car likely to be totaled. what is it worth?

by matt3138 » Mon May 23, 2011 03:37 pm

My wife was in a collision last Thursday night, and it was the other driver's fault (he was ticketed). When we spoke with his company's adjuster on Friday and described the damage, she said it would likely be a total loss. I want to make sure if it is totaled that we get the amount we're supposed to and they don't lowball us.

It's a 2003 Honda Civic EX sedan with automatic transmission and about 79k miles. It had no prior damage and was in excellent condition before last Thursday.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Total Comments: 1

Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 09:07 pm Post Subject:

No one can give you an accurate value for your vehicle over the Internet.

The adjuster will determine the value of your car by looking at recent sales for comparable vehicles in your area.

I recommend calling dealers to do your own research into comparable sales, to make sure you get a fair offer.

If you feel the offer from the insurance company is too low, give them the information on the sales data you gathered.

You can also ask the adjuster to drop the lowest comparable sale, say using 3 comparable sales, instead of 4, to boost the average dollar amount for the comparable sales.

If you think you are getting low-balled, and your claim is not being settled in good faith, file a complaint with your state's department of insurance.

Add your comment

Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.