totalled car due to hail damage

by Guest » Wed May 16, 2012 06:34 pm
Guest

recently there was a major hail storm in st.louis where i live damaging thousand of homes and cars, my car was totalled due to over 6000 dollars in damge, when i bought the car i had just filed bankruptcy and my interest rate was 19% . i have been paying on it for 5 years ...now its been totaled by my insurance company , after the deductable they say the car is worth 7400, i still owe 8500, i do have gap insurance which is in my loan...my question is ...will gap cover the remaining balance? and other than cosmetic damage the car runs fine and i want to keep it ,i have paid on it for so long its heartbreaking to have to start over, the insurance companies are all busy handling thousand of claims noone is very helpful or empathetic ...who decides if i keep the car? the lien holder or ins co?...help!

Total Comments: 2

Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 01:32 am Post Subject: Damage

Hi I work for insurance. And if no one is being helpful . Please contact your agent and ask for a CLAIMS ADVOCATE. They can help you.

Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 03:06 am Post Subject:

GAP ("Guaranteed Auto Protection') insurance) should cover the outstanding ($2500) loan balance unless you have a balloon payment. But if you are attempting to buy a salvage vehicle, the insurer may or may not provide the additional GAP funds to retire the loan.

But I have a different question: 19% interest in 2007? How could you have made loan payments on a vehicle for five years and still owe $8500? How long was your loan agreement? How big is your balloon payment (GAP might not cover that)?

Financing a passenger auto longer than 60 months is ridiculous, especially if it was used to begin with. If a person cannot afford those 60 payments, they need to look for a different (i.e., less expensive) ride -- perhaps something like a city bus.

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