Question
Thank you for taking my question. I've been paying premiums faithfully for 40 yrs. but I've never had to make a claim so my knowledge of how the whole claims process works is limited. My daughter's recent accident has been a real eye opener.
She's 24 yrs. old, has been driving for 7 yrs and has never been involved in an accident 'til this incident. She has a perfect driving record and has never been arrested.
Two months ago she was crossing through an intersection when a teenager coming from the opposite direction ran a red light and hit her. The police were summoned and the teenager was ticketed. ( There was a witness in the lane next to the teen who stopped and gave a statement corroborating my daughter's take that the girl had run a red light). From the accident scene and witness statements it was established that the teenager was 100% responsible.
Because my daughter had been turning at the time of impact, the passenger side of the car where her father was sitting took the brunt of the impact. Initially, of course, we were just happy that no one had been killed or seriously injured. My husband has been in poor health for a number of years and our first concern was for the myriad of possible complications that might arise from an impact like this. He was bruised, tired and unsteady on his feet, but he insisted on coming home. The car had to be towed.
After 24 hrs at home not sleeping and in pain, my husband began having trouble breathing so we put our collective foot down and took him to the ER to be checked out and X Rayed. We feared that a rib might have puntured a lung or that he might be bleeding internally due to the bloodthinners he takes for his mechanical heart valves and pacemaker. They ruled out broken bones and internal bleeding and sent him on his way with an offer for painkillers. He seems to be on the mend, but it's not always easy to tell with a person who is immobile. (He needs a wheelchair if he has to walk more than 10 ft and for the most part, aside from dr's. appts., he's usually bedridden.)
I thought the whole point of insurance was to make the person who was wronged whole. That's really all we want. From our perspective ...
My daughter's car ( 10 yrs old, 90K) was in very good shape. It had been well maintained and she has 2 friends with the exact same car who made it to 200K. Just 2 wks before she was hit I spent $1,100. on the car. Because it was for brakes, alternater, and new tires the ins. co. disregards it. Since it was such a good car we had hoped to just get it fixed but they insisted on totalling it. Then they offered us $700. under blue book (best shape). The ins. rep who looked at the car showed up a day late (without call or apology) and never even looked under the hood. In addition to the lowball figure (& tax required by law), they've offered $10. a day for 5 days for rental compensation. Period.
It's been 2 mos. now since the accident. They've made no alternate offers. They sent a letter saying they were going to close the case out if they didn't hear back from us. My daughter wrote them a letter in response, but that was 3 wks ago and we haven't heard anything back. I did go to a lawyer almost a month ago who looked it over and said he'd take the case, but I really don't want to go that route unless we absolutely have to.
My husband's ER visit was covered by health ins. so unless we follow up with specialists, we're out time, pain and anguish--but not any money. However, my daughter went without a car for over a month and a half, causing her to miss out on many of her summer plans. Also, it seems we're being penalized for having AAA. (They won't reimburse for the tow which means my daughter's going into a New England winter with only one tow left until renewal). Also, when she finally did find another car she had to pay for transferring the registration, something they didn't include in their offer. Plus, we paid for car ins for a month and a half on a car that didn't move through no fault of hers. As for the rental compensation, I realize the ins. cos. have arrangements with rental cos. but 5 days seems ridiculously short and ten dollars a day---well, I seriously doubt even ins companies really get that great a rate, particularly since my daughter falls just short of the 25 yr mark and thus would incur additional charges.
Any ideas you can offer to get them to make a reasonable offer would be appreciated. According to the lawyer we've got 2 yrs. to work something out but perhaps you could explain exactly what it means when they say they're going to "close out" the case. Also, since we've only talked with the one agent and he's made no attempt to make another offer, does it make sense to try and contact his superior? If we could get that bluebook value plus maybe $300 for all the rest, we'd settle. We're not looking to get rich but this whole episode has cost us so much pain, worry and inconvenience I simply can't stomach the idea of accepting their offer which amounts to nothing more than a slap in the face.
Thank you for your time.
AnswerI'm sorry you've had a tough time. This insurance company is not behaving well and making the majority of us who do the right thing look bad. I'd be curious to know the name of the insurance company that acted this way - please let me know.
They owe you the market value of the vehicle before the loss - what it would have sold for on the open market. The $1100 you put into it does increase the market value. Not dollar for dollar, but a potential buyer would be positively influencded by it.
Blue book is not very accurate. NADA is far more accurate - check their free website for an approximate value. Also, check the classifieds and Cars.com for comparable vehicles and see what they are selling for. Keep in mind that cars usually sell for less than they are advertised for. Call a few used car dealers and ask them to approximate the market value of the damaged car. You can incentivise them to do this for you by telling them you may buy a car from them. Document all this and submit it to the insurance company. They may reconsider if you can show the value is higher.
The $10 for rental is very low. But if you did not actually rent a car, they really don't owe you anything for rental. If you did rent a car or incur taxi/bus/other transportation fees, they owe you that. They owe you the reasonable cost of transportation for 5 days beyond the date they offered you the total loss settlement. So if they made the offer 10 days after the loss, they owe 15 days. But if you just made do and did not incur costs, they don't owe you anything for transportation.
They do owe for the cost of the tow. It does not matter that AAA paid it. They owe this. Don't back down.
Unless you live in a no-fault state where the insurance laws are unusual, it also does not matter that your health insurance paid for the ER bill. They still owe your husband an injury settlement for the cost of the bill (even if paid by HMO) and the pain and suffering he endured. I would say a fair settlement amount would be roughly two times the total medical bills cost.
They do not owe the insurance on the vehicle after the loss. You could have cancelled the policy.
if you want to keeop the car, you can. They will deduct the salvage value from your settlement though. This is the amount they would have gotten if they sold the damaged parts after settling with you. You could use the balance to repair the vehicle. But depending on the damage, it may not be a good idea.
When they say they are closing the case, it means nothing. They just won't work on it anymore unless you contact them. But you must do something before the 2 year statute of limitations runs.
You may get somewhere complaining to the supervisor. I'd give it a try. I would also complain to the state insurance commissioner. Be detailed about what you think they did wrong.
if you do not get satisfaction, I'd let a lawyer handle it as there are a lot of sisues here and I can see where you would get confused.
Good luck!
