by ppanther417 » Thu Jun 14, 2007 02:02 pm
Hi, I was in a 4 car accident on May 21st 2007 in Des Moines, IA. My car was a 96 cavalier. I was the first car. The insurance of the person who claimed responsibility for the accident will only pay for the value of the car which is only $2600. I have put over $10000 in aftermarket parts but only have $4000 in receipts and they won't pay for them because the receipts were over 5 years old. They consider it as no value to the car. They won't even give me a penny above the value of the vehicle. Now I don't have a car to drive to work or money to even pay for the rental car that I am paying for myself. I believe that they won't pay for the car because I have put so much money into the car that it exceeds the cost to fix the damage since they already claim it as a total loss. They probably didn't think I spent that much on my car. My car runs great and probably will last a really long time. It's even still driveable but the whole back end is gone. I did not spend 10yrs keeping it in great condition and maintenance free to settle for $2600. I wonder what others settle for? What can I do?
Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 02:40 pm Post Subject:
Unfortunately putting $10k into a $2600 car does not make it worth anywhere near $10k. When people buy vehicles, for the most part they are buying the actual vehicle not the aftermarket parts someone put on it.
With that said, you _really_ need to know how they arrived at their value. I can almost guarantee that they did not consider all the aftermarket parts. You should not need to be able to provide receipts for the parts as long as it can be verified that they are a part of the vehicle. If this can be confirmed, it's up to the insurance company to determine what value they add.
I strongly recommend you obtain the itemization that the insurance company is using (listing all the items they are considering) and review it to make sure it's accurate. If they are missing items, you should supply supporting documentation showing what these items are worth (expect them to pay a small portion of retail values for these items).
If they are not going to consider the value of these items, consider removing them from the vehicle as it then should not change it's value. Also, you could see if they will deduct the vehicles salvage value from their offer (on a $2600 vehicle, that would be about $200) and you would then keep the salvage and the parts.
I think another problem is that many of those parts are very old and don't really add to the value of the vehicle any longer... they only maintain it's current value. For example, if you had the engine rebuilt several months ago it was because the engine was not working well (and accordingly, the value was reduced). By having the engine rebuilt, you kept it in working order, which is what the $2600 value takes into consideration.
Not to upset you but you put a lot of effort into keeping a 10 year old vehicle in good shape. So the vehicle is worth a lot of money to you. But to someone else, it's a 11 year old cavalier with 150k miles on it.
Also keep in mind that every dollar you pay for the rental car out of your pocket is a dollar less your getting for your vehicle. You need to handle this matter quickly.
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 08:44 am Post Subject: Lets appreciate!
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Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 09:19 am Post Subject: Fair enough !
Yes, its fairly true that by contributing more towards maintenance you can not claim it to be a value-addition!
More so when you are not in a position to offer receipts of any recently altered body part to claim an added benefit for that.
I'd also like you to understand the fact that if they are acknowledging an estimate worth 15-20% of the retail value while the mishap has occurred then I feel its fair enough.
Evan T.Smith
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 09:40 am Post Subject: salvageyard!
Hi there..
If you are looking to get your car totaled, I think its best to consult a salvage yard. If its the rear part of the car thats got damaged then you'd certainly realize a better salvage value than if the front gets damaged.
This has also got something to do with the demand of that particular type of vehicle with the buyers. So if your vehicle is in demand in the market then obviously you'd fetch a better salvage value for it.
You should also remember that different insurance companies have different formulas used to determine the worth of the total loss.
Hope that makes things a bit clearer. Derby Jones
Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 09:20 am Post Subject:
First you should call you insurance company and ask them what to do. The faster you call, the bigger chance of positive result.
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