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I keep cars for a long time and I keep them in rather good shape. I also don't like buying cars new so when I think about how insurance companies value a replacement for a totaled car I get pretty t-ed off.
Personally, I think that I should be given the opportunity to find a like model car, of the same age and roughly the same mileage regardless of the so called "blue book value". I don't see why I shouldn't be paid the actual replacement cost of what I lost.
You can do just that in court actually. But it not just one vehciles you pcik really; it has to be a number in your area to win in court.
Personally, I think that I should be given the opportunity to find a like model car, of the same age and roughly the same mileage regardless of the so called "blue book value". I don't see why I shouldn't be paid the actual replacement cost of what I lost.
Because that would just lead to more scams/fraud where people would buy clunkers for a pittance and write up the bill of sale for a lot more, scamming the insurance co for the difference.
And to answer the other question: ins co's sometimes/often do pay fair replacement value. My gf at the time and my brother both had cars totaled and the ins co paid out fairly. OTOH I know a guy who says he was shafted in many ways (not only did they offer him what he considered a low number, he says his adjuster said he had 3 days after a settlement to take the salvaged car back from the tow yard and stop using his rental car privileges. Later he was told it was 3 days "after a settlement was offered" and he was hit with both storage charges and rental charges)
If you keep cars a long time and are worried about this, then you CAN find an insurance company that offers policies in which you name the value of the car (like classic car insurance).
I once bought a brand new car. On my way to have the car in for it's first check-up (which at the time was required to be done under the warranty terms for free), I was hit head-on by a van that had been hit by a woman who barged through a red light. The van totalled my new car. I was sitting still when the impact occurred waiting to make a left turn at the intersection with my turn signal on (I did NOTHING wrong and had nowhere to go to avoid being hit). The town Mayor and the Chief of Police witnessed the accident as it happened right in front of the Town Hall.
Anyhow, with no-fault insurance in my State, my insurance company was to cut me a check for my damages (no injuries). Since my car was only 2 months old, I figured to get enough at least to replace it.....but NOOOOOO! The check was not quite even 1/2 of what I'd just paid for it.
I was livid and called the claim representative. I explained that the car was 2 months old, I'd been paying that company for good insurance for close to 20 years without a single claim, and that I had absolutely nothing to do with causing the accident. All I wanted to to be able to be made "whole" again.
I was told that isn't the way it works and that all the insurance companies in the state go by some type of scale where they all agree. When I all but demanded that this system stinks and that I should be made whole again, he told me that it was people like me that cause insurance rates to be so high!!!! WHAT????
I once bought a brand new car. On my way to have the car in for it's first check-up (which at the time was required to be done under the warranty terms for free), I was hit head-on by a van that had been hit by a woman who barged through a red light. The van totalled my new car. I was sitting still when the impact occurred waiting to make a left turn at the intersection with my turn signal on (I did NOTHING wrong and had nowhere to go to avoid being hit). The town Mayor and the Chief of Police witnessed the accident as it happened right in front of the Town Hall.
Anyhow, with no-fault insurance in my State, my insurance company was to cut me a check for my damages (no injuries). Since my car was only 2 months old, I figured to get enough at least to replace it.....but NOOOOOO! The check was not quite even 1/2 of what I'd just paid for it.
I was livid and called the claim representative. I explained that the car was 2 months old, I'd been paying that company for good insurance for close to 20 years without a single claim, and that I had absolutely nothing to do with causing the accident. All I wanted to to be able to be made "whole" again.
I was told that isn't the way it works and that all the insurance companies in the state go by some type of scale where they all agree. When I all but demanded that this system stinks and that I should be made whole again, he told me that it was people like me that cause insurance rates to be so high!!!! WHAT????
It's called "gap insurance".. some companies offer it as a matter of course, some don't.. it has nothing to do with the "scale," cars depreciate as soon as you drive them off the lot, and if you don't have coverage, you won't be made whole if the car is destroyed.
I understand that they depreciate as soon as they are driven off the lot. I expected that.
But less than 1/2 in 2 Months when you weren't even the cause of the accident?
Obviously, just the remark from the claim rep was enough for me to never give that company another penny. That remark especially irked me when I'd been paying them on time religiously for close to 20 years and NEVER had a single claim in all that time. By the way...that claim rep WAS fired, which was a little bit of satisfaction.
I'm also pretty sure that lacking "gap insurance" wasn't what my problem was.
I paid cash for my car...there were no loans involved.
The cash (book) value of the car would have been more than what I was given.
As it was explained to me, my state had some weird insurance pool type thing where all the companies licensed to sell here have some sort of scale that they've all agreed to follow which determines what your total loss would be and it doesn't go by the book value at all.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Being a driver of 50 mpg 'beater's, I have had this challenge from 'Cell phone talking SUV's whose drivers cause HUGE chain reaction collisions by forgetting they don't stop well on wet roads. (281 days / yr rain in PNW).
so...
1) keep receipts for 2 yrs (especially for major things repaired on car)
2) get true comparables for estimating FMV (if possible), Send all the data you searched to find comparables (which can be a ton)
3) Have a 'specialty' dealer write a FMV on YOUR specific car.
Write the claims agent (cc: his boss) a NICE letter explaining your research and why your vehicle is tough to replace.
If no feedback... CALL the boss,
then Write a very firm letter with your realistic demands for payment.
When they finally get sick of you and offer to pay..., THEN negotiate to keep your totaled car for parts. THEN express that you don't want a 'marked' title (if it is not damaged in the Frame).
This has worked 3 times for me. (not that I am ever happy about finding another 30 yr old 50 mpg car)
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