Auto Insurance Claims: total loss and loss of use, indiana total loss.

Question
I was involved in an accident three months ago for which I was not found at fault. The party at fault's insurance company has given me a lot of run-around trying to get me to accept inadequate payment for my vehicle damage...i have gone from being told it was totaled, to repairable to totaled again. My first question regards reimbursement for loss of use. I am in the state of Indiana. I was offered a rental car at the time of which they were waiting for their appraiser to get back to them with his report, at which time I was led to believe that the vehicle was going to be totaled.  After finding out that I would be responsible for paying the rental insurance of $20 I decided not to take the rental.  Then the insurance company got back to me telling me my vehicle was not totaled at which point they issued a check for the cost of the appraiser's repair estimate. however the estimate explicitly stated that the estimate did not reflect any unseen damage so I decided to have the car taken to a mechanic to get a supplemental estimate which would reflect such damage.  It has been about two months since then that i have been trying to get these parties in contact with one another to move the repair forward. Finally last week all the appropriate paper work was in the appropriate hands and the insurance is now deciding that the vehicle is a total loss.  Because of all the mickey-mousing I have now been with out a vehicle for a few days shy of three months. I am wondering if the insurance company is then obligated to reimburse me for loss of use?  My second question is in regards to the vehicle being a total loss.  In light of the fact that the insurance agent has put me through the wringer with insurance tricks, I am anticipating that they will attempt to low-ball me on the value of the vehicle. what can I do to evaluate the value of my vehicle?  It is an 1989 Toyota pickup which is too old to get a blue book value on but i did run it through something like napa.com to get the value of the vehicle which shows high retail value at $2,700 . However these trucks have an amazing ability to hold a good re-sale value, especially one like mine which had 75'000 miles on it and an almost perfect body. The appraiser sited previous vehicle damage in his report and it totaled a mere $146.00. After looking extensively on the internet for similar vehicles for sale I found that it's value is quite high. I for instance found a 1990 (mine is 1989) same body type with 82,233 miles on it within 501 miles of me listed for a selling price of $5,995. Another example is a 1989 extended cab(mine is short-bed), which has 100,000 miles on it (quite a bit more than mine), and it is listed for $4000. It is within 527 miles of me. My question is this: what can I do to establish proof of the vehicle's worth to counter theirs should theirs be low? I know that they are required to pay me what it would cost to put me in a vehicle as close to mine as possible, but how do I back myself up? Thanks so much!

Answer
Rebecca,

  I'm sorry for the delay, this one slipped through the cracks on my end.  First of all, it is normally not required to pay for rental insurance if you have liability insurance of your own.  It is not too common for a rental car exclusion to be included in the liability portion of your own insurance, therefore you are most likely covered in case anything happens to the rental car.  You could safely sign a "Collision Damage Waiver" or whatever equivalent the rental company calls their own insurance waiver section.  

   Generally, when a vehicle is deemed a total loss, then "loss of use" is not a factor (you can't use a totaled vehicle).  If the vehicle is repairable, then your loss of use is the reasonable repair time.  Most of the time, if there is a strange delay in determining whether a vehicle is a total loss or not, then if the vehicle isn't drivable, the insurance company is likely on the hook for at least some reasonable loss of use time while you waited on them to make a decision.  

   Okay, now on the delay issues, I have to say it is unusual for a claim to go as long as you describe.  The problem seems to be that you didn't actually authorize a repair to be started, or that you or your body shop failed diligently get the insurance company on notice of the supplemental damages.  I find it hard to believe that "It has been about two months since then that i have been trying to get these parties in contact with one another".  It will be hard to explain why you didn't send a written request for additional money to the insurance company and it is hard to believe that it took two months to get the insurance company on notice of the supplemental damages.  Anyway, this delay is probably not going to be the fault of the insurance company unless you can prove you made them aware of the supplement.  The real issue is whether the vehicle was actually being repaired or if it was sitting there waiting on the insurance company to approve the supplement.  If it was waiting on supplement approval, then it a mitigation problem on your part.  You should have just had it repaired according to the insurance company estimate and had the shop work out additional costs and damages with the adjuster and appraiser.  The company would have then been more obligated to go ahead with the repair since they told you it was repairable pre-maturely.  Since you didn't believe them, you gave them the opportunity to change their mind when you proved them wrong about the initial damage estimate.  Does that make sense?  

   Now as far as the value of your vehicle, the best thing you could do would be to get a certified appraisal from a reputable appraiser or appraisal company.  Getting an appraisal won't guarantee a fair settlement, but it is very good evidence if you have to sue, and the insurance company knows that.  Your own research is biased because you own the vehicle and have a financial interest in the settlement value, but a disinterested and qualified third party's appraisal report is much harder to discount.

    For more detailed information or a free consultation, look us up.  I'll be happy to help you run through your options.  Indiana is a state we can service and vehicle values and damages are our specialty.  We can be found at www.pettydetailsllc.com.

    Sometimes, it's just in the Petty Details.

I hope this helps.