QuestionOur mother, who is in her 80's, was recently broadsided in the driver's side by someone who ran a red light. Thankfully it was not in the driver door, but the rear door and rear fender. The impact spun her car and completely stopped the other car. Mom was bruised all over her lower side and side of neck (from the shoulder belt) but not in any pain otherwise, so she did not want medical attention at this time. One of my sisters is an RN and is watching her condition.
The policeman told mom to call her ins co about where to have the car towed, they told her a shop to have it towed to (later when I spoke with them, they said they only "suggested" there.) The shop later called her and said they need her to sign a paper which was "just to give her permission to remove the parts necessary to prepare an estimate". I obtained their proposed document and it was a lot more, and outrageous. It had mom agreeing to have them repair it and be responsible for the cost of repair, and worse, agreeing to give them power of attorney to "release" the ins co. (among other things)
But that is moot now, we learned the other driver's ins co (she didn't have the info with her during the accident) and contacted them, Progressive Ins. Learned their assigned claims person called mom and started asking inappropriate questions i.e. if mom was taking medications (no), under driving restrictions (no) etc. Things he should ask his insured who ran the red light. Got her very upset. From now on she will refer him to me and not talk to him. As a practical matter, they will have to deal with me since mom will not sign anything unless I tell her to. I'm the kid with the greatest car repair knowledge, and also the one with substantial legal background (I'm not a lawyer).
We (kids) don't want the car repaired, we want it totalled. Modern cars are unibody, and made to go forward and reverse, not sideways. The impact was so great that the B pillar was bent enough that the driver door wouldn't open so she had to exit the passenger side, and there is damage to the rear door, fender, wheel, control arm/strut/swaybar/endlinks/etc. (so of course, impact to the mounting points of those, also). We know the car will never be the same.
Mom trades in and gets a new car every 4 years or so, which gives her and us kids piece of mind that she will not have to deal much with repairs or reliability. This is a 2006 with 39k miles, so she would have traded it in next year or so if this had not happened. From research, I think the pre-accident market value would be about 11-12k (but to get out of this hassle we's probably take 10-10.5), kbb dealer trade-in just under 9k.
Today the estimator called and she referred him to me. He said he looked at the car and made an estimate of $3800, which, in my opinion, will end up a lot more. He said the facility was closed but he examined the car through the fence but it was getting dark, so there may be some things he missed. I asked if he would be involved in the post-repair diminished value calculation - that was just to let him know I knew about that, to pass along to the claims person, to encourage totalling it.
He said we could have the car taken to their "service center" to be repaired by one of their company's preferred shops, or anywhere we want, but anywhere would want a signed repair authorization. I would draft one with provisions to take the car to have suspension geometry checked before acceptance of repair, release of ins co contingent on agreement on DV loss, limits on use of non-OEM parts (CAPA certified where applicable, not for strut unless both replaced, list to be provided before approval to begin so I can check each one's use experience on car forums, etc.
Of course what we really want is to have it totalled. I have read that the initial cost estimate is most important, since, once repair begins, they don't change to totalling it, no matter how much the repair estimate keeps increasing.
Questions:
1. Should we have it taken to their "approved" shop through their service center, or to the car mfgr's Dealer? Maybe the latter will be quicker to point out the true (much higher) repair cost, to encourage totalling it.
2. What if a shop refuses anything other than it's own adhesion "repair authorization", with onerous terms about things other than authorizing the repair?
AnswerHi Rod,
It's good you are looking out for your mom and that you have some automotive background.
You should not take the vehicle to Progressive's service center. That program should be made illegal. They will take the car to one of the worst shops in town who will perform some of the worst repairs. It may look ok on the outside but Progressive gives incentives to these shops to to keep the repair cost low which often results in poor quality and in some cases dangerous repairs.
That having been said, the decision to repair or total the car is totally up to the insurance company. It is purely a financial decision. The vehicle owner has no say in the matter. The vehicle will be totaled if the cost of the claim will be more than 70% to 80% of the value of the car. So if as you said the car in worth say 11K, it would require about $8,250.00 before it would be a total loss. That $8250.00 would consist of the cost of repairs, a rental car during repairs and the diminished value of the vehicle.
You should have the vehicle moved to a shop of YOUR choice. You should authorise the shop only to complete a "teardown" and to write a thorough estimate. Also ask them how long they anticipate the repairs will take. Then based on the result of the estimate you can determine if there may be a chance to get the vehicle totaled. As a rough estimate of the diminished value you should figure about 35% of the repair cost will be the diminished value. The also figure a rental car of about $30.00 per day. Add up the figures to see if the numbers work to try to get the vehicle totaled.
If the car does total you should utilize the following steps:
Doing Your Homework
If you have been informed that your vehicle is a total loss, the insurance company will then take usually a couple of days to determine the value they are going to offer you. During this time, you should do your own research to determine the fair market value of your vehicle. The easiest way to do this is by using the internet. You should check www.autotrader.com . There you can search for currently for sale vehicle like yours, in your area. You should try to locate 5 to 10 vehicles of the same year, make & model, with similar options and mileage. Print out the listings you find and average the values. This will give you a good average value to use as a baseline. However, you must understand that the prices you find are asking prices and virtually all of those prices will be negotiated downward to some degree. Now when the insurance company makes you an offer you will know if it is within a reasonable range or not.
Negotiating and Settling Your Claim
Now that you know what your vehicle is worth and what the insurance company is offering you, it is up to you to negotiate if the offer is not reasonable. You can start by sending the documentation you collected in step 2 above and making a demand of what you are seeking to settle the claim. If the insurance company does not properly negotiate with you then you may have to hire a professional vehicle appraiser to properly establish the value of your vehicle. If you are dealing with your own insurance company you can invoke the appraisal clause of your policy. This is a part of your policy that is there to help settle disputes in value between you and your insurance company.
I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh
