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'm not sure - in MN, we always pay the base deductible for our insurance, which gets subtracted from any payout.
I'll ask her though. She said she didn't carry collision insurance on such an old car.
Thats only if there is a claim against your own insurance. The way you describe the accident, the other guy is at fault. His insurance company should pay up with NO deductible.
aus1ander - just edited my post probably the same time you were responding. She clarified it and yes, if the other insurance pays (and it sounds like they will), there will be no deductible. Not sure why she was thinking she would have to pay her deductible last night. She's also going after them for her rental car cost. She's pretty savvy when it comes to negotiating, so I'm hoping she can get more than $1500 for that Echo.
aus1ander - just edited my post probably the same time you were responding. She clarified it and yes, if the other insurance pays (and it sounds like they will), there will be no deductible. Not sure why she was thinking she would have to pay her deductible last night. She's also going after them for her rental car cost. She's pretty savvy when it comes to negotiating, so I'm hoping she can get more than $1500 for that Echo.
Good Luck...The Kia Soul might be a good option for her at her budget. You can find newer, slightly used ones in that price range, brand new ones if you want absolutely no frills.
I don't know why she is thinking she will only get $1,500 from it, unless it is all beat to heck and needs major repairs. The insurance has to pay you a reasonable RETAIL price for it so you can buy a replacement. This is the key. They should not pay you only trade in or auction value since you can't buy another car for that price, unless you just let them lowball you. With the additional information and based on what I see online, she should get somewhere between $3,500 and $4,500 for it. She does not have to take their first offer if you can show it should be worth more. Of course they want to settle ASAP and for the lowest possible price, but she needs what is fair to her.
aus1ander - just edited my post probably the same time you were responding. She clarified it and yes, if the other insurance pays (and it sounds like they will), there will be no deductible. Not sure why she was thinking she would have to pay her deductible last night. She's also going after them for her rental car cost. She's pretty savvy when it comes to negotiating, so I'm hoping she can get more than $1500 for that Echo.
Earlier you said she had no collision coverage because of the car's age. If there is no collision coverage, how does her insurance company even get involved in the settlement? If you don't carry collision, deductible shouldn't enter into it. Or is this a Michigan thing, or maybe she did have collision? I hope she can get more than the $1500 + the other expenses she's accrued. Good luck.
I had a similar problem last year. I'm driving a 1999 Chevy Prizm (like a Corolla) with 80,000 miles on it. Clean, well maintained, garage kept. Every maintenance place I ever took it to had someone who wanted to buy it from me. I've kept it because I have better things to spend my money on that a new car, considering how little I drive (I work at home). And as far as I'm concerned, this car is paying me to own it at this point.
I'm exiting a restaurant parking lot one day and a teenager in a Volvo SUV plows into the passenger side of the car. Not a dent on his heavyweight vehicle with its huge rubber bumpers, but my front passenger door and the front quarter panel are crushed and the mirror is knocked off. I call the police to the scene and the teenager calls Dad. Dad begs me to let him pay for the repairs and keep it off the books. The sheriff gives me the news this is perfect legal in our state since the accident was on private property and throws in his two cents that it would be the nice thing to do to give the Dad a break on his enormous car insurance costs.
I get three detailed bids to repair my car and send them to Dad. He stalls me for weeks, not answering the phone or picking up my registered mail to him, until I finally call him at his office. Then he breaks it too me that my bids are "way too high" (and almost identical to each other) and he's decided to let his insurance handle it ... and I should call them. As if I haven't already done all the work getting three bids!
So I call them and WITHOUT THEM EVER SEEING THE CAR (no adjustor), they say to me, "Your car is totaled and we're sending you a check for $3,000 (KBB value was $2,500). What day do you want us to tow the car?" I say, "Just wait a minute. The car doesn't need to be towed, I've been driving it since the accident, so as far as I'm concerned it's not totaled." They threaten to have my title "stamped" if I try to use "their money" to get the car fixed on the grounds the car was "dangerous to drive." As if they could know, never having seen it. (I guess they wanted to recoup their money selling my car for junk.)
Well, I fought them on it and I won. I called in my insurance company (Nationwide) and they backed me up 100%. They sent an adjustor and agreed the car still had a lot of value as the needed repairs were entirely cosmetic. They said if I agreed to let them purchase used parts for the repairs and didn't ask for a rental car, they would have the car fixed and sue the Dad's insurance company to get their money back. They took over the conversations with Dad's insurance company (and agreed with me that his broker was a jerk), they let me pick the body shop I was most comfortable with, and the repairs were done in a reasonable amount of time. My car was returned to me in beautiful condition (even the pin stripe was replaced!) and Nationwide didn't even raise my rates.
Tell your mother to fight for what she thinks is fair. If she has a good insurance company and a good driving record, she should get her insurance in to back up what she wants. She won't have to sue anyone, they will. That's what she's paying them for. Always remember, she has a right to be "made whole" as they say in insurance jargon. Not allowing her to get a car equal to the one she lost is not making her whole. Good luck.
Last edited by Jukesgrrl; 03-19-2015 at 11:10 PM..
Reason: spelling
I've got almost 30 years in the property casualty insurance industry. You really need to read this post again as it's absolutely accurate:
Quote:
Originally Posted by trbstang
If it had to be towed, it will most likely be totaled. Now you need to do the research and see what it would cost to buy her an identical car to replace it, and that is about what the insurance should settle for, plus tax, title & license fees. Depending on the mileage and options, it could be worth from $2,500 - $5,000 or so. NADA shows one with 100K miles as being about $4,950 retail. The other sources are likely to be around there or lower.
Having a car totaled really stinks, but you have to make sure you come out of it whole and have enough to buy the same vehicle again, or upgrade with some extra cash. Good luck to you and your mom.
Every insurance payout can be reasonably negotiated. Her best defense is to go on Auto Trader and find cars for sale as close to the one she totaled. THAT is the value she should be negotiating.
Insurance is there to restore you to the same situation you were prior to the loss. It should not be a get-rich-quick scheme, but you also shouldn't get screwed either.
Thank you again, everyone! It's hard to get all the info when she is at work during the day and I am halfway across the country. I texted her the above information about value and tax, title, etc. She said she didn't know that (she hasn't ever had an accident like this either) - is that tax, title and license amount calculated on her totaled car, or her new car?
When she went to grab her personal items out of her car, the adjuster for the Avalanche's insurance company was there, so they had a conversation. He told her he loves Toyotas and that he drives one himself. He also said that her car was in really good shape, and had no rust, and new tires so he was going to note all that and submit it in his report. But, he said insurance makes the final decision.
If insurance lowballs her, how does she go back and negotiate? I've never dealt with this before so I really have no idea. Her insurance company just told her they closed her claim and it's now going through the other insurance, as that driver accepted full liability.
Now on the flip side, she also texted me a picture of her brand new 2015 Kia Soul last night. So I guess she's extremely motivated! She is quite the negotiator with car sales so I am hopeful she can negotiate for her insurance payout too. If she can get closer to $5000, then she will barely have a car payment based on the amount she just financed. I can't keep up with her
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.
