Wife got in an accident today - Need Advice

[NoTrespassing]

In many cases when a car is totalled, repairs exceed the value of the vehicle, the car is sitting at a repair shop, not the owners driveway. What advice would people saying not to give up the car give then?
I've had both situations, once, a fender bender totalled an old car, we kept it and put a new fender on it. Another time my wife's car was hit and had to be towed to a repair shop before they deemed it totalled. In that case we only saw the car one more time when retrieving personal belongings. Would some of you advise that I had the car towed to my house until I got a check? If I didn't trust my insurance agency any more than that I would change agencies.

 

[Eagle1]

In many cases when a car is totalled, repairs exceed the value of the vehicle, the car is sitting at a repair shop, not the owners driveway. What advice would people saying not to give up the car give then?
I've had both situations, once, a fender bender totalled an old car, we kept it and put a new fender on it. Another time my wife's car was hit and had to be towed to a repair shop before they deemed it totalled. In that case we only saw the car one more time when retrieving personal belongings. Would some of you advise that I had the car towed to my house until I got a check? If I didn't trust my insurance agency any more than that I would change agencies.

Mine last total was at a tow yard over 100 miles away. I bought the car back, took the check and Ins company had it towed to my house.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

In many cases when a car is totalled, repairs exceed the value of the vehicle, the car is sitting at a repair shop, not the owners driveway. What advice would people saying not to give up the car give then?
I've had both situations, once, a fender bender totalled an old car, we kept it and put a new fender on it. Another time my wife's car was hit and had to be towed to a repair shop before they deemed it totalled. In that case we only saw the car one more time when retrieving personal belongings. Would some of you advise that I had the car towed to my house until I got a check? If I didn't trust my insurance agency any more than that I would change agencies.

You make a good point. In this case I drove it home, so it is sitting in my driveway.

 

[kenmbz]

Also beware body shops that try to put you over the limit for totaled.

Our insurance company asked us to take it into a shop near us for the quote, I had never used them or knew of them, but right in town.
They added a bunch of small dings in the back of the car (trunk etc) to the quote which drove it over the limit and the insurance company totaled it, based on this quote.

The damage to the car was the right front fender.
The insurance company gave us a decent buyout so they did ok by us.

I will never use that body shop and called and yelled at them.

We didn't need the small dings on the trunk lid fixed and this was not part of the claim.

We wondered if they had a buyer for the car or it's parts lined up and wanted to pay salvage which is much lower than the car would cost at auction.

 

[two_bit_score]

You'll note I was referring to the salvage value of the car. The insurance company wouldn't be restoring the car, they'd sell it for salvage, either to the once and future owner or elsewhere.

Below is what you said. Either way the point is that what you said is not what insurance companies have in their policies which is " actual cash value".

The payout amount should be the wholesale value of the car is-is, minus your deductible. If it's "totaled" the as-is value of the car is likely a thousand dollars or so.

Below is a general run down on the process of most liability property damage claims in auto accidents.
1) The Actual Cash Value (ACV) is the market value of the car in it's pre-accident condition.
2) The Salvage Value is the market value of the car immediately after the accident.

In a tort suit against the person who damaged the car and is legally responsible for the damages (the tortfeasor) the jury would determine each of these numbers and the difference between the value before and value after is what the tortfeasor would be legally required to pay.

Since insurance companies do not want to litigate every fender-bender or even most more serious claims,when liability is reasonably clear they have developed practices to expedite the settlements. They can closely determine the ACV and the Salvage Value of 99% of vehicles likely to be involved in most accidents. They have huge databases of used car sales and of salvage vehicle sales which they use to determine the values. They aso can very closely determine the expected "Repair Cost" of the vehicle. When the expected repair cost exceeds the difference between the ACV less the salvage value then the vehicle is an economic total loss and they will usually offer you the ACV of your vehicle then take your vehicle and sell it as a salvage vehicle and apply that amount on their books as Recovery. That process resolves about 99% of the two party claims where an insurance company is involved. No where is 'wholesale value' a legal factor. It's not referred to in the policy and it's not part of the pattern jury charge in routine (~99%) cases.

 

[two_bit_score]

On a "first party" auto claim where you are dealing with your insurance company under your own policy provisions - collision, comprehensive or uninsured motorist coverage one thing to watch out for from more and more companies these days is the "Appraisal Clause". This is where the insurance company tenders you their 'reasonable offer' of the ACV and when you dig in and refuse to accept their offer they demand an "appraisal under the policy". They will then tender a check for the ACV - SV and - Deductible as the "undisputed amount of the loss" and demand an appraisal of the loss and a determination of the "owed disputed amount of the loss", if any. Most of these appraisal clauses provide that the insurance company selects an "appraiser" and the insured selects an "appraiser" and the appraisers meet and select an umpire. The costs of each appraiser is borne by the party hiring them and the cost of the umpire is divided equally. Then the "appraisers" are supposed to individually determine the ACV of the vehicle and the "Umpire" agrees with one appraiser or the other to determine the value. All policies I've seen allow either the insured or the Company to demand an appraisal of the loss.

This is an expedient and cost effective system for the insurance companies and that is why it's in their policies. It insulates them against bad faith lawsuits and stops any prejudgement interest on the amount tendered. Since they routinely do quite a few of these compared to any run-of-the-mill insured they definately have an upper hand in the process and in hiring the best qualified "appraisers".

There are two sides to the "appraisal" question and I have delt extensively with them both. I am against the splitting of cost of the umpire. The insurance company should have to bear the cost of the umpire but the insured should get equal weight in determining who is the umpire. I also think the insurance company should be responsible for the insured's expense of an "appraiser" if the out come (award) is in favor of the insured. Also, there should be some penalty for the isurance company to pay if the award is more than 10% of the contested amount. These things would give the insureds (the rate paying customers of the ins. companies) a little bit more level playing field. Just my 2cents.

 

[rodneyn]

On a "first party" auto claim where you are dealing with your insurance company under your own policy provisions - collision, comprehensive or uninsured motorist coverage one thing to watch out for from more and more companies these days is the "Appraisal Clause". This is where the insurance company tenders you their 'reasonable offer' of the ACV and when you dig in and refuse to accept their offer they demand an "appraisal under the policy". They will then tender a check for the ACV - SV and - Deductible as the "undisputed amount of the loss" and demand an appraisal of the loss and a determination of the "owed disputed amount of the loss", if any. Most of these appraisal clauses provide that the insurance company selects an "appraiser" and the insured selects an "appraiser" and the appraisers meet and select an umpire. The costs of each appraiser is borne by the party hiring them and the cost of the umpire is divided equally. Then the "appraisers" are supposed to individually determine the ACV of the vehicle and the "Umpire" agrees with one appraiser or the other to determine the value. All policies I've seen allow either the insured or the Company to demand an appraisal of the loss.

This is an expedient and cost effective system for the insurance companies and that is why it's in their policies. It insulates them against bad faith lawsuits and stops any prejudgement interest on the amount tendered. Since they routinely do quite a few of these compared to any run-of-the-mill insured they definately have an upper hand in the process and in hiring the best qualified "appraisers".

There are two sides to the "appraisal" question and I have delt extensively with them both. I am against the splitting of cost of the umpire. The insurance company should have to bear the cost of the umpire but the insured should get equal weight in determining who is the umpire. I also think the insurance company should be responsible for the insured's expense of an "appraiser" if the out come (award) is in favor of the insured. Also, there should be some penalty for the isurance company to pay if the award is more than 10% of the contested amount. These things would give the insureds (the rate paying customers of the ins. companies) a little bit more level playing field. Just my 2cents.

Unless you educate yourself on:
1. Car values based on model year and what the market going price is
2. Show receipts on improvements ie tires, brakes from past 6-8 months
3. Understand all insurance companies are for profit
4. Hold your ground on your perceived value with compromise in back of your mind.
Any insurance company will lowball you on value. Including your own company you been dealing with. Not often do they pay retail rather they will pay wholesale value.

Today’s market finding used car that is not got multiple miles is challenging. If you trust your ride then buy it back with salvage title. Granted it will never have any trade value but you can drive it out until it’s ready for the salvage yard.

We are like sheep to the insurance industry that is until the wolf appears from sheep’s clothing. You have to be wolf to get expectations.

Make sure you take child to doctor for good examination. If his arm hurts have medical specialists explain why. Your insurance will cover it or the other persons can if you’re fault state or no fault state. People first auto’s second.

 

[3Ts]

Any insurance company will lowball you on value. Including your own company you been dealing with. Not often do they pay retail rather they will pay wholesale value.

I have USAA, have had for decades, and have not had any problems with their service until once a few years ago. I had a GMC 2500 pickup that got run off the road and rolled. Truck was totaled. The insurance company could not find a comparable vehicle to determine its value so they used a lesser one and claimed they were equivalent. They were not! I ended up contesting the valuation and hiring my own adjuster who did their own appraisal and negotiated a higher value. I ended up with significantly more than if I'd just accepted the insurance company's valuation. It did get heated when I told them I was challenging their valuation and their adjuster did threaten me that they would not pay the claim if I went forward. The adjuster I hired took care of everything from that point on and I did get significantly more than the insurance company initially offered. I've since had to make a claim and it went smoothly so I suspect the issue was really with the adjuster and not the insurance company.

 

[Cub 7275]

3Ts, since you've had a recent claim with them, what do you think of their current process? How badly did it affect your premiums? Did you inspect the repair and were you satisfied with the junk yard parts used, though in Texas corrosion probably ins't an issue like it is here in the rust belt?

Our previous claim was in the 1990s when the wife was hit by a red light runner. Much better process back then, though still questionable results. The current process is a disgrace imo.

 

[ning]

@Cub 7275 :
We had a payout from USAA in 2019, my daughter's 2005 Ford Escape was considered a total loss after a collision... their appraiser used similar cars from used lots in the greater northern California area, probably found them on-line, adjusted here and there for mileage. I was surprised they just used used car dealer asking price as the starting point, considering there's no way I'd ever pay the asking price from a used car dealer. The settlement was IMO more than fair and I was happy to take it.