by Guest » Wed Mar 28, 2007 07:18 pm
I have some car insurance questions. My Car was hit and it was the other persons fault. The car's bluebook value is about $3000 . The insurance company is offering $2700 for the car and then subtracting $1700 in prior damages. The $1700 seems excessive. in fact the blue book value in fair condition which should cover these minor dents and scratches is about $2800.
I'm considering suing the person who hit me in small claims, but I also wonder what my other options are. I really don't want to sue them, but as I understand I should not sue the insurance company directly. If I sue the person, can they then collect the amount from their insurance company?
Should I get an independant appraisal that will cost me about $350 dollars?
Do I have the right to tell the insurance company to get me a replacement vehicle instead?
I'm considering suing the person who hit me in small claims, but I also wonder what my other options are. I really don't want to sue them, but as I understand I should not sue the insurance company directly. If I sue the person, can they then collect the amount from their insurance company?
Should I get an independant appraisal that will cost me about $350 dollars?
Do I have the right to tell the insurance company to get me a replacement vehicle instead?
Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 03:49 am Post Subject:
Which state do you belong? Is it a no-fault or tort State? If it is a No-fault one, then your insurance company is supposed to pay you the damage value and it is I think $2700.
My Car was hit and it was the other persons fault.
If you have sufficient documents or the evidence then in case of a tort state you can sue the other person. Did you ask your agent?
Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 09:15 am Post Subject:
As Edgar suggested it would have helped had you mentioned the state that you come from, but for the time being you can make use of the Statewise Auto Insurance Laws page.
Hope that helps.
Evan
Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2007 04:28 am Post Subject:
I have a client that is going through a similar situation. The insurance company does use the Kelly blue Book to give the value on the vehicle. And that is the number that they go by. The 1700 in prior damages - was this due to a prior claim that the company paid to you and you did not chose to have the car fixed? Unfortunately this is a common problem what one person thinks a car is worth vs another.
$350 for an appraisal sounds like a lot of money to me. Personally I would not do it as the insurance company will still make up its own mind. As for sueing the other party go ahead and see what happens...
Just sit down and take a hard look at what your expenses are going to be....lawyer, appraisal etc. Is it going to end up costing you more than it is worth? Just something to pay attention to.
Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2007 01:34 pm Post Subject:
I have a a long reply I'm trying to finish and should get it done tonight. But in the mean time...
NO, NO, NO...... 99.99999% of the time "No-Fault" DOES NOT APPLY TO PROPERTY DAMAGE!
The only state I know of that does something like this is Michigan. Otherwise, ones own COLLISION insurance can address damage to ones own vehicle. Even Uninsured Motorist Property Damage does not apply as the other person has liability coverage to address this accident.
If suit was filed, this loss would be well within Small Claims court limits. Costs less then $100 in most areas and no attorneys are needed. Would end up costing the carrier a _lot_ of money to defend and they might just kick in a lot more money to avoid. Personally I don't think it should be done as a threat to gain more money as I really think the court would see a $1700 deduction for prior damage as absurd).
I'll try to get my post out later day (but I might have a beer before hand as it's been one of those weeks so please excuse my typing :wink: ).
Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2007 04:24 pm Post Subject:
I've worked for many insurance companies in the past and worked for _one_ that took the value of a vehicle and then subtracted _all_ the prior damage on the vehicle. This is _clearly_ not a correct way to determine the value of a vehicle is far less then the cost would be to put each part together. Explain it to the insurance company this way... if a few more body panels were damaged the cost to repair those items would soon be more then it's value, correct? So, if this were the case, the vehicle would have a _negative_ value. We all know this is simply not possible as any vehicle that is running is worth something. To further illustrate that their method is incorrect, we all know it cost far more to put all the parts of a vehicle together then to buy it pre-made. Well, the insurance company is reducing the value of this pre-made car by the cost to put all the individual pieces together! The insurance company won't pay more for repairs then the over-all value of the vehicle, yet when it comes to them deducting repair costs, they don't mind using the same system that would give a vehicle a negative value.
My recommendation is to find out what they used to determine the value of your vehicle. Was it a book value or using some vendor such as CCC. Obtain the documentation they have showing the value of your vehicle. If it's a book value, run your vehicle in Fair value and point out to them that they need to use the same company to determine the correct value based on the over-all condition. If they use a vendor such as CCC, those companies can also give a value based on a vehicles condition. Wherever the carrier obtained the value, they can get the value based on the over-allcondition of the vehicle. This is apples to apples.
Also, if CCC was used, what is the condition of the vehicles used in the comparisons? CCC usually lists 3 or 4 more closely matched vehicles. Call those places and have them quickly tell you the over-all condition of those vehicles. I'm betting they were not perfect (which is what the insurance company is representing when they are adding up _all_ the repairs to your vehicle and using them as deductions.
You also should confirm that the insurance company used the correct vehicle information when the obtained the value of your vehicle. Were all the options considered? Was the correct mileage used? I cannot tell you the number of times options have not been considered and mileage was not correct on total loss valuations.
If you don't get any help from the carrier you may want to consider submitting all of your information to your states Dept. of Insurance to see what they can do. If you feel you have a good case, you may also want to consider filing suit against the driver and/or owner as you mentioned. If the carrier is deducting all the repair costs from the value, I think it should be easy for you to show a judge that this is not a correct way to determine the value of a vehicle (i.e., as mentioned above, the vehicle would quickly be worth nothing just for some body damage and any company that determines value of a vehicle would not use this method).
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