Auto Insurance Claims: car totaled lien on car, gap coverage, lien holder

Question
Hello,
   My car was recently totaled, I have a lean on my car and the insurance company says that they need to pay the money that the car is worth to the lien. I need my car to get to work and to drive my kids to school. Is there anyway that they could pay me the money and I could pay the lien month to month as I previously had been? Is there anyway that I could get the money and pay the lean my self? I really need my car.

Answer
Mike,

I am a bit confused in that the vehicle was deemed a total loss but you seem to indicate you want to get the money paid to you so you could keep paying the lien holder but also want to keep the car. If the car is a total loss, generally its not worth repairing.

The insurance company is entitled to pay the lien holder to ensure protection of the lien interest. Generally, in return, the insurer get's the car. If you had gap coverage, you could use this to pay off any additional monies that my be owed on the car.

You can also object to the payoff and try to get a higher number from the insurance company so your not upside down on the car.

Finally, if you think you can get the car repaired cheap, you could ask the insurer if you could keep the car. They can refuse but sometimes they agree to the request.

Best of Luck.

Marc B. Nussbaum, Esquire