Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I was recently involved in an accident (my car was in great condition before the accident despite the high mileage). The cops and insurance determined am not at fault. I am dealing with the third party insurance here. They decided my car is a total and are offering my ACV plus tax and fees for the car. I have a few questions:
My car is a 2009 hyundai santa fe with approximately 81,000 miles (the car is paid off too). The car has a brand new AAA battery (installed in July), new rear tires (put in July) and I just paid $1068.09 on September 23 to get the front brakes and rotors replaced. I still have the receipts on these services. Heck I just did high mileage oil change the week before the accident.
The insurance company is offering me approximately $10,500 as the ACV for my car. However, local listing from Edmunds and Autotrader have cars with similar mileage as mine and some with even higher mileage listed for over >$12,000. I want to know if i can request that the services I listed above be added to the value of my car because if I sold my car as a private seller, I would be factoring in these services in my pricing. Am I being unreasonable?
Secondly, for those who live in texas, do you guys know if the law requires the third party insurance to pay for my rental until I can get a new car? The insurance company is saying that since they have declared my car a total loss, that they are not required to pay for the rental. They said they will pay for the rental as "courtesy" for 7-days from the date they determined my car is a total loss. That is the most unreasonable thing I have ever heard? So basically, they want me to either find a replacement car in seven days or pay for the rental out of pocket. Shouldn't day at least be required to pay the rental until I receive the check from them?
Please i need help here as I have never been in an accident before and google isn't really providing me with the answers I need.
I was recently involved in an accident (my car was in great condition before the accident despite the high mileage). The cops and insurance determined am not at fault. I am dealing with the third party insurance here. They decided my car is a total and are offering my ACV plus tax and fees for the car. I have a few questions:
My car is a 2009 hyundai santa fe with approximately 81,000 miles (the car is paid off too). The car has a brand new AAA battery (installed in July), new rear tires (put in July) and I just paid $1068.09 on September 23 to get the front brakes and rotors replaced. I still have the receipts on these services. Heck I just did high mileage oil change the week before the accident.
The insurance company is offering me approximately $10,500 as the ACV for my car. However, local listing from Edmunds and Autotrader have cars with similar mileage as mine and some with even higher mileage listed for over >$12,000. I want to know if i can request that the services I listed above be added to the value of my car because if I sold my car as a private seller, I would be factoring in these services in my pricing. Am I being unreasonable?
Secondly, for those who live in texas, do you guys know if the law requires the third party insurance to pay for my rental until I can get a new car? The insurance company is saying that since they have declared my car a total loss, that they are not required to pay for the rental. They said they will pay for the rental as "courtesy" for 7-days from the date they determined my car is a total loss. That is the most unreasonable thing I have ever heard? So basically, they want me to either find a replacement car in seven days or pay for the rental out of pocket. Shouldn't day at least be required to pay the rental until I receive the check from them?
Please i need help here as I have never been in an accident before and google isn't really providing me with the answers I need.
In my accident law practice, I frequently encounter these issues. All repair work and new equipment put on an automobile within the last calendar year typically will increase the value for insurance purposes. If its been done within one prior year, by all means submit copies of these receipts.
I have found insurance companies tend to pay attention to two sources when they value automobiles:
1. The National Automotive Directory of America (NADA)
2. Kelly's Blue Book.
They are less impressed by Edmund's or Autotrader.
Regardless of whether you live in Texas or not, if the other party is at fault in causing the accident, you are entitled to loss of use of your vehicle. Loss of use is equal to the rental value of an equivalent vehicle. Its ordinarily between $18 and $30 per day. They will provide you with a rental car if you are 25 or older and have a major credit card. If not, you are entitled to a per diem (daily) amount equal to rental car costs for as long as it takes to declare the car a total loss. The seven day "grace period" they are giving you beyond this point is a gift and I applaud them for doing it. I'm used to seeing 3 days at the most.
Your comment about paying for a rental car until you receive their check is an astute comment. Arguably, you have loss of use damages until the check is placed in your hands. I think if a matter like that were taken to court, a judge would very likely rule in your favor. However, they know you aren't taking this to court and so they impose artificial limits. From a practical standpoint, there may not be much you can do. Some might say complain to the insurance commission. I suspect the insurance commission there has bigger fish to fry than to worry about a few days car rental cost.
In my accident law practice, I frequently encounter these issues. All repair work and new equipment put on an automobile within the last calendar year typically will increase the value for insurance purposes. If its been done within one prior year, by all means submit copies of these receipts.
I have found insurance companies tend to pay attention to two sources when they value automobiles:
1. The National Automotive Directory of America (NADA)
2. Kelly's Blue Book.
They are less impressed by Edmund's or Autotrader.
Regardless of whether you live in Texas or not, if the other party is at fault in causing the accident, you are entitled to loss of use of your vehicle. Loss of use is equal to the rental value of an equivalent vehicle. Its ordinarily between $18 and $30 per day. They will provide you with a rental car if you are 25 or older and have a major credit card. If not, you are entitled to a per diem (daily) amount equal to rental car costs for as long as it takes to declare the car a total loss. The seven day "grace period" they are giving you beyond this point is a gift and I applaud them for doing it. I'm used to seeing 3 days at the most.
Your comment about paying for a rental car until you receive their check is an astute comment. Arguably, you have loss of use damages until the check is placed in your hands. I think if a matter like that were taken to court, a judge would very likely rule in your favor. However, they know you aren't taking this to court and so they impose artificial limits. From a practical standpoint, there may not be much you can do. Some might say complain to the insurance commission. I suspect the insurance commission there has bigger fish to fry than to worry about a few days car rental cost.
Thanks so much for your quick reply. Okay I will go ahead and email them the receipts for the repairs.
KBB priced my car at ~9,800. NADA priced it $10,550. If I use NADA pricing and include the cost of the services, am entitled to at least $11,946.
Thanks for explaining the rental issue too. I was so bewildered over the phone when I was talking to the adjuster. I couldn't believe it. I was like this can't be right that I need to do my research on what the law says. You are right in that I have no desire at this point to start going to court over the rental fees (if it's avoidable) -- but damn, this is so unfair. Can't believe am now gonna have to eat the cost of renting a car until I can get a new car. I work, so it's not like I have all day to go car shopping. Am just irritated by this whole fiasco.
Is that NADA price retail? You will be most likely buying retail, and not at a trade in value, so that is what you should get. On my last vehicle that was totaled, I averaged the retail prices from all of the guides, and the insurance offer was within $50 or so of my average, so I know it was a good offer. I would have fought them if it was much lower. I had some aftermarket equipment on my car, and I got about 60% of the value for that, but you should get at least a good portion of your recent expenses on it. And you should get the settlement amount, plus tax, title fees and license fees, since you will have to pay for that on the replacement car. The rental car stinks for sure. I was lucky as my insurance company was the same one as the lady that hit me, and they extended my rental for 10 days after their offer due to me being a 30+ year customer. That gave me two weekends to find a replacement which we did.
Is that NADA price retail? You will be most likely buying retail, and not at a trade in value, so that is what you should get. On my last vehicle that was totaled, I averaged the retail prices from all of the guides, and the insurance offer was within $50 or so of my average, so I know it was a good offer. I would have fought them if it was much lower. I had some aftermarket equipment on my car, and I got about 60% of the value for that, but you should get at least a good portion of your recent expenses on it. And you should get the settlement amount, plus tax, title fees and license fees, since you will have to pay for that on the replacement car. The rental car stinks for sure. I was lucky as my insurance company was the same one as the lady that hit me, and they extended my rental for 10 days after their offer due to me being a 30+ year customer. That gave me two weekends to find a replacement which we did.
Good luck on it!
Okay I see. I will go average KBB, NADA and edmunds and add in the cost of services, tax, title and fees and then make my request based off of the total. They can always meet me half way between their original offer and what I seek.
Also, make sure they are looking at the proper trim level, options and drive train. There can be a several thousand dollar difference between a base model and a loaded top of the line model. I see a basic 09 Santa Fe is about $10,775 on NADAguides.com and a loaded one is $16K. Insurance companies can often quote a lesser model and try to settle. Happened to a friend on his Mustang. They tried to settle with him using comps that were a basic model, not his model. He ended up getting several thousand more on the settlement.
Also, make sure they are looking at the proper trim level, options and drive train. There can be a several thousand dollar difference between a base model and a loaded top of the line model. I see a basic 09 Santa Fe is about $10,775 on NADAguides.com and a loaded one is $16K. Insurance companies can often quote a lesser model and try to settle. Happened to a friend on his Mustang. They tried to settle with him using comps that were a basic model, not his model. He ended up getting several thousand more on the settlement.
I see, I will pay attention to that. Thank you
Quote:
Originally Posted by Me007gold
Nope. They owe from the day they make the offer, not from the day you accept it. Usually its something like 3 days from when they make the offer.
A little more detail about the accident: basically, this accident was a 4-vehicle accident. The lady (Let's call her Ms. X) rear-ended me, I rear-ended the person in front of me and that person rear-ended the person in front of them. So we are all dealing with the Ms. X's insurance company here.
Now, the insurance is saying that the limit on Ms. X's plan is not enough to cover the estimate of damages my vehicle and the other two cars involved sustained. They want each of us to go through our insurance and whatever payment our insurances make to us we can take and then they will deal with our insurance from their end. Since they totaled my vehicle and I do not have collision coverage on my personal insurance, I can only deal with the Ms X's insurance company.
Her insurance company is saying they cannot issue out payment until they hear back from the insurance companies of the other two parties involved. They cannot tell me how long this will take and they still refuse to pay for my rental since they declared my car a total loss. So basically, they are saying that if it takes a month for this whole brouhaha to be resolved, I have to pay for my rental during that time. This just cannot be right.
Am seriously thinking if I should go and hire a lawyer. I do not have the extra money to be paying out of pocket rental and I have no clue how long this whole issue will take to be resolved before payments can be issued out.
What should I do you guys? I really need advice because am on my wits' end here.
A little more detail about the accident: basically, this accident was a 4-vehicle accident. The lady (Let's call her Ms. X) rear-ended me, I rear-ended the person in front of me and that person rear-ended the person in front of them. So we are all dealing with the Ms. X's insurance company here.
Now, the insurance is saying that the limit on Ms. X's plan is not enough to cover the estimate of damages my vehicle and the other two cars involved sustained. They want each of us to go through our insurance and whatever payment our insurances make to us we can take and then they will deal with our insurance from their end. Since they totaled my vehicle and I do not have collision coverage on my personal insurance, I can only deal with the Ms X's insurance company.
Her insurance company is saying they cannot issue out payment until they hear back from the insurance companies of the other two parties involved. They cannot tell me how long this will take and they still refuse to pay for my rental since they declared my car a total loss. So basically, they are saying that if it takes a month for this whole brouhaha to be resolved, I have to pay for my rental during that time. This just cannot be right.
Am seriously thinking if I should go and hire a lawyer. I do not have the extra money to be paying out of pocket rental and I have no clue how long this whole issue will take to be resolved before payments can be issued out.
What should I do you guys? I really need advice because am on my wits' end here.
You maybe in a very difficult situation.
Typically, state law requires a driver to have a set amount of property damage liability coverage. If damages to one or move vehicles exceeds that limit, the insurance company for the other driver is off the hook for property damage if they offer their limits of coverage. In my state, its perfectly legal to sell an insurance policy that has a maximum of $15,000 property damage liability coverage. If this is insufficient to cover all damages than the parties with damaged vehicles will have to split that amount up in some way. Ms. X's insurance company assumes you all have collision coverage and most drivers do have it. You could try to look to Ms. X directly for the difference between her insurance coverage and the actual damage that occurred. However, usually people with low limits of insurance tend to be judgment proof and difficult to collect money from. In short, you may end up getting a fraction of the amount of what the actual damage to your car is.
This is a fairly complex accident. It may require more investigation than most. Where multiple vehicles are involved in a rear end accident, the question would be: Did Ms. X's car really push the two other cars forward into the vehicle in front of them or did they first collide with the car in front of them on their own? Such things do happen on freeways and high speed roads sometimes, when a car stops rapidly. The insurance company has a right to take statements from all parties and read the police report of the accident before determining liability and making any payments.
In short, this is going to take some time (probably less than a month though) before they do much of anything. So, don't expect to get a rental car paid in the meantime. If it turns out that they conclude that Ms. X was totally at fault, they should provide some rental car reimbursement at that time. There may be limits on this though where three other cars and drivers are involved.
If you were injured in the accident, a lawyer might be interested in it. If you are not injured and its just a question of property damage than unless you are willing to pay a lawyer by the hour (which I do not recommend) there is not much point in seeing an attorney.
I'm sorry you are in this situation. However, its a big reason to carry collision coverage. Otherwise, you are essentially agreeing to assume the risk of being struck by a driver with inadequate insurance.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
