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Replacement Cost by Insurance Company for Totaled Vehicle

272 messages,  Last post on Feb 12, 2013 at 4:55 PM

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What is this discussion about? Car Safety, Buying Insurance, Coupe, Convertible, Hatchback, Truck, Sedan, Wagon, SUV, Van

Messages Page 23 of 28

#221 of 272 Re: Attn: Taximom [euphonium] by sanjaysdca

Apr 22, 2010 (10:31 am)

Replying to: euphonium (Apr 22, 2010 9:42 am)
We live in a litigation happy world and then we wonder why our insurance premiums, be it auto or health, are going through the roof.
 
In any event I would be interested in the outcome. Please keep us updated.

#222 of 272 Re: Had "Taxi" [taximombutler] by euphonium

Apr 22, 2010 (11:59 am)

Replying to: taximombutler (Apr 22, 2010 10:22 am)
Precendents are set by not setting limitations on how we look at things.

 
That's a nice & feel good statement, but the facts are you are expecting others to insure your debt. Not within the law to do so.
 
Had you wrecked the car, your negligence, who would you hold responsible for insuring your debt?
 
I don't believe even a lady adjuster would agreee with your comments to pay more.
 
If it were legal to pay the balance owed on a total, the losses would be variously immeasurable & not able to be promulgated in Liability insurance rates.

#223 of 272 Re: Had "Taxi" [euphonium] by kirstie_h HOST

Apr 22, 2010 (12:13 pm)

Replying to: euphonium (Apr 22, 2010 11:59 am)
If it were legal to pay the balance owed on a total, the losses would be variously immeasurable & not able to be promulgated in Liability insurance rates.
 
You said this in "insurancese", which is basically what I said a few posts back - insurance rates would be impossible to calculate, and would likely become unaffordable for many.
 
How would one calculate the difference in potential loss of Person A's vehicle, over a 5-year loan at 10% interest, $2,000 down, at various milestones throughout the life of my car & loan, at various "it got totaled" dates along the way? And how would that calculation differ against Person B, who bought the same vehicle, 4-year loan, 5% interest, $5,000 down?
 
If totaled, the person in scenario B will always come out ahead the way that insurance currently operates because they put $5,000 down. On a vehicle with a purchase price of $20K, person B will likely never be upside-down.
 
Person A will be upside-down for much longer. However, under taximom's proposal, that person would likely come out ahead on an insurance settlement because they paid more loan interest, and the balanced owed on the loan will always be higher than Person B.
 
The downpayment simply reduces the amount owed on a vehicle at any time. Had you not made a downpayment and the insurance company settled for less than you owed, you would still owe the difference. This is the only way in which a downpayment comes into play when a vehicle is totaled.

#224 of 272 Re: Had "Taxi" [taximombutler] by sanjaysdca

Apr 22, 2010 (12:17 pm)

Replying to: taximombutler (Apr 22, 2010 10:22 am)
Would like to know your opinion if you had rear ended someone and he came after you for lost interest and other tanigible cost would you have paid? OVER the fair market value?
 
As I said am really interested in the outcome. Please keep us posted.
BTW what was the make/model of the car? Just curious

#225 of 272 Re: Had "Taxi" [taximombutler] by tidester

Apr 22, 2010 (4:51 pm)

Replying to: taximombutler (Apr 22, 2010 10:22 am)
Your actual cost of a vehicle will be double the initial cost of the vehicle.
 
How do you figure that? On a $20,000 loan over 48 months with 8% apr, the interest works out to $3,436. That's a long way from double.
 
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper

#226 of 272 Re: Had "Taxi" [taximombutler] by jwilliams2

Apr 22, 2010 (5:02 pm)

Replying to: taximombutler (Apr 22, 2010 10:22 am)
What is keeping you from buying an identical replacement vehicle, both in age and mileage. That is what the insurance settlement should have paid for. If you do short term financing you will be in basically the same financial position you were in.
 
And legal counsel is going be expensive with a high probability of losing. I can't imagine any lawyer taking this on a contingency basis.
 
Perhaps someone on this board can steer you towards an insurance company that will write a policy that pays you the full original purchase price on your future vehicles regardless of age or mileage. I'm not sure if there is such a thing, but it sounds like what you want. I would imagine the premiums would be very pricey. Good luck to you.

#227 of 272 Re: Had "Taxi" [taximombutler] by dtownfb

Apr 22, 2010 (7:23 pm)

Replying to: taximombutler (Apr 22, 2010 10:22 am)
Obviously you are so used to the insurance industry protocal that you don't see beyond that. Precendents are set by not setting limitations on how we look at things.
 
taximombutler: For some reason you are caught up on this notion that the insurance must pay you back everything you put into the car. THat is simply not the case. The insurance company only owes you the value of your car based on model year and miles driven, which you have nto shared even though you've been asked several times. Take the emotion out of the situation and think about this practically. You have multiple people telling you the exact same thing.
 
If you are looking for additional money, your fight now is with the hotel and valet service.
 
If I had wrecked my own vehicle the issue would be different. But instead my vehicle was entrusted to a company who handles vehicles for a living, they didn't even disclose that the vehicle would be moved from the hotel garage, right underneath the property, so it was "implied" that the vehicle would stay on the property, not driven onto public streets. This hotel property did not offer any other option, valet is required when staying there. Then there is the entire inconvenience (loss of use as the insurance industry calls it) for there negligence. If companies can pawn off an issue like this to the insurance carrier, who practically makes you do more work than them to just get a fair market value settlement, there is no accountability and litigation is the only option
 
I'm not sure why you feel the situation would be (or should be) different if you had totaled the car yourself. The insurance company would treat it the same exact way, which is why your only option is to pursue this against the hotel company and valet service.
 
Good luck with your lawsuit. Keep us updated.

#228 of 272 Re: Had "Taxi" [jwilliams2] by euphonium

Apr 22, 2010 (9:43 pm)

Replying to: jwilliams2 (Apr 22, 2010 5:02 pm)
"a policy that pays you the full original purchase price on your future vehicles regardless of age or mileage.
 
The insurance industry does not offer such a policy as it would create a moral hazard.

#229 of 272 Re: Had "Taxi" [dtownfb] by tidester

Apr 22, 2010 (9:49 pm)

Replying to: dtownfb (Apr 22, 2010 7:23 pm)
THat is simply not the case.
 
That is quite correct but one cannot be faulted for wondering. If I buy a new car today and total it tomorrow then my single one month insurance premium basically gets me covered for a new car (minus the instant depreciation). However, if I buy a new car today and total 12 months from now, my 12 months of premiums don't get me anywhere close to being covered for a new car. Somehow, it seems that first month's worth of premiums get a much better return than all the others. \
 
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper

#230 of 272 Re: Had "Taxi" [dtownfb] by euphonium

Apr 22, 2010 (9:51 pm)

Replying to: dtownfb (Apr 22, 2010 7:23 pm)
Until we know what the vehicle was - let us assume it was an exotic high power sports car & the valet team decided to take it out to see what it would do on the pretense of transfering it to another lot, which if you think about it, doesn't make sense.
 
This act of stealing the car from its original safe parking space is the part that gets me very upset and there should be severe justice inflicted if that is the case.

Messages Page 23 of 28

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