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Smart Shopper Questions About Auto Insurance & Accidents
4422 messages, Last post on Dec 04, 2009 at 6:46 PM
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Replying to: chris2max3 (Jul 14, 2006 1:28 pm) What would it do to your finances if the car just "disappeared"? What would it do, and how would you feel, if you had to pay $2800 for bodywork? I've got a '96 Mazda with 151k on it and I've got full coverage... it's $25 per month, so it's not too bad, and I'll drop it after I've had the car for a few months. IOW, I'm ok with it if my $2,000 car just goes away, but not right after I bought it. Whether there's a loan on it or not basically doesn't mean anything. Once you own anything to anybody -- a mortgage, say -- what is the meaning of "cash" anyway? -Mathias
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Replying to: steine13 (Jul 14, 2006 5:08 pm)  Chris |
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For example you total out your vehicle. The salvage yard will give you up to 25% of its value for the wreck, you've saved the annual premium for the coverage and you still have your deductible. Add it all up & weigh out peace of mind cost. Because Comprehensive is not as expensive, I'd be tempted to retain that coverage. |
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Hi there. I live in California and recently rented a truck to move some personal stuff. I was parking, the truck bumper hit a parked car as I went by and caused 4500 worth of damage. It hooked the car bumper and ripped it and the fiberglass fender clean off. I went out, found the people who owned the car, we exchanged info, etc. and then my insurance company (I have collision and comp) denied the claim because the truck was too big (over 3,000 lb. capacity) although actually it was small, only a 14 ft bed. I objected that there wasn't clear and obvious notice in the policy but it is there - it's just a fine print thing. Anyway, I had taken all the insurance the rental place offered but it turns out that's only for their truck. So it turns out that there was no way I could have even insured the truck. So now, supposedly the other person's insurance is supposedly going to pay. The other driver wants me to pony up their 1,000 deductible, which seems fair, but will their insurance company come after me for the rest? Or more than the rest? And if I get the driver to sign a release which also mentions the insurance company does that have any binding force on the insurance company? Should I just call their insurance adjustor and discuss this with him or is it better to just get the car owner to sign a waiver and see what happens? And as a second question, I saw on an III website that rental places are legally required to provide liability insurance. Is this true? If I have to pay this whole thing I'm going to be in serious trouble. Any suggestions? If anyone can reply quickly, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.
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rental truck liability does not cover collision damage like what you have, but it is limited strictly to injury liability...seems that rental agencies have loopholes in the law (IMO) where their liability policies are not 50/100/50 like an auto policy, just 50/100...and they usually have a deductible like $3000-5000, and you have to purchase a rider to bring the ded down to $250-500...in essence they insure for catastrophic damages, and you are responsible for the ded unless you buy a ded policy... I WOULD double check your own policy, however, because they should normally insure any vehicle you drive until its size reaches commercial size, and 14 foot does not sound THAT large, plus, you were using it for personal use...if you had rented the truck to move someone else for $$$, that is commercial use and they would be right to refuse coverage, but this is personal use... I certainly cannot guarantee it, but there may be coverage from your personal policy, unless it specifically states "any vehicle over ### pounds GVW will not be covered by this policy" If none of this works, you would certainly be responsible for the other guy's deductible...would the other ins come after you for their payout???...possibly...for more than the payout???...no, unless they added filing and atty fees...if they paid out $4K in repairs, they really should not be coming after you for $8K, just the payout amount, plus what I just mentioned...if they know your ins won't pay, I would guess they would not go after you, but adjusters can be quirky... Signing a release is probably worthless with the other guy, I would talk to his adjuster, as they represent the ins compnay at this point... |
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Replying to: nsew (Jul 16, 2006 9:47 am) Tough luck on the damages -- maybe I can help a little, but bear in mind this information is not policy specific, nor state specific. First, it's good of you to stop and inform the car owner ... though it likely will cost you some money, your integrity should remain intact. A few things: 1. I would CAREFULLY reread the policy exclusion, or more likely, the definition of a vehicle that your insurance company is attempting to deny your claim with. Then, I would make sure you obtain the VIN, year, make and model, along with the GVWR of the exact truck/van you rented. Basically, don't take your insurance company's word for it that it isn't a covered vehicle -- double check yourself. 2. If you took all of the insurance offered by the rental company then somewhere along the lines you are likely insured -- I'll touch on where in a bit. 3. Don't pony up the 1k to the other driver -- their insurance company will come after you either way -- you might as well give them it all in one lump sum if you have to pay -- or set up a payment plan with them. The fewer people that you are paying to, the better and less complex -- let them manage refunding their insured the deductible. 4. No release that the insured signs -- once the insurance company pays -- will have any binding effect over them. At best, if he signs a release, then collects from his insurance company, then you provide them with the release, they will subrogate their insured for his money back -- if you want to try to pull a fast one like that you should have just driven away from the scene. More likely however, they will laugh off your release and send the file to collections. 5. As for liability coverage -- in my state the rental company is forced to carry liability coverage on their vehicles. Now this coverage is usually excess above any other insurance (oddly though, nearly all insurance companies will deny a rental truck of a certain size -- often leaving the rental liability insurance primary.) I would follow up with the rental company -- or tell the other party to file a claim against the rental company's insurance carrier -- that is both his and your best bet for getting off without paying out excess money. |
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and, I like what lilyowen said that I instinctively knew, but did not point out...by telling the other driver, your integrity remained intact...it may be the ONLY thing we really carry with us as we proceed with our lives... Sorry to be so philsophical, but lily made an excellent point, along with the other posted points... |
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My Farmers' insurance totaled my car but they're deducting 40% off of it's value and said it's because of the salvage title. I don't know what's the difference but my car has a reconditioned title  and I have been paying full premiums for this car without any realization on what's the difference. All of a sudden, now that it is totaled, they want to give me less value for what I have been paying the insurance premiums for.  This is not enough for me to purchase anything remotely close to what I had and I opted for repair but they tell me since it has a salvage title I only have but 2 options. 1) Buy back the car and repair it myself or 2) Accept the 40% deduction offer they gave me. I don't know much about cars or how it's valued but I think I'm being taken advantage of, can anyone help point me in the right direction? Thanks!
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Replying to: points2ponder (Jul 16, 2006 6:22 pm) |
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pressure is on... I have never personally run into this situation (how's that for covering my buns???) but I will give it a shot... Something does not seem right, as the insurance presently has it both ways...charging you full premium, despite knowing (I assume they did know it was a salvage title?) it was salvage, but now wanting to deduct a major percentage due to the salvage title... My guess, and it may be a poor one, is to try and get an appraisal of what the vehicle was worth prior to collision, maybe from photos, bills from repairs and rebuild, and what the vehicle cost when you purchased it...in essence, try and document what the vehicle cost you in toto, and then try and negotiate from there...I have no idea if you have any chance of prevailing, but it is worth a try... If the 40% discount is substantial in actual dollars (obviously if the vehicle cost you $2000 and they want to pay $1200, this is not worth it...but if you paid $10K and they discount to $6K, this is worth fighting over) then if my thoughts above do not work, you may have the unpleasant option of suing Farmers in Magistrate Court on your own... I mention this option because I see an inherent injustice here, where Farmers had knowledge of salvage (reconditioned, but they call it salvage) and did not discount the premium but now using that same knowledge to cheat you out of reimbursement for value...this sound like something that a judge may see as inherent injustice (one possible legal theory is "unjust enrichment") and award you full value... I know what a salvage title is, but just what is reconditioned and who determines the diff between recond and salvage in your state??? My limited comprehension is that a salvage title is where a previously totalled vehicle is stripped of its parts and virtually rebuilt on the same chassis...so I am not sure what recond means... BTW...when clients ask me if they should keep the totalled vehicle I always reco NOT to do so, because the hoops they make you jump thru are too much to offset what you get to keep in the total...one exception...a client totalled a 1985 Chevy truck that just had a new engine installed...for what the salvage cost him, maybe $250, he kept the truck because he had ANOTHER 85 Chevy in his yard in good condition, and he was able to transfer the engine himself...so, he bypassed all the paperwork trying to put the salvage back on the road and just put the new engine in another vehicle that was already roadworthy, so that buying the salvage just really meant getting back his new engine rather than let a junkyard profit from his new engine... |
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