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Back in 1996, I was involved in a motor vehicle accident in a parking lot.
I was driving a 1975 Chevy Nova, the other driver was driving a 1989 Buick Regal.
The parking lot was not well marked. The parking lot was north and south long ways. I was traveling north up the aisle of the parking lot and the other driver was cutting across the aisles west.
Due to rows of cars parked, neither of us saw each other until it was too late. The front of the Buick hit the right front wheel and fender and part of the passenger side door of my Chevy.
Both of us had insurance thru the same insurance company. The insirance company found us both at fault 50/50.
The insurance company considered my 21 year old classic car a total loss. They offered to pay me a $293 settlement, saying that since I was half at fault they would pay me half of what my car was worth. However they also stated that I could "retain the salvage rights to the vehicle."
If the car was deemed a total, weren't they supposed to have taken the car too and then branded it as a salvage/wrecked car?
It still strikes me today as to why they just allowed me to take the car as is and resell. This incident occurred in Indianapolis, in Indiana.
BTW I ended up getting out of it in the resale what I had in it, and I did disclose it had been in an accident.
Offering salvage rights is standard procedure. It's your choice if you will to retain the vehicle. If the Ins company takes it, they have to sell it. If you want the car, they don't have to bother with it, so they would be happy if you chose to keep it.
Usually they will charge you to retain the salvage. They deduct the salvage value from the offer they made for your car.
By the way, it's only considered a salvage vehicle after the state DMV is notified of that status. If you purchase it for salvage, you don't have to notify anyone, and you can fix it and drive it, part it out, or anything you wish to do with it.. If the Ins company takes the car, they will declare it salvage.
They offered it to you to save themselves the trouble of disposing of it...
Back in 1996, I was involved in a motor vehicle accident in a parking lot.
I was driving a 1975 Chevy Nova, the other driver was driving a 1989 Buick Regal.
The parking lot was not well marked. The parking lot was north and south long ways. I was traveling north up the aisle of the parking lot and the other driver was cutting across the aisles west.
Due to rows of cars parked, neither of us saw each other until it was too late. The front of the Buick hit the right front wheel and fender and part of the passenger side door of my Chevy.
Both of us had insurance thru the same insurance company. The insirance company found us both at fault 50/50.
The insurance company considered my 21 year old classic car a total loss. They offered to pay me a $293 settlement, saying that since I was half at fault they would pay me half of what my car was worth. However they also stated that I could "retain the salvage rights to the vehicle."
If the car was deemed a total, weren't they supposed to have taken the car too and then branded it as a salvage/wrecked car?
It still strikes me today as to why they just allowed me to take the car as is and resell. This incident occurred in Indianapolis, in Indiana.
BTW I ended up getting out of it in the resale what I had in it, and I did disclose it had been in an accident.
There are a number of things that come to mind. I'm almost certain that you can purchase the salvage rights (i.e. keep the car for the adjusted value after damage) any time this type of insurance claim with total loss occurs. The insurance company usually charges, but in your case, because of the small damage claim and total loss amount, it was probably more favorable to have you keep it. It wasn't worth sending it to the big Copart or IAA auctions and having it resold for salvage, as it probably would not have sold for a worthwhile sum. It would have potentially cost more in auction fees, paperwork, and transport, than it would bring back at the sale. Even combined with their payment to you, they probably would have lost even more money trying to send it through the salvage sales.
I see a problem I have had with a accident with someone with the same insurance company, they always rule 50/50. Regardless of the visibility problem you were traveling within the norm of the parking lot. The other party was crossing regardless of the lanes.
The only way to win is to take it to court, after a ruling the ins co will write a check.
We were going to take it to court, but when we talked to a lawyer, he advised us that it would end up costing more to sue the insurance company that it would be to take the $293 and the wrecked car and do what we wanted. The insurance company had us over a barrel big time and knew it.
I don't know what kind of Ins company you are dealing with, but I have had much experiences with such matters, and unless you ask the Ins co if you can buy the salvage, the subject doesn't come up. People are never expected to take a salvage car unless requested, and it's rarely done. There is no such thing as forcing one to accept the wreck as partial payment. It's the INs com's responsibly to dispose of the salvage.
If that is what happened, there is something real fishy about the whole deal.... or there is something missing in there story...
You could of taken the owner of the other vehicle to small claims court & sued them for the value of your car plus court costs.You dont need a attorney for small claims.Unfortunately a 20 yr old car just dont hold its value & i should know from recent experience.Back in 1996 a 75 nova just wasnt worth much.Imagine how much a 75 nova is worth now.Bottom line....the insurance companies have us all over a barrel & they know it.
Eagle you are right. Back then a 1975 Nova 4 door in good to fair shape was worth $1000. (I paid $500 for mine because the owner thought it was about to die - it just needed some TLC then it was fine) Now they can't be had for under $2000 unless they're junk/rusted out.
Of course the one I had was a rare one year production model because it was the LN model (Luxury Nova), which was basically a Cadillac fitted into a Nova - and Novas were known to be low dollar Sunday driver type cars. Today the Nova LN is more difficult to find than a true SS Nova.
I have a 2009 Ford Fusion with front end damage. The insurance company has declared it a total loss even though the collision shop says it's repairable. They are asking if I want to retain salvage of the vehicle. I really don't know what I should do.... the repair amount is 6,000 and I paid $10,000 for the vehicle.
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