by Rb13 » Wed Nov 12, 2008 08:54 pm
I was rear ended by a Jeep Wrangler doing 65 while my car was stopped completely in traffic. We were on Interstate 10 in Houston, TX, and the driver just didn't see traffic come to a stop. My rear end was completely smashed in, lot's of broken windows, bent frame, etc. The Wrangler had a ranch hand on the front which probably contributed to most of the damage. We've been in a no fault accident.
The impact pushed me into a Ford Explorer, which had a trailer hitch that put a hole in my front bumper. Some other minor scratches/dents were also put there, but nothing compared to the back. Literally, the whole back in was crushed like a coke can.
I'm in a rental (being paid for by the other guys insurance), and my car was towed to the insurance's pro shop. Which isn't bad considering it was our 1st choice anyway.
Now, my concern is that when I called the body shop today, they said they sent the Possible Total Loss report to the insurance company. The insurance then sent it back to the body shop for a tear down. Which, I'm a little confused because they valued my car, 2006 Subaru Outback, at $16,000 and so far the damage total is a little over $12,000. Does the damage have to be MORE than the value of the car to be a total loss? The body shop guy said the insurance company probably wouldn't total it if he had to guess.
This totally stinks for me anyway around. If my car IS totaled and they only give me 16,000, I still owe $24,000. It's a 2006 that I bought brand new. We got 6 months no payments, and when the 6 months was up we refinanced with our credit union. When we did that, we voided our Gap Insurance and didn't even realize it.
If they don't total it and simply repair it, will that information be available to dealers/individuals? I am afraid I will NEVER be able to get my $16,000 worth out of the car at this point. Who would accept it as a trade in or buy it knowing it's had that much repairs on it?
Do any of you have any options or recommendations?
The impact pushed me into a Ford Explorer, which had a trailer hitch that put a hole in my front bumper. Some other minor scratches/dents were also put there, but nothing compared to the back. Literally, the whole back in was crushed like a coke can.
I'm in a rental (being paid for by the other guys insurance), and my car was towed to the insurance's pro shop. Which isn't bad considering it was our 1st choice anyway.
Now, my concern is that when I called the body shop today, they said they sent the Possible Total Loss report to the insurance company. The insurance then sent it back to the body shop for a tear down. Which, I'm a little confused because they valued my car, 2006 Subaru Outback, at $16,000 and so far the damage total is a little over $12,000. Does the damage have to be MORE than the value of the car to be a total loss? The body shop guy said the insurance company probably wouldn't total it if he had to guess.
This totally stinks for me anyway around. If my car IS totaled and they only give me 16,000, I still owe $24,000. It's a 2006 that I bought brand new. We got 6 months no payments, and when the 6 months was up we refinanced with our credit union. When we did that, we voided our Gap Insurance and didn't even realize it.
If they don't total it and simply repair it, will that information be available to dealers/individuals? I am afraid I will NEVER be able to get my $16,000 worth out of the car at this point. Who would accept it as a trade in or buy it knowing it's had that much repairs on it?
Do any of you have any options or recommendations?
Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 10:31 pm Post Subject:
Good questions...
While each carrier has their own procedures and each state may be slightly different, most carriers will total out a vehicle when the cost to repair it is 80% of it's value (some may use 75%). In the case of 80%, that is $12800. So it's pretty close. That is probably why the insurance company wants it torn down... to see if they indeed is any additional damage. If there is, they will probably total it. If there is not, they probably won't.
I'm not clear if you want the vehicle to be a total loss or not. I'd think that you'd want it repaired as if it were a total loss, you'd be $8,000 in the hole.
If you want it repaired, let the adjuster know. Explain that you understand it's the insurance companies decision but you'd like for them to see about having it repaired if it's close. There are other options available as well. If it's a border line total loss, perhaps the shop can sign an Agreement to Repair that states they can repair the vehicle for $xxxx and that there will be no supplements. Sometimes the shops will take a little less on larger repairs as they still stand to make money as opposed to no money if it's a total loss.
Now, if you want it totalled. Most adjusters will/can work with this information. So let the adjuster know that you understand it's up to them but you'd rather see the vehicle be deemed a total loss. Once incentive you can give the adjuster is the cost of the rental. If they pay for the repairs plus the rental, it will probably be more then if they considered it a total loss... or at least very close.
If it's repaired most insurance companies these days will automatically report it to a database. Yes, Carfax can pull information from this database. So it's possible that when it's sold, others can pull up this information. Do you have to tell people it's been in a no fault accident ? I've been asked this many times. I've looked and could find no state laws that require it. Also, no one has been able to show me a state law that requires this disclosure (you may have to acknowledge any defects... but if it was repaired correctly, it's "as good as new").
A $16,000 that you still owe $24,000? Sorry but there was some bad decisions made the day you bought that vehicle. I'm guessing that 6 months was just _payment_ free, but no principle was being taken off and interest was being added on (if so, you were losing money during that time). Are you _sure_ your GAP was void? If so, were you due any refund? Did the GAP carrier send something in writing stating this?
One additional note... you mention that there was a lot of damage to the vehicle. Vehicles are _designed_ to crumple upon impact. The force/energy from the impact is absorbed by the _body_ of the vehicle and not transferred into the passenger compartment. So the rear being crunched it as it's suppose to be. These days, shops do excellent work on repairs to vehicles. Even though it looks like the vehicle will never be the same, parts can pulled off and replaced so there is no difference before and after the repairs. Most, if not all, of the damage will be addressing by replacing items, not repairing them. It's less expensive..
Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 10:57 pm Post Subject:
No, I don't want the car totaled if avoidable because I do not want to owe so much on the financing without even having the car. This seems hopeless even though it was a no fault accident
And, I actually bought the car brand new for 27,010. It was a 2006 Subaru Outback that we financed through the dealership's finance company. I'm not sure what bad decision I made, except for maybe buying a Subaru. The 2009 version of my vehicle sales for about $29,000 right now. According to the Insurance company, the reason my car value was so low was because Subaru has a bad depreciation value. I didn't really consider that when I purchased my car, so perhaps that was a bad decision? But, I was not upside down, actually put 1800 cash down as a dealer incentive, and didn't have anything else rolled over into my loan - that was all car (well, actually all car and 552.00 for Gap + TTL).
The 6 months was no payments and no interest. I'm not sure if I lost money, but I know none was added to the amount I financed. And, when we refinanced and had the loan moved to our credit union, we had .5 a point removed from our interest rate that was about to begin. That, supposedly is where we lost the Gap insurance. And, according to the dealership, we are due a refund from our Gap insurance of about 450 bucks or something like that. We didn't even know to bring a letter indicating we had refinanced and we didn't know that we would loose coverage if we did refinance. It's no where on our contract and we never received any information from our Gap Insurance Company.
We did however receive a class action law suit invitation back in September regarding our insurance company and the lack of payment of premiums to it's customers. I wonder if there is something to that after all. We really didn't consider it when we read it...we thought it was some sort of solicitation.
Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 06:08 am Post Subject:
While each carrier has their own procedures and each state may be slightly different, most carriers will total out a vehicle when the cost to repair it is 80% of it's value (some may use 75%). In the case of 80%, that is $12800.
While this is true, the state guidelines also play an important role in determining whether or not the car requires salvage. If the car crosses the state determined threshold, which varies between the states, the car would be declared totaled. So, you may wish to check out with the state threshold as well. This has got nothing to do with whether it was no fault accident or not!
However, if you want to retain the car, as tcope has said, inform the insurer about it. They may cut a check deducting the salvage value of the car, but at least you'll get some fund to repair the vehicle.
Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 12:07 pm Post Subject:
but at least you'll get some fund to repair the vehicle.
No he won't that will go to his leinholder, unless they sign off on it, which I doubt....If your gap carrier has not reimbursed your prorata premium when you refinanced, you 'might' have a loop hole to jump through, that would mean they have the premium, have not refunded it, so the policy is still in force...it's a long shot but I'd give it a try.
Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 09:51 pm Post Subject:
i had a slip and fall and the insurance is no- fault at the store do i need a lawyer
Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 09:53 pm Post Subject: no-fault
i had a slip and fall at a store and the insurance
is no-fault do i need a lawyer
Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 12:11 pm Post Subject:
that's up to you
Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 01:58 am Post Subject:
bugsy39 - are you intending to sue the store for negligence or is there an issue with your medical insurance paying for your injuries?
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