[butdamnbrian]

1. Preservation of evidence. lawyering up asap is necessary to ensure evidence is not destroyed/spoiled. Dealer and soa need to be put on notice of possibility of legal action because that triggers their obligation to preserve evidence. Otherwise, while op pursues "non-legal" recourse you guys suggest, dealer hauls the burnt shell to a yard, crushes it, and the only evid left is the dealer's written report. Not good for op.

2. Equity. You can be sure that dealer and soa (and op's ins co) have all lawyered up already. They have been working for 7 days straight to minimize their exposure. op is already at a huge disadvantage.

3. Corporations. The event may be a result of human error, but op is not dealing with humans; he is dealing with corporations. It's not a matter of greedy v. fair. Corporations are designed to minimize exposure and maximize profit.. by law. Corporation will always do what it was designed to do.. minimize risk/exposure/cost. If the least expensive recourse is to cheap out on op, it will. That's why threat of lawsuit is important. If least risky course is to make op whole rather than risk a suit (make whole plus legal fees and time), then that's the course the biz will take. Simple math, risk assessment, simple business decision.

op should absolutely lawyer up, have counsel draft up notice to dealer and soa and ins co, make sure evid is preserved. also, ins co may not always have op's best interest in mind, for obvious reasons.

finally, op do not post on this forum again. Period. Anything you post here would need to be produced as evidence in the event this goes to court, or possibly to some other forum for alternative dispute resolution. Anything else you write can only hurt you in the future. Take it offline. Good luck.