not listed in the dealership inventory where the at-fault driver had an office, but was assigned to inventory for a dealership in Colonial Heights. Colonial Heights said they were not involved, another contradiction of documents CMA had provided. We filed a claim with a different insurer CMA had listed, then learned that carrier had been instructed to drop it so CMA could use their third party administrator to "process" our claim. For over a month, messages were ignored, and there was no reimbursement of towing expenses, no authorization for repairs, and no replacement vehicle to drive -- completely unlike the experience of the CMA executive who was driving another dealer-owned vehicle in no time. The CMA executive then advised us to file a claim with our own carrier, meaning we would be covering the deductible and also running the risk of a premium increase due to the claim, even though we were not at fault. CMA's third party admininstrator stalled inquiries by our insurance carrier as well, failing to return phone calls and using various tactics which resulted in delays resolving the claim. It was during this time that the CMA executive changed his story and alleged my husband caused the accident by changing lanes even though both vehicles had been traveling in the left lane for some time prior to the collision.
5 -- CMA's third party administrator filed a request for mediation, seeking to prove their client was NOT at fault despite the police citation and testimony from my husband. This further delayed settling the claim. Ultimately, mediation ruled that the CMA executive was at fault.
6 -- The BMW my husband and I had bought a few months before the accident was totaled, and we were unable to replace it with a comparable make, model year, and mileage vehicle despite searches in VA, NC, and MD. Our insurance carrier can legally negotiate to recover company losses, but we're on our own trying to recover from CMA's third party administrator who's already proven difficult and uncooperative.
So much time, money, and aggravation for an innocent party because CMA refused to do the right thing. We wrote to the CMA President and CEO and heard nothing back from her either. Not a great first impression of CMA, particularly when, as a new manager, the CMA executive emphasized values such as "fairness", "accountability", and "eliminating excuses" in an interview, and the CEO was quoted as saying, "Spread love wherever you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier," when interviewed after receiving an automotive dealership reward.
