by Guest » Fri Dec 14, 2007 06:14 am
I was involved in an accident that was not my fault. Both drivers have the same insurance company. The cost of repairs is estimated at about $7000. I was told by the adjuster that the car would be totaled at 70% of ACV. It is a 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 4wd with 116000miles in average condition at best. (Needs tires yesterday and $4500 in previous body work, wear and stains on interior). KBB, Edmunds, and NADA have the value at around $8k-$9k so they sent me to total loss dept. Total loss told me it was totaled and that I had 5 days of rental car left and made arrangements to pick up the vehicle. The next evening (after Ihave arracnged financing and started looking for new car) they called back and said never mind we looked at the wrong file, your vehicle is valued at $11,900. I was shocked. I want the car totaled. Gap insurance will cover me whatever they pay but $11900 is ridiculous. How do I argue that they have overvalued the vehicle? I paid $12500 over a year ago from a dealer in excellent condition, with new tires, and 62000 miles.
Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 11:00 am Post Subject:
Good morning TJS, and welcome to the community!
How do I argue that they have overvalued the vehicle?
Well THAT'S a first! :lol:First I ran your vehicle for ACV (actual cash value) and got a starting value of $11,150 (i assumed it had towing, sunroof, leather, and luggage rack)...NOW wait don't get excited! Does this means the damage was NOT repaired
$4500 in previous body work
or simply that it had this much prior work done? If it's been repaired then it doesn't come into play if however it has NOT been repaired then they should deduct about 80% or $3600.00 from the 11, 150.00) making the ACV around 7550.00...If your state mandates vehicles total at 70% then without the prior damage (4500) being considered your vehicle totals at 7805.00..you say the estimate for repair is about 7k, they will need to add the rental etc. so it still may total...However let me caution you about something else...The 'percent' total loss also has (in most states) a little trick to it...sales tax and all airbag operations are removed from the equation...so if you have two air bags popped that will pull about 2k from the estimate, now we're back to fixing it again!Let us know about this 4500 in prior work was it fixed or not? If it was, then forget about it ... it doesn't come into play...
Now, something else you need to understand...Before you get too excited let me explain something to you about GAP insurance...
IF there is prior unrepaired damage, such as your 4500 or condition problems that detract from the ACV the GAP company will NOT pay that...so in other words if there is (let's say) 2k in prior unrepaired work the GAP policy will pay but leave that 2k for you still to pay! understand? If it's a covered loss (yes even if totaled) you can file a claim with your carrier and most of the time they will pay the claim, they don't have to but most generally they will..
Ok, first explain the prior damage thing...then we will go from there...you can of course tell the insurance company that they over valued your vehicle. I'm surprised that there aren't some major condtion deductions per your vehicle's discription...perphaps you got a lazy adjuster I dont' know.....you have an injury by chance?
Provide us with some more information and hopefully we can be of more assitance to you.
Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 02:51 pm Post Subject:
Wow Thanks for the quick response. Yes the prior damage was repaired. However it will have to be revealed to anyone I sell the car to which in real life would obviously make it worth less. Now if they do another $7k of work nobody in their right mind would buy it for anywhere close to full value. Next this is a basic 4wd laredo model without any extra options. It has roof rack rails but no actual attachments. It is cloth with no sunroof. Also I was hit from the left side and run into a guardrail on the right so the airbags did not deploy but I did get banged around and am still very sore almost two weeks later.
Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 04:42 pm Post Subject:
Thanks for the quick reply! Yes the previous damage was completely repaired. No airbags deployed as I was struck on the front left side and scraped the entire left side on a guardrail. The Jeep is a base 4wd Laredo 6cylinder with NO extra options. No sunroof. Cloth seats. No luggage rack except standard roof rails. With the $7k in damage there are open items in the estimate for a check engine light that is now on and the radiator seems to be leaking.
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2007 03:49 pm Post Subject:
However it will have to be revealed to anyone I sell the car to which in real life would obviously make it worth less.
What you are talking about here is called a "diminished value claim" and they are tricky, IF they repair your vehicle you should bring this up prior to the repairs beginning, states see this differently and you will have to prove to the carrier that there is indeed dimished value from this loss not the other one, but that one will also come into play and may diminish your diminished value claim! (wow wee that was hard to say! )..It sounds to me with the open items and rental, no deduction for the airbags, that your vehicle will more than likely total...When will you find this out? How has it been left thus far with the adjuster? Are they to continue to tear the vehicle down and discover hidden damage in order to finish their estimate and then see where they are total wise?
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