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Hi! I'm quite stressed after a car accident and would appreciate a little guidance. A lady ran a stop sign and plowed into me and it looks like my vehicle will be a total loss. I have full coverage via Geico, but was hoping on some insight on 3 issues:
1. Extending rental car time. My policy covers a rental up to 30 days and I've been using one for the past week. Trouble is, I'm authorized through Thursday, when my adjuster estimated he'll finish. It sounds like I'll only have a car until the claim is considered "settled" when they cut me a check, but that doesn't come close to making me whole because I'll need a vehicle to find a car.
I live into the boondocks, with zero public transport, and can only afford something used. Last time, it took me 2 months to find something decent (getting beaten to good deals, etc) and the car market is much tougher now. I can't go past the covered time, but could I reasonably argue that I will need the rental vehicle for the full 30 days so I can go see various cars, etc? Otherwise, I'll have to pay for some kind of rental out of pocket while I get a replacement, which defeats the purpose of rental coverage. Is the guiding principle here when the claim is considered "closed", or compensation for expenses I'll have to incur by not having a car for that full 30 day period?
2. Accurate car valuation. I'm worried about getting a reasonable value for my vehicle, especially with current inflation. What's the best way to find accurate comps that could be used to negotiate that sum, if needed? Is it enough to gather amounts from Kelly Blue Book, or comparable vehicles of the same type/condition/mileage, or is there a specific way to know whether I'm being unfairly lowballed or not?
3. Fixing the car anyway? If the cost of repair isn't wildly disproportionate vs the value of the car, I may want to keep it. Finding an affordable car in the condition/type of my vehicle in the market will be challenging, time consuming, and costly in other ways (not having reliable transportation, gambling on hidden issues, etc). I have a feeling the repair costs won't be *that* much higher than the value of the car, so I may throw in an extra grand or so if needed to repair it on top of what Geico gives me, even if that means it'll be a salvage title. But my questions are:
a) How do I go about this? If I go this route, can I still get it repaired with Geico's authorized repair shop that did the estimate, or am I on my own and have to have it towed to some random repair place?
b) How do I know what types of damage are worth repairing, and when the car will have future issues no matter what I do? For reference, here's a photo of the damage - I got hit right in front of the driver side door, including the wheel well, etc: https://imgur.com/NfzA4ML
Thanks so much, would really appreciate any insight!
Why is the at fault driver's insurance not covering the loss? They would also be on the hook for car rental.
If the car is totaled and you want to repair it anyway you'll have to buy it back from the insurance company for the salvage value. When you get the car repaired it will have a salvage title which might make it harder to insure.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Whether your insurer or the other driver's, they are going to pay out as little as they can get away with. Your only hope for coming out as close as possible to whole is by hiring a lawyer to fight the insurance companies.
Why is the at fault driver's insurance not covering the loss? They would also be on the hook for car rental.
If the car is totaled and you want to repair it anyway you'll have to buy it back from the insurance company for the salvage value. When you get the car repaired it will have a salvage title which might make it harder to insure.
Thanks for your feedback! When I spoke to my insurance, they told me I was not at fault (though police report is still pending) and would not have to pay the deductible. But my understanding is that I'm still beholden to the coverage limits for a rental from my policy; i.e., they get the money from her insurance, but I'm still limited to 30 days.
Or would I be able to somehow make a claim against her insurance for a rental as long as I may need it while I shop for a car? Friends keep telling me to get a lawyer, but it sounds expensive and by the look of it, I doubt she has much money to spare anyway.
So if the car is worth, say, $7k and repairs are $8k, if I understand you correctly, it's not a matter of throwing in an extra grand after getting back the value of the car because I have to buy the car back at, let's say the salvage value is $4k AND then pay $8k on top of that? (in which case, a total of $12k would be ludicrous).
Whether your insurer or the other driver's, they are going to pay out as little as they can get away with. Your only hope for coming out as close as possible to whole is by hiring a lawyer to fight the insurance companies.
In this case, I'm not sure what I would allege, exactly, via a lawyer. Even with a lawyer, I can't reasonably claim I want beyond 30 days of rental use because that's my policy coverage. And the cost of a lawyer is likely to be steep, and something I may not be able to afford, so I'd have to fully understand what I'm angling for. I don't even know how to tell, exactly, if the valuation given will be fair or not, so I'm starting there.
I could go after the lady who hit me for more rental coverage if needed past the 30 days, but she looks like she doesn't have much money (think socioeconomically disadvantaged looking lady from an immigrant group full of gang-style tattoos on her neck/face driving an older car).
Thanks for your feedback! When I spoke to my insurance, they told me I was not at fault (though police report is still pending) and would not have to pay the deductible. But my understanding is that I'm still beholden to the coverage limits for a rental from my policy; i.e., they get the money from her insurance, but I'm still limited to 30 days.
Or would I be able to somehow make a claim against her insurance for a rental as long as I may need it while I shop for a car? Friends keep telling me to get a lawyer, but it sounds expensive and by the look of it, I doubt she has much money to spare anyway.
So if the car is worth, say, $7k and repairs are $8k, if I understand you correctly, it's not a matter of throwing in an extra grand after getting back the value of the car because I have to buy the car back at, let's say the salvage value is $4k AND then pay $8k on top of that? (in which case, a total of $12k would be ludicrous).
Yep. Now, I doubt if the salvage value is that high but you have the bones of the situation.
Insurance coverage, regardless who's policy it is, is limited to what the policy holder purchased. Once you exceed those limits, the way to get your remaining out of pocket expenses reimbursed is to sue the at fault driver. You either pursue the case yourself or you hire an attorney to do it for you. Obviously, that's going to cost you and there's no way to predict how much more successful they'll be squeezing blood out of a turnip.
Unfortunately, accident property damage/loss sucks. No avoiding the inconvenience. Unless you had total replacement coverage on your wrecked car whatever they pay out simply isn't going to make you whole. Everyone can certainly sympathize with needing to shop for another car right now but that's just bad luck. No one was in control of the timing. You may have to accept a used replacement car you don't particularly like for the time being. It could tide you over until supply chain/production problems settle down and availability stabilizes. Look at it as a stop gap necessity, not a long term commitment. Can you borrow a car from someone to continue your car search? Whatever you do, make sure your insurance covers operation of a non-owned vehicle or that theirs covers you as a driver.
Insurance coverage, regardless who's policy it is, is limited to what the policy holder purchased. Once you exceed those limits, the way to get your remaining out of pocket expenses reimbursed is to sue the at fault driver.
Thanks so much for the feedback. So if I purchased 30 days of rental reimbursement, can my insurance cut me off at, say, 12 days because they offered me money to close the claim at that point, or am I entitled to get the full 30 days because I genuinely don't have a replacement lined up?
.............Unfortunately, accident property damage/loss sucks. No avoiding the inconvenience. Unless you had total replacement coverage on your wrecked car whatever they pay out simply isn't going to make you whole.
Whether your insurer or the other driver's, they are going to pay out as little as they can get away with. Your only hope for coming out as close as possible to whole is by hiring a lawyer to fight the insurance companies.
I am a lawyer and I cannot really recommend that. First, he'll have trouble finding a lawyer at all. The lawyer will need to be paid. I doubt he is up to paying him/her $200 plus per hour. Second, a contingent fee will not work in a case like this. It will take time to prevail and the fee that is likely to be earned is insufficient for the work required. Third, if a lawyer did take a contingent fee it would mean this person would end paying one third of the check he got for repairing his car to the attorney instead of to fix the car.
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