QuestionHi there, Richard.
A couple questions before proceeding with 2 aspects of our accident claim. I was in an accident where an elderly woman pulled out into oncoming traffic (on freeway at high speeds). My car was totaled, I suffered only slight injuries from airbags & impact that I declined medical care for. I feel physically fine. The driver survived, but her passenger/husband did not. Liability/negligence was established 100% on her side. Two primary questions:
1. TOTAL LOSS- The total loss department(both I and the other party have the same insurance company, although her insurance policy is based in Texas, my policy based in Colorado- accident happened in Texas) has given us an estimate that we feel is 1/2 the true value. My vehicle was considered a classic/rare Range Rover, of which only 3 comparables (condition, mileage, erc)are currently even advertised for sale in the U.S. all of which support a higher settlement price as well. At Total Loss's request, we had an expert Range Rover dealer who specializes in this particular car contact them with market value information supporting our claim for a higher value (nearly double their offer). They refuse to re-value. What next? Will a 3rd party appraiser be "expert" enough to evaluate in our favor, or do they generalize? Do people ever win in trying to battle over these total loss claims? Are we wasting our time?
2. PAIN & SUFFERING CLAIM? Despite not suffering any physical injury, this ordeal has been enormously stressful, upsetting & problematic. We've hustled to do repairs on an old car that we had planned to sell in order to have a vehicle to drive & not pay the outrageous rental fees. While being fixed, insurance only paid for 1 week of a rental vehicle, while we paid out of pocket for a second week(they claimed one free week was a generous gesture on their part- that they in no way owed this, and I have heard mixed replies at to whether this is true in Texas or not). The accident happened en route to vacation out of state, requiring use of 2 vehicles when the totaled car alone would have been used (ie, double the gas & mileage on secondary car)new registration, tires, repairs to make a car driveable that we never intended to use again, etc.
Most troubling is the stress & grief of having been involved in a very scary accident at high speeds where my car, despite no negligence on my part, killed another person. This has weighed heavily on me since the accident in August- I sleep poorly, cry often, am often nervous and anxious to drive, etc. I do not work, so this has not affected work per se. On a personal and somewhat uncomfortable note, I was on anti-depressants thru 2009, but have not taken since December. I currently do not have mental health insurance for therapy/meds. My concern is that, based on my current state of mind/response to the accident, I may need to go back into therapy and on anti-depressants at some point in the future. At $150+ a weekly therapy session, and antidepressants running $60+/month I am fearful of what these costs could be if this comes to fruition. I understand this is a somewhat intangible thing- stress,grief, inconvenience, etc- but they have certainly impacted my quality of life, has resulted in unexpected/unnecessary costs and could potentially be an extremely expensive mental health condition to handle on my own without insurance. What are my options for a settlement? I am certainly not looking for a windfall or to profit from a tragedy, but I also do not want to have to suffer financially (or emotionally) from an accident that I had no fault in. I simply want to be able to prepare for the worst case scenario, settle, and be able to move on.
Apologies for such a lengthy question. I have never been in an accident before and there are so many unknowns. I am concerned this accident will end up costing me dearly and have no idea what to ask for or expect in regards to settling fairly & moving on.
Many, many thanks,
E
AnswerHi Emma,
I'm sorry you were involved in this situation.
I will try to answer your questions in their order:
1) Total Loss - What you are experiencing is typical. Insurance companies often will low ball the value of vehicles in total loss claims. It is your responsibility to prove them wrong. This is done by hiring an independent vehicle appraiser. Beware that most of the appraisers out there work primarily for insurance companies, so you will need to interview them carefully making sure that you hire an appraiser that mostly works for vehicle owners and certainly does not work with the insurance company your claim is against. You can provide your appraiser with the information you have already assembled including the contact info of the salesman you spoke to. Once you have an appraisal, you should still expect that there will be some negotiation to get the claim settled.
2) Pain & Suffering - Unfortunately, you can not be compensated for inconvenience or aggrivation. If you seriously feel that you may need counselling or medication to deal with the anxiety of the collision then you should go ahead and seek medical attention. Notify the insurance company of this and see what they offer. Then you can decisde what to do from there. Generally, injury settlements are based on how much medical treatment you obtain. So unless you have medical bills to present it is unlikey they will offer anything greater than about $500.00 just to get you to sign a release form.
I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh
