Insurance qustion

[HeyBub]

Two weeks ago my little S10 pickup was struck, while parked, by a U-Haul truck. My pickup is 15 years old, but only has 98,000 miles on the clock (I don't get out much). U-Haul referred me to their insurance carrier and, after proof of ownership and a witness list changed hands, they promised to send over an adjuster today between 1:00 and 4:00.

It's 8:00pm and he's still not here.

Anyway, I figure it will cost about $900 to fix the truck, but for that amount I'll bet the insurance company will total the thing and offer me five hundred bucks to just go away.

Frankly, the truck is worth MUCH more than that to me.

So I compute my best plan of action is to decline U-Haul's offer, whatever piddly amount it turns out to be, and march against them in small claims court. Counting the damage, replacement vehicle rental, and loss of consortium, I should file for about, oh, $3000. I further estimate that U-Haul will likewise compute that it would cost them more to defend the suit than to just cut me a checky-poo for the three grand.

Your experiences along these lines, observations, and advice would be much appreciated.

[John Keiser]

Small claims court typically does not allow an attorney to appear so a UHaul manager will appear and defend at minimal cost to the company. They should offer you actual repair costs, loss of use while repaired. Good luck on the loss of consortium. :) If you are not satisfied, the judge will decide.

[RBM]

My experience with insurance companies is that they attempt to be fair. If your vehicle has a fair market value of $500, I think that they'd offer you that plus whatever rentals etc that are usually considered. I don't think you can intimidate them via a law suit. They certainly don't want to set any precedent of paying six times the value of a claim just to avoid a law suit. If anything they may counter sue for an amount too large to handle in small claims, which would require you to have to hire a lawyer of your own.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Not going to happen. Most they will give you is book value. Maybe a good adjuster will kick in a few bucks more just to get you to sign immediately, but they won't be intimidated at all by your threat of a lawsuit.

What you should have in hand already is an estimate from a repair shop. That may give you a bit of leverage. You had two weeks to prepare for this.

Watch a couple of episodes of Judge Judy. She uses the book for value and that is the max she ever paid out.

[clare]

If the truck is spotless and rust free it's a $2500 truck. What damage was done? Box side? door and fender??

Go for a buy-out They say thnere is 1500 damage so they want to write it off, you say give me 1500 and the truck - and fix it yourself???

[DD_BobK]

HB-

You will the opportunity to influence the decision to total your truck.

I've been through (vicariously) the "total" process a few times. BIL is an insurance agent... to many stories to tell But here is a website that provides information that correlates well with my knowledge. If gives good info plus some negotiating tactics.

They even have a "value appraisal" calculator.

My guess if you're correct on the repair estimate & the repairs can be done quickly ..you'll be getting a check.

If they try to add rental car costs to the repair costs.... tell them you're gonna need a rental car too while you shop around for you car, new or used. :)

If they think you'll be good at standing up for yourself...they'll toss a bit more your way.

cheers Bob

[krw]

As others have said, book is about the best you can expect - maybe a

*little* more. You might be surprise what the book on the truck is, though. Used cars are at a premium now. Have you looked?

I just threw a few random options at a '98 S10 and came up with a private sale price of about $4K. I used

but I'd use two or three sites for backup. Take the highest. They'll take the lowest but at least you have ammunition.

No guessing allowed. Start with the empty threats and you'll get eaten alive. They do this for a living. You don't. Chances are the adjuster doesn't want to make your life miserable but he can if you insist.

*BEFORE* you talk to the adjuster, you should know what the vehicle is worth. Good grief, this isn't rocket-surgery!

[gpsman]

Wait for an offer, come back at $3K, and stick to it. Don't let yourself get dragged into justifying the figure, or start higher hoping to end up there. $3K is your number.

You're entitled to "compensatory expenses", so that's not at all an unreasonable figure for a rig with a market value in the $1500 range.

Adjusters are actually paid to close claims these days. Too many "bad faith" judgments got insurers' attention.

Forget about small claims. If you get a lawyer they're going to have to pay it, too.

Don't threaten getting representation, or let yourself become emotional, raise your voice or plead your case. If $3K doesn't work them, thank them, lead them to the door, say "I'll let you know". They'll take the hint, I'll bet. -----

- gpsman

[harry]

I had a similar experience. My 4x4 was parked on my driveway when a truck came down the drive (after hitting another on the highway). It smashed up my 4x4 and my garage. I had a bad insurance deal on the 4x4 but I got a new garage.

[dadiOH]

Why would you think that? The vehicle is worth around $2000 FMV so it is cheaper for them to pay to fix than to total it.

[Frank]

First thing I would do is get Blue Book value as that is max that insurance company will pay. Lower mileage and good condition usually does not mean much to insurance company. I had one low mileage car stolen and another totaled in past 15 years and might have finagled an extra $100 out of them above book.

I have a repair shop that I use that works with insurance company. I prefer final bill paid to estimate. Deer ran into me last year and estimate was about $1,500 but repair ended up at about $2,500. Insurance companies know all this stuff and will "total" a vehicle if initial estimate goes over about 70% of book value as they will not know true cost of repair until work starts and parts removed to see any underlying damage.

Here, in DE an insurance company has up to one month to give you an estimate. Don't know law where you live.

[trader4]

quoted text -

Kind of what I was thinking too. I don't know why HB thinks his truck is only worth $500. If his guess of $900 to fix it is accurate and the accident was not his fault, I would expect the insurance company to pay that without much fight.

But, first thing is look up the blue book value online. Then get a couple estimates. Even better, if you have a body shop that you use, then take the car there and have the adjuster see it there. That's what I do. That way the body shop guy can discuss it with the adjuster. The adjuster says it takes xyz to fix this and if it isn't right, the body shop guy says to him, no you also need to do these additional thing to do the job right..... IMO better to get into that process from the beginning, rather than have the adjuster low ball it and then try to revise it.

[trader4]

I've never seen cases where they hand out extra money as "compensatory expenses". You get either the repair cost or if that exceeds the market value, then you get market value. You also can get rental car fees, taxi fees, etc., but they have to be reasonable and provable. Judges don't take a $1500 claim and double it to $3000 in a case like this just to throw extra money at you.

Says who? And you'd have to be nuts to go to an attorney with a $900 or $1500 claim.

[HeyBub]

I went to law school. While I never practiced law, I did learn you NEVER threaten suit. You do or not do.

[HeyBub]

Yes they do. If I file a claim for $3,000 and the other party doesn't show up, I'll almost always get the amount I asked for. After all, it's my word against no one's.

[gpsman]

Oh. So you think it is reasonable to limit everything to what you've seen...?

You seem to labor under the false impression that a claim cannot be settled until every cent of loss is documented. It is not so. -----

- gpsman

[trader4]

The judge will still look at what evidence you have to support that $3,000 claim. And if all you have is a book value for the truck at $1500 and $100 worth of rental car receipts, all you're going to get is $1600. Just because the other party doesn't show up doesn't mean you get everything you're suing for, with no proof at all.

[Vic Smith]

I had a similar experience about 5 years ago. Details are a bit hazy, but here's the basics. Son was driving our spare car, a '93 Beretta. Had about 160k miles on it. Got hit, smashing up some body parts. Front fender, buckled hood, and front light assembly. The hitter's insurance company paid book value and totaled it. Think it was about $6-800. Son wanted to fix it. Think I had to pay $100 to the insurance company for the title. Also think the title was marked "Salvage" in the state data base, but not sure. This is Illinois. The insurer was State Farm or Allstate. So just ask the insurer how it works in your state. They pretty much go by the book with everything they do. My son fixed the Beretta for about $250 in boneyard parts, even getting an exact color match with the parts. He wanted to do it, could do it, so it worked out. Think hard about what's damaged and real costs before you go that route.

[TomR]

You're assuming they are going to total the truck, and you're assuming they are going to tell you a 1998 Chevy S10 pickup truck is worth $500. Then, from that assumption, you are off on a whole big scenario of taking them to small claims court etc.

There is no way that anyone is going to say 1998 Chevy S10 pickup truck is only worth $500. I just junked a completely rusted out, beat-to-s..., GMC pickup truck with a blown automatic transmission for $350 -- and they came and towed it for free. That was just the junk metal value. When the transmission on that one went out, I bought a 1989 GMC Sierra 1500 mediocre condition pickup truck for $800. Look online and your 1998 pickup is worth $2,000 or more.

Let us know what they actually do say after you hear back from them.

[Notat Home]

Insurance law varies from state to state, so lacking knowledge of what state you are in, most of the advice posted is questionable.

Generally, if you are making a claim on your own policy, they will give you the cost of repairs (less your deductible, which they will return to you if they make a recovery from the other party) or the fair market value of your vehicle, whichever is less. They can do this because it is written into your contract of insurance.

The other parties insurer does not have a contract with you. Their contract is with their insured, so they cannot arbitrarily total your vehicle. Their obligation is to their insured, and with an at-fault accident, their insured is obligated, generally, to put you back where you would have been without the accident. I suspect that if you get a written estimate of the cost of repairs, and a list of other expenses you have had to incur, such as the cost of a rental vehicle, they will be amenable to fully reimbursing you, although they may make an initial low-ball offer, just to try to save some money. Get their offer in writing; if it is too low, decline it and repeat what you want. If you can't come to an agreement, take all documentation and head for court, but I suspect you will come to agreement, as the insurance company will not want to have to pay an attorney.

An interesting question you might want to look into is who was driving the uhaul, as that is the party who will ultimately be liable, unless there are some strange circumstances that haven't been revealed.