Auto Insurance Claims: Auto Accident, honda element, upper quarter

Question
Well my wife was rear ended today in my vehicle. The other party admitted fault and i have a police report showing fault. It did a good bit of damage (Fender, Bumper,Tail light, upper quarter panel) but not enough to total the vehicle. The question i have is this....I had a signed bill of sale (No money accepted for the vehicle yet) and he was supposed to pick up the car 2 days after the accident. Well since it was hit he backed out of the deal. i don't want the car now since i can't resale it for near what i had it sold for or the amount that i owe on the car with the new damages from the accident. Ive missed 3 days of work dealing with adjusters and i'm losing money every day. I think they should either total it and pay it off or pay it off (Im still losing money) and fix it and sell it themselves i dont want a car thats been wrecked it was like new before it was hit. The car is a 2003 honda element with 70k miles and was in immaculate condition. What options do i have? Do i need to hire a lawyer and go after the other driver personally? He hit her going 55 MPH no brakes...nothing he was messing with his cell phone. What can i do? Thanks so much....Ryan

Answer
Hi Ryan,

Unfortunately, you can not force an insurance company to total or buy your car. The choice to repair or total the car is purely up to the insurance company. If it costs less to repair the vehicle that they would pay you if it was totaled then they will chose to repair it.  

However, you are entitled to be paid for the loss of value of the car. This is called diminshed value. To learn more about diminished value visit www.collisionclaims.com.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh