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Smart Shopper Replacement Cost by Insurance Company for Totaled Vehicle
196 messages, Last post on Nov 17, 2009 at 7:17 PM
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I recently acquired from my company a used 1997 luxury car with 85000 miles, one executive owner, fully loaded, perfect condition, very well maintained, all issues repaired or replaced and purchased via a silent auction. If you could find a car in such condition it would list for 2 to 3 times what I paid. It was a special type of deal offered once a year for employees only of the company and I had only owned the car two days before the incident that destroyed the automobile. Incident, NOT accident, this was NO accident, the OTHER person/driver, while after the left turn arrow had elapsed and the intersection was solid green, decided to attempt a left turn from the far right hand turn ONLY lane. This person had contemplated the turn, allowed one driver from the center right turn lane to come around them, forced two vehicles behind her to wait and managed to anger all drivers who could see the wild and illegal maneuvers prior to my entering the intersection and crossing my path resulting in a total loss to my vehicle. Both airbags deployed in my vehicle. Stunning and bruising me to say the least. Three witnesses rushed forward incredulous as to the other drivers actions. The other driver was issued a citation with three "causes". I'm a little surprised the police did NOT insist on testing for driving under the influence. The other driver refused to leave their car, nor allow me to exchange driver license information. It was in the morning and I didn't smell any alcohol, however, the other driver sat and chain smoked the entire time refusing to talk to anyone except the police. I am very suspicious that the other driver had been under the influence of some substance. The other driver appeared to be incoherent and muttering nonsense... I called while at the scene to find out if the OTHER driver had insurance. They did. I filed a report with the other driver's insurance company. I have received one call from the other driver's insurance company, I have called the other driver's insurance company three times, the other driver's insurance company has said they are waiting on the other driver's story. The other driver's insurance company stated they hadn't received the police report. I checked with the police department and they showed NO record that the report had been requested so I obtained the report and faxed it to the other driver's insurance company. It has now been 4 days and the other driver's insurance company has yet to get back to me. I have three solid witnesses, bruises, hurt all over and a totaled car, I anticipate the other driver's insurance company will probably give me the very short end of a short stick as a settlement. I want a car equal to or better than the car that was destroyed delivered to me ASAP. I want reimbursement for all out of pocket, lost time at work and loss of vehicle use. I live in Texas, if that makes any difference. Is this unreasonable? Will I have to sue them to be made "whole"? Why is all this burden on me, I didn't ask for this grossly negligent driver to destroy my vehicle and this is only an accident in the remotest meaning of the word. What is the best way to go?
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Replying to: myusername (May 30, 2005 3:35 pm) Yes, what you are demanding is unreasonable, at least in terms of what an insurance policy is required to cover. All the insurance company is obligated to pay you is the fair market value for a car comparable to yours. Of course, if you are injured, that is a separate issue, a medical claim. But all they owe you in terms of property loss is the price of a 1997 Brand X with 85,000 mile on it. You don't get out of pocket or lost time at work or paid for the time to hunt for a new car, that's not what insurance policies are for. If you would read your own insurance policy you will see the standard language. If you have bruises etc, you should get a check up and make them pay for all that, which I think they will do. You can settle the car part without settling the medical part if you wish. You can refuse to sign any medical waiver---they can't hold up your car money because of that. You may wish to wait a while to see if any medical issues develop. Consult an attorney about all this if you have doubts. I'm not attempting to give you legal advice, just telling you how insurance usually works. Your OWN insurance company should be helping you and advising you and should have told you all this already. Good luck with everything. |
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Aug 31, 2004 5:05 pm)
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Replying to: carbuyer25 (Jun 05, 2005 11:10 am) |
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My son just totaled his 2nd car in 2 years. Thought I knew what I was doing with this mess from the last time. Now the blasted company has changed the rules. Last year, in order to get a fair price, I was told to get local prices from dealers, individuals, etc. Worked out fine. I was able to get an additional $4000. This time, I've been getting a runaround. Can't get a legitimate answer from them on HOW they've reached the price they're offering. They just faxed me a copy of something from CCC valuescope market. OK, it shows they've used ads in the paper (not our city, but others in a nearby area) they show mainly individuals, one regular Honda dealership and a buy here/pay here dealer. I tried to get the adjuster to at least look at the local cadillac dealer comps. He's insistent that they "Don't use retail prices, since no one pays that price". But the papers he sent me are exactly that- except they favor the insurance company paying less than I think is comparable. I realize I can't get them to pay full retail- but they are offering about $6000 less than the closest dealership price- on a car with 10,000 more miles. Also- does anyone know if GM certified means anything to them? I know it added $$ to the original cost of the car, and we hadn't even used all the factory warranty up yet. Seems like this should be figured in somewhere. Thanks!
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Replying to: luckymom (Jun 13, 2005 12:28 pm) You may have to go to arbitration since you are so far apart on value. As for comparables, you should really be looking at private party sales and so should they, as dealer asking prices are generally quite inflated as they hope to catch an uninformed buyer. If you gave details of your car (model, make, year, options, condition, miles, etc.) I might be able to come up with a ballpark number and you can compare that to what you want to see if you are being realistic.
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Jun 13, 2005 1:46 pm) I think the thing that's ticking me off is they are willing to use a buy here/pay here dealer that deals in auction cars, but not a regular dealer. I understand nobody pays full retail, but really a buy here pay here dealer price is more legitimate???
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Replying to: luckymom (Jun 13, 2005 2:36 pm) |
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The insurance company just offered us $4700 for our totaled ''95 s10 blazer. They said that if we wanted to buy it back it would be about $1200. Does that sound right? I thought buy back was around 10% of the vehicles worth.
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Replying to: rellimdr (Jun 14, 2005 11:10 am) Yes, my experience is that 10%-13% is about the norm. Are you sure they aren't wrapping your deductible into this number? Also, they must offer you tax and license fees on top of that $4,700, but if you buy the car back they don't owe you tax and license fees. |
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Smart Shopper Replacement Cost by Insurance Company for Totaled Vehicle
