QuestionI was involved in an accident in which my mini-van was totaled and the other driver was found to be 100% at fault. This occured in California. I was given a fmv of $10,700.00 by my insurance company for my van, out of which I was paid $10,200.00 - minus my $500.00 deductible. I have been told by my insurance company that I will receive a pro rata amount for my deductible from the at fault insured's company because the at fault driver only had $10,000.00 property limits.
My insurance company told me that the percentage was based on what they received from the at fault's insurance company as settlement which was approx. $8,100.00 (the other insurance co. received the remaining approx. $1,900.00).
It should be noted that in addition to my vehicle be totaled I was pushed into the vehicle in front of me and caused damage to it also. I do not know what the dollar amount of the damage was to this vehicle.
Is the pro rata amount based on just what my insurance company recieves as payment settlement from the at fault insurance company (approx. ($8,100.00) or is the percentage based on the amount they received in addition to the amount they received from the sale of my salvaged van?
I don't think it fair if they only use the $8,100.00 figure.
Also is there a time limit in which this process should be resolved? Accident happened in 04/06 and still have not received the deductible.
AnswerHi David,
A pro-rata settlement will ba based on the total amount of all claims submitted to the at fault insurance company. So the amount your will receive will be based on the amount that your $500.00 deductible represents to the total of all claims. So if the total of all claims was $12000.00, your $500.00 is approximately 4% of the total and you would be entitled to 4% of the $10,000.00 or 400.00. That is assuming all of the above numbers are correct.
I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh
