QuestionQUESTION: I was in a collision and the other driver was 100% at fault for failing to yield and they received a ticket. I have an unbiased witness that i have not needed to use yet in this claim but i'm not sure if it will help.
I filed my claim for my car and have given them the estimate which came to 3000$ they called and spoke with my father because i was at school. They offered him to pay 70% of the estimate. I was perplexed that they would make an offer on such an accident where the person at fault was obvious. My dad said he asked for 90% and the agent is trying to settle at 80%. Since this is my car and my responsibility i will be forced to pay the remainder so every dollar counts as a minor. I am just really unsure of why they are trying to make me an offer on this. Is there any insight you can share to help me get the amount i need? I do not want to take this to a small claims court either for my family has no time while we are taking care of my disabled sister and maintaining our jobs. Any insight to help me get the best amount would be very appreciated.
ANSWER: Dear Andrew,
Don't you feel the LOVE from your "good neighbor" insurance carrier, or don't you know what it is like to be "in good hands"? Welcome to the world of the insurance industry: TV feel good ads, but lie and cheat in claims.
You are being subjected to the latest craze in the ever-greedy insurance claims industry. They are instructing their adjusters that they need to find and assert "comparative negligence" in every claim that they handle. This means that they will allege negligence against an innocent claimant, such as yourself, hoping that some of it will stick (just as your father almost agreed to).
Thus, the companies are also telling their adjusters that part of their employee review process will be based upon how many times they were able to make a claim of comparative negligence stick against a claim by the victim of their insured's negligence.
THIS WAS PROVEN by a TV expose in the state of Washington in 2006. The allegations were against Farmers, and the TV investigators had a memo from the company on these topics. Of course Farmers denied that they would ever do such a thing. Right.
Here is what to do in this case.
First of all, DO NOT TALK TO THE ADJUSTER. COMMUNICATE ONLY IN WRITING.
#1: Rescind your father's inane offer of 90% ASAP. Write a letter telling that he had no facts to go on and no authority and thus his offer is rescinded.
#2: Tell them why their insured is liable 100%, and that they need to explain IN WRITING ONLY why they believe otherwise.
#3: Open your collision insurance claim and have your own insurance pay. Then THEY will go for the payment versus the tortfeasor, and you just await that and get your deductible back.
#4: File a complaint with your state insurance commissioner http://www.settlementcentral.com/links.php if the third party adjuster does not come around on this. Make the allegations that I have told you about above and request that the commissioner investigate whether or not adjusters are being put under pressure to find comparative negligence in their claims even when the liability is clear.
FINAL TOPIC: Effective communication with insurance claims adjusters. Establish Firm, Professional, and Positive Relationships With the Insurance Injury Claims Adjuster http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0059.htm
Always communicate with the adjuster in writing, showing your own analysis of value. It is OK I guess to have one call or so, but no more. Always have your information and ammunition in writing to give to the adjuster.
Let him know that you are FIRM IN YOUR RESOLVE to get what you are demanding (NOT "asking", since that invites a counter-offer, but instead "demanding" as fair and reasonable compensation) by asking him what the options are to resolve the matter fairly should he not agree to a reasonable claim value. In other words, let him know that you will go through with a court filing if need be.
Remember these tips, do your homework, print out your evidence, show resolve to get your fair settlement, and you will DO JUST FINE.
I trust that my extra time here has produced some information that has been of value to you, and thus I would respectfully request that you take the time to locate the FEEDBACK FORM on this site and leave some feedback for me.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Settlement, J.D. (Juris Doctor)
http://www.SettlementCentral.Com
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QUESTION: I never mentioned i live in the state of Illinois so your aware.
All of this info is very excellent and im glad for your input. I am interested to know what exactly is the correct percentage of repair over the value of the car to determine if the car is salvaged. I wont name the company unless u want to know but they where throwing back ranges of 70-80% but he couldn't give me an accurate amount. He also played around with the retail value of my car saying it was lower then it really was. I already challenged him on this and went to NADA.com where he claimed he received the value from so i went on there and found errors in his value. He seemed to want to adjust it just enough so it would seem unnoticeable but still low enough so the cost of repairs would discourage me from salvaging my car due to the actual value. He definitely played with alot of numbers on the phone and i suppose that is why you say do it all in writing. Cause they seem to be quick talkers with all the "right" answers. As i am a minor there is no where that will rent a car to me during my repairs and i know alot of ppl suggest letting your parents rent the car and you use their car in the meantime but their cars are important for their businesses so thats not an option. So not only is he trying to save money in the claim but he is obviously not too concerned about the rental car.
Also a note to the previous entry:
The adjuster claimed that because i impacted towards the rear of the other car that i obviously had time to swerve away when in actuality, i was originally going to T-bone her car. The adjust claimed had i hit at the nose it would have a been more her fault versus me hitting the rear. I am sorry but on a heavy traffic road with damp pavement that was the best i could do. Had i not moved her 2 children in back would have most likely incurred very serious damage. That is something that i am astonished by whereas the adjuster is basically now fighting for a few hundred dollars when this could have been literally 10x worse.
AnswerDear Andrew,
Thank you for your kind comments in the feedback forum. I appreciate that, but maybe you will want to take it back if I cannot help you here :-).
Let's take as first the issue of injuries, which you have not mentioned. A crash hard enough to warrant totaling a car may have produced some soft tissue injuries. So be on the lookout for naggaging pain at night after a day of physical activity. It might start like that, and keep track of it and DO NOT HESITATE TO SEE A DOCTOR AND MAKE DARN SURE YOU ATTRIBUTE IT SOLELY TO THIS ACCIDENT.
So, when this happens, even if a couple months or more post-treatment, do not hesitate to SEE A DOCTOR AND ATTRIBUTE THE PAIN TO THE ACCIDENT WITHOUT EQUIVOCATION. It is NEVER TOO LATE TO REPORT PERSONAL INJURIES FROM A CAR ACCIDENT http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0104.htm
According to Our http://www.SettlementCentral.Com Members, Chiropractors are Most Effective in Severe Whiplash and Soft Tissue Car Accident Injuries http://www.settlementcentral.com/page8010.htm
Managing Medical Care After Auto Accident: http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0203.htm
"No medicine: no money"; medical costs increase worth of personal injury insurance claims http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0045.htm
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Next, I will take the last issue you raised, which is the adjuster's absolute BS rationale for charging you with some negligence. Now I advised you about writing, and you elected to use the phone. This time you send an e-mail and call him out on his comments. Put it in a letter format and tell him that his thoughts are no proof whatsoever of negligence, and he was not there and his opinion is not admissible in court.
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Next I will tackle the first paragraph, but I cannot understand what it is about. First, I do see a problem in valuation. But I cannot tell whether or not you wish to keep the car or total it. I guess you must not have your own insurance, or else why did you ignore my suggestion to open your own claim so you can be done with this doofus?
Let me then do this. I will give you three choices for your car.
Here are the three choices you have when it comes to keeping an older car that the adjuster is undervaluing.
Three Ideas When Adjuster Undervalues Your Vehicle
• First, consider lowering the repair cost by repairing with USED and/or NON-Original Manufactures' Equipment (OEM) PARTS and stipulating to ignore some cosmetic damage; that will allow the insurance company to do the repairs within the percentage of allowance of actual cash value that it has already specified; OR
• Second, buy back the car from the insurance company as salvage, repair it, re-title it, re-license it, and KEEP YOUR CAR; OR
• Third, fight the actual cash valuation with your own research and communicate in writing.
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1. Lower Repair Costs With USED and/or NON-OEM Parts
SAVE YOUR CAR FROM BEING TOTALED BY REPAIRING WITH USED and/or NON-OEM PARTS and STIPULATING TO IGNORE SOME COSMETIC DAMAGE.
Before we get started, have you thought about keeping your car? Many times people have put a lot of money into maintenance OR EXPENSIVE REPAIRS (i.e. new transmission) in a high mileage vehicle, and they KNOW what they have will work as reliable transportation for them.
Have you considered whether or not YOU want your car "totaled"? Do you know whether or not the money you will receive will buy you anywhere near the same quality of transportation that you enjoy with your present vehicle?
Will you have to incur a loan payment to get adequate transportation?
What if you put a lot of money into repairs and new parts in the past 18 months? You will not get that money back in cash value of the car, but the repairs may have made your vehicle desirable to continue operating.
So, rather than taking the low offer of cash and trying to find a vehicle that will be reliable, they put the money into fixing the wreck with used parts, leaving aside cosmetic damage (who cares if you drive an eleven year old car with some bumps and bruises -- especially when that will reduce the repair bill a ton??).
So the first thing, if you are happy with the performance of your car, or if you have put a lot of money into maintenance or repair, would be to explore ways to keep the car.
Ask what the body shop would charge to repair your vehicle with USED and/or NON-OEM parts. You can negotiate to leave some cosmetic damage showing to save money. I would not be surprised to see up to 45% come off their repair bill in that case. If you have a car that was running fine, why not keep it, even if you have to drive around with some dents showing?
Find out the maximum amount that the insurance company will pay for repairs before they elect to total your vehicle. Then arrange for your repairs to be done within that limit. This is my first choice and better if you can make it happen. If the adjuster still wants to total your car, then you have to go to the next step.
2. BUY BACK CAR FROM INSURANCE COMPANY, REPAIR IT, RE-TITLE AND RE-LICENSE IT, AND KEEP IT. YOU GET YOUR EQUITY, LESS THE SALVAGE VALUE THAT YOU PAY TO BUY IT BACK AND THE COST OF REPAIRS PLUS INSPECTION AND RE-LICENSING COSTS.
Here is one way to get the insurance adjuster at her own game. Let's say that you value your car at $6,500, but the insurance adjuster, after considering the latest documentation you have to offer, values it at only $5,000. Don't forget, that is his value BEFORE THE ACCIDENT.
The salvage buy back price is usually about 10% to 15% of the value that they assign, so maybe it would be around $700. That means that they would pay you $4,300 and you keep the car.
NOW, if you were to pay that amount and then to set up the repairs to be done with USED and/or NON-OEM PARTS, and perhaps forgoing some of the strictly beauty finishing items, you could get repairs done for a lot less than the estimate given to the insurance company. Say, around $3,600.
Try to avoid having the title being reported as totaled since that will require you to get the car re-titled. You will have to take it to the state patrol to be inspected as a salvaged vehicle. You will need paperwork from both the insurance company and the auto body shop that confirms both the amount you paid for the salvage, the fact that you are authorized to title the vehicle, and a receipt for the work and parts from the auto body shop. You pay for the inspection and then the re-licensing through the Department of Licensing.
So leave aside around $100 for the state inspection, plus the cost to get new title, license plates, and tabs. The cost for the latter will be the same for any other vehicle of the same price as your salvage buy-back price.
In summary, you got $4,300 cash for the car, and you paid out $3,600 to get it repaired and ready for inspection and licensing, which are $100 and $160, respectively. Thus, your total out-of pocket outlay will be the $3,600 plus the $100 plus the $160, for a grand total of $3,860.
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3. Fight Actual Cash Value and Present Your Own Research, and COMMUNICATE IN WRITING.
OK, if neither of the above two ideas work for you, then go for a higher cash value. So, changing topics back to how to get that value up for the insurance adjuster, let's get started for you. The first tasks are to get at the actual cash value and next throw out whatever kind of outrageous offer they will make to you.
My favorite sites for valuation are www.Edmunds.com and www.autotrader.com. They want to know your zip code, and then they ask for a range in miles to search. Don't limit yourself to your city: it is reasonable that someone could go up to 300 miles to pick up a used car. That way you will get a lot more information. Be aware that you should pick the option "any distance" from your zip code. You can use information from local papers, advertising flyers, car dealerships, and the Internet.
Be aware that the prices shown are the "asking" price, not the actual cash value. But also be aware that the insurance adjusters have used a computer scan of sales that were at the trade-in value, NOT the actual cash value.
If you have made major item replacements, above and beyond normal maintenance, you need to document them and ask for a review of those extras. For example, a rebuilt transmission or the like will add value to a used car. How about new tires or a new stereo system? The issue is: how much (if any) did they increase the FMV or actual cash value of the car. See this link and scroll to the bottom for more information on that topic. Car Accidents: Totaled, Repair, Valuation, Your Rights http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0007.htm
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Whoever is repairing or totaling your car HAS A DUTY TO PUT YOU IN REPLACEMENT TRANSPORTATION. Tell him that IN WRITING ONLY, and let him solve the problem of getting a car for you. What I have seen in the past is that an insurance adjuster will just arrange with the auto body shop to rent one of their vehicles.
There are two kinds of rules for replacement transportation, depending upon whether or not the car is to be repaired or totaled.
The tortfeasor has to provide a rental vehicle for only a reasonable time to allow for repair of the vehicle or after a fair offer to total the vehicle has been made.
REPAIRED VEHICLE. If the vehicle is going to be repaired, the shop will often just arrange for the rental via authority given by the adjuster. The authority will encompass all of the time the vehicle will be in the shop. Extensions of time are common when parts or repairs take longer than first thought.
TOTALED VEHILCE. Rental allowances are due for a reasonable time after a fair offer to purchase has been made. In this case, you have not told me when within the fourteen days allowance the adjuster offered the money.
First, his money offer has to be fair, that is somewhere near to Actual Cash Value, which most of us just refer to as Fair Market Value. Thus, the first issue is to decide if his offer is WITHIN THE BALLPARK OF A “FAIR” OFFER for the total value of the vehicle.
Thus, the rental allowance starts to run from the time he gives you a fair offer. Most adjusters will give a few days after the offer to present data and negotiate something higher, plus time to get the agreed settlement check written and to buy new transportation. Seven days is probably sufficient. After that, the authority for replacement transportation expires.
Thus, one week of rental allowance beyond the date he made the offer is probably the industry standard for rental allowance. That would give the victim time to settle, to get the check, and to buy new transportation. You are NOT ALLOWED more than one week since the victim is expected to make his counter offer and to settle within two or three days and then get the check and buy a car within the remaining four or five days. The victim should already have all of his evidence to present for negotiations. You are not allowed to think about it or to go and take a week getting evidence of higher prices back to the adjuster. That is work that you are expected to have completed by the time he make his offer.
Good luck with your claim, and watch for the signs of an injury after a crash of that magnitude.
Dr. Settlement, J.D. (Juris Doctor)
http://www.SettlementCentral.Com
