by Guest » Tue Mar 23, 2010 07:11 pm
Hi, as you may have seen I answered another topic earlier. Now I'm down to specifics and need advice.
Today the Towing company that has held my car hostage finally got paid and towed the car to a local body shop. The insurance co totaled out the car and I'm not 100% sure how much they cut a check for. Right now the leinholder of the car is holding a check expecting only 2500 dollars worth of repairs. The bodyshop re-did the estimate and added another 500 dollars worth of labor to the estimate.
Now, because the accident wasn't my fault and the insurance co. has already settled for less than repair and payoff can I sue the driver for out of pocket expenses?
If you need more specifics please by all means ask. I live in WV.
Today the Towing company that has held my car hostage finally got paid and towed the car to a local body shop. The insurance co totaled out the car and I'm not 100% sure how much they cut a check for. Right now the leinholder of the car is holding a check expecting only 2500 dollars worth of repairs. The bodyshop re-did the estimate and added another 500 dollars worth of labor to the estimate.
Now, because the accident wasn't my fault and the insurance co. has already settled for less than repair and payoff can I sue the driver for out of pocket expenses?
If you need more specifics please by all means ask. I live in WV.
Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 01:15 am Post Subject:
I was talking about the 2 grand down payment. and nothing to show for it. I'm not saying it should be based solely on asking price or retail price or the price of eggs in china. but it SHOULD be at least some part of the consideration.
what I meant by "Ludicrously low asking price" is take for an example. I SAW THIS WITH MY OWN EYES. a person bought a late 80's escort. Paid like 800 dollars. had a non-fault accident, with comparable PHYSICAL not valued. damage to the automobile. his case was settled almost immediately. and he went to the junkyard and bought the parts with the check that was cut for brand new parts which was almost 3x the value of the car.
So sir, with all due respect.. I'm calling BS.
Another example of "no questions asked" repair is my parents' 92 Ford Econoline (which due to this series of unfortunate events i'm currently driving) After a day of recreation they were rear-ended. it was light damage but the rear doors wouldn't open due to the bumper being smashed against the doors. The adjuster came out, looked at the damage and said "Go get 3 estimates" logged it in his computer and left. 2 weeks later there was fresh paint, new bumper doors aligned and a new licence plate frame. all on a vehicle that IS in poor shape because it's been driven into the ground. once again.
NO ACV. NO DEVALUATION.
Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 01:45 am Post Subject:
SHOULD be at least some part of the consideration.
I can understand what you mean. However, it would not be fair to the entity absorbing the market value of the property owned. Think about that.
Cars, like a houses are an investment. When you make that purchase you want the return on your investment. You would not want the return on your money to be what you paid for it, if the property has positive equity. So in order for the property owned, the market sets it cost and you insure it for it's value (replacement value. not it's cost). But vehicles loose their value so quickly. A $28,000 car today will only be worth $11,000 in 4 years. Buy here pay here lots in many cases, inflate that cost (not value) because they know the majority of their customers are high risk and in many cases will not do their homework and unfortuneately, will default on their loan. (not saying this is you)
what I meant by "Ludicrously low asking price" is take for an example. I SAW THIS WITH MY OWN EYES. a person bought a late 80's escort. Paid like 800 dollars. had a non-fault accident, with comparable PHYSICAL not valued. damage to the automobile. his case was settled almost immediately. and he went to the junkyard and bought the parts with the check that was cut for brand new parts which was almost 3x the value of the car.
This would have to be an extremely rare case.
I'm calling BS.
No question. I would be as well.
NO ACV. NO DEVALUATION.
It depends on the cost of the repair. Estimating systems are programmed with "ball park" ACV/Total loss thresold. If the amount of the estimate does not flag the threshold percentage (usually 75-80%) of the vehicles ACV, no evaluation is required or necessary. The same situation may have been the case with the Escort.
Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2010 11:24 pm Post Subject:
when you get another car make sure you buy GAP insurance and this won;t happen again. GAP covers the deficiency balance that the insurance would not pay. the insurance compnay is only going to pay what the car is worth at the time of accident minus the deductible. Hope this helps for next time.
Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 07:37 pm Post Subject:
This just happened to a friend of mine also. The payment she got for her car went to the company she was paying the loan off from (since she didn't "own" the car yet, not until it's paid off).
it seems like a raw deal, but it's not. Your insurance is letting you out of a loan payment for a car that is no longer driveable. You don't get cash in hand, but at least you don't have to pay on something you don't even have in your possession anymore.
Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 10:11 pm Post Subject:
You don't get cash in hand, but at least you don't have to pay on something you don't even have in your possession anymore.
Unfortunately, this does happen WAY more than you'd think. With the advent of GAP insurance, I'm seeing it less, but still seeing it. People have a hard time understanding that ins. companys owe the ACV of the vehicle NOT the payoff of their note...Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 09:36 pm Post Subject:
I have Nationwide. When my nephew totaled my vehicle, the adjuster was constantly on the phone with me. We went over the particulars. She faxed me the some 6 similar vehicles and their values. A few local, a few a bit away. She even gave me the opportunity to show proof of any work done on it. I had recently put a new transmission in and new tires and rims. Some extras count for nothing-stereo equipment, etc. I think the original value offered was about $3,600. After the work done on it was refigured, it was increased to over $4,000. I was a bit more fortunate, I owned the vehicle, so no lien holder. Obviously I could have sold this mint condition vehicle for more than the adjuster's claim, but that doesn't mean that's what the thing's true value is. So it was very acceptable. There is always discussion of what value is placed on the car, and you always have the option of showing why you may deserve more. The rub is this-once it's totaled, and you've accepted the adjuster's price, you can't take the vehicle back and get it repaired. And if you had a lien on it, sadly they get first payment before you. If the payment is less than what you owe, you're out of luck. It doesn't mean anyone is jerking you around. As far as insurance:when you have a loan, the loan company requires insurance. And that coverage is the full thing. In your situation, the place you bought the car from(and I do agree they ripped you off, but they're not charging you interest. So consider it as if you bought it for $3,000 and are paying $1,500 in interest)apparently didn't require full coverage. ***This is to everyone-put full coverage on your vehicle. Not only does it guarantee your health/injury coverage in an accident, but even if the person who hits you only carried $25,000 coverage, you can sue your own company for the difference between the two(which is what happened to me. I was hit by an 18 year old teenybopper flying through a stop sign. $20,000 in damage, back surgery, & the loss of my business). I'm sorry you had to learn the hard way, but maybe next time you will be more diligent in your responsibilities. Stop blaming the insurance company for your oversights and failure to insure your car properly. Everyone wants to blame someone else for their bad time. Be happy you weren't hurt(or not hurt badly). It all could have ended much worse.
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