Maritza asks total/rental question

by Lori » Fri Jan 30, 2009 11:10 am
Posts: 8089
Joined: 10 Sep 2007

Received below in my quick message from an unregistered user so I could not respond hopefully they will reconize this and return for information:

Hi, I've been reading your blogs and took your advice to contact the State Division of Insurance. Thank you! My vehicle was rear-ended, and a month later was informed by the other parties insurance, GEICO, that it was totaled. They are trying to give me Trade-in Value for the vehicle. I sent a formal letter noting what KBB and NADA state, as well as a specific list of the Options my vehicle possessed. They responded that they would up the value only by a thousand, which is still at/under Trade-In Value! Also, the day they called me to inform me my car was totaled, they said I had 8 days to return the rental car they provided me. Can they do that?!?! I think it's only fair and reasonable they continue to pay until a settlement has actually been reached! What do you think?

Total Comments: 2

Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 11:14 am Post Subject:

I would have to know the reasons they have given you for this amount...what is the yr/make/model/mileage? are there ANY unrepaired prior dents/tears anything?

Also, the day they called me to inform me my car was totaled, they said I had 8 days to return the rental car they provided me. Can they do that?!?! I think it's only fair and reasonable they continue to pay until a settlement has actually been reached! What do you think?

I think you got a sweet deal honey, most carriers cut the rental 72 hours after an offer (NOT agreement OFFER) and no I don't think they owe a rental until settlement is reached that could by many people drag on for years....let us know all the particulars and see if we can help you with the value.

Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 03:10 pm Post Subject:

On the rental issue, I can see your point and I'm not dismissing it. But look at it from another perspective. What if the owner of the vehicle simply does not want to settle, even if the offer was fair. Should the insurance company keep paying for a rental indefinitely? So the cut off can't be when the owner of the vehicle finally settles. Also, the owner of the vehicle has a duty to mitigate their loss. If they need another vehicle to replace the one damaged, then they need to do that instead of continuing to rent. This second part is a little harsh as most people (including myself) would need to have the money on the totalled car before they could get a replacement. Now, if the offer by the insurance company can be shown to be unreasonable, then they would still owe for additional rental. But it would be up to the vehicle owner to press this issue (that is, the insurance company can stop paying for the rental whenever they want... it's then up to the owner of the vehicle to enforce their right of recovery).

I'm guessing in this case the insurance company is not using a book trade in value. Rather, they are probably using a 3rd party vendor to determine the value. If so, obtain a copy of the valuation and review it or accuracy. Review the miles and options they list on your vehicle. If they picked out a 2 or 3 cars to use as a comparison you could also call the places that had them for sale and find out the condition of the vehicles.

If you can show that the information the insurance company used was incorrect (such as the options on your vehicle) then you could probably get them to extend the rental. That is, if you can show them that they did something wrong in determining the value of your vehicle.

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