Car got totaled

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lswhitecivic

Senior Member
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Got into an accident driving home on Thursday night. Was in the fast lane of a 55mph road just a few miles from my house. In the middle of a straight away cars in front of me started slamming on their brakes. I started slamming on mine but quickly realized the truck behind me was not stopping. Road has a median with trees and there was a car to my right, so I just had to brace for impact.

17 year old behind me smashed into my rear end and pushed me into the car in front of me so I got sandwiched between the two. For the most part I was fine, had a stiff neck over the weekend, but its feeling a lot better this week.

Any one been through dealing with insurance on value of vehicle? I just have a feeling that they're going to try and low ball me on its value.

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Alright so what we always tell customers to do if their car totals and they're worried about the insurance company lowballing them, is that insurance companies have to give you enough money to replace the vehicle. So what you can do sometimes is get examples of cars similar to yours for sale in different listings and present them as evidence of what it would truly take monetarily to "replace" the vehicle.
 
same thing happened to me, just at a slower speed.
crappy man.

expect KBB/nhsta 'fair' as a base point. That's usually what they offer. If you complain about anything, like you had a stiff neck for a week, they will likely throw in a grand or two for pain and suffering as a comp to remove any future liability/ability to sue them in the future. just make sure you're GOOD GOOD as once you do this, you may screw yourself for life if something shows up later as they record you accepting the offer in exchange for the liability removal.

Deal with YOUR insurance company only. Let them fight for you with the other guy's. Don't speak to the other guy's directly.
 
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Definitely get your own insurance company involved. They'll fight for you because they know that if the other person's insurance doesn't completely cover you, they'll have to pay the difference. Having a professional fight for your compensation is literally part of having insurance. So take advantage of it.

As for car value, you should shop nationwide for a car similar to yours and provide 2-3 examples of what it would take to replace your car. Obviously you should try to find something more expensive so you can get a bit more cash. Also be sure to include any modifications, recent upgrades, etc. Some insurance companies will cover a specified amount. For example, Progressive covered up to $3,000 in mods on my motorcycle when it was stolen.
 
Hope you took a lot of photos. That always helps.

I only took a few pictures at the actual accident scene. It was dark out and pouring rain, so there really wasn't a way to get good photos. I do have photos of the car from a few months ago that show the condition that it was in, which was immaculate.

same thing happened to me, just at a slower speed.
crappy man.

expect KBB/nhsta 'fair' as a base point. That's usually what they offer. If you complain about anything, like you had a stiff neck for a week, they will likely throw in a grand or too for pain and suffering as a comp to remove any future liability/ability to sue them in the future. just make sure you're GOOD GOOD as once you do this, you may screw yourself for life if something shows up later as they record you accepting the offer in exchange for the liability removal.

Deal with YOUR insurance company only. Let them fight for you with the other guy's. Don't speak to the other guy's directly.

I was afraid of that...looking at KBB for Fair condition is showing around 16k, but looking at possible cars online I can't get into a same year, close miles, same features for less than 20k. My insurance company is doing the assessment today, so we'll see what comes from that.
 
the photos arent working today for some reason ? whats the year/make/model/miles ? I mean long as you arent in a 90s honda that has 200+k miles on it you will prob get 2000-2500 after all said and done and is fair for the most part , and yes call your insurance
 
Alright so what we always tell customers to do if their car totals and they're worried about the insurance company lowballing them, is that insurance companies have to give you enough money to replace the vehicle. So what you can do sometimes is get examples of cars similar to yours for sale in different listings and present them as evidence of what it would truly take monetarily to "replace" the vehicle.
what he said....
 
the photos arent working today for some reason ? whats the year/make/model/miles ? I mean long as you arent in a 90s honda that has 200+k miles on it you will prob get 2000-2500 after all said and done and is fair for the most part , and yes call your insurance

Photos should be fixed. Its a 2014 Audi A4 with 42,000 miles.
 
should be gucci thats a chunk of change and sadly yea that bad boy it totaled
 
Never ever sign off on medical, especially when you get rear ended.
Whiplash and related neck injuries can take some time to pop up and really mess you up.
Back in 2001 I was rear ended, pretty much 55+ vs me stopped to make a left turn. My neck was pretty messed up for a long time causing headaches and the like.
I had so many doctors appointments and PT/chiro etc all covered by the insurance.
 
Never ever sign off on medical, especially when you get rear ended.
Whiplash and related neck injuries can take some time to pop up and really mess you up.
Back in 2001 I was rear ended, pretty much 55+ vs me stopped to make a left turn. My neck was pretty messed up for a long time causing headaches and the like.
I had so many doctors appointments and PT/chiro etc all covered by the insurance.

Yeah, those things take a while to really come into play. And the doctors and lawyers know this, that's why they'll get you to sign off immediately.
 
Make sure you are organized, and document EVERYTHING, especially anything medical related. Make a spreadsheet and a file to keep everything in order. My GF was hit NYE 2016. She went to the ER, and had one or two follow up visits for back soreness. Occasional med bill's still show up even 2 years later due to disorganized billing offices. She has to go through the effort to process them through the at fault party's insurance every time.
 
Definitely negotiate. In 2004 I got hit in my 2004 Silverado with just over 15k on it. At close to 30g in repairs they still wanted to fix it, and I did not want it back. I asked if he looked at the transmission for damage since the driveshaft was ripped out, and I told him the engine was making a popping sound probably from cold fluids hitting the hot engine. He totaled it and I made 4gs more than I paid for it. Rare that I made off well,but it can happen.
 
Definitely negotiate. In 2004 I got hit in my 2004 Silverado with just over 15k on it. At close to 30g in repairs they still wanted to fix it, and I did not want it back. I asked if he looked at the transmission for damage since the driveshaft was ripped out, and I told him the engine was making a popping sound probably from cold fluids hitting the hot engine. He totaled it and I made 4gs more than I paid for it. Rare that I made off well,but it can happen.

I concur with this. Be willing to walk away from the car. Here's something a lot of people don't know about when dealing with insurance companies. The insurance companies have their "preferred repair shops" and they'll send you to them. Those shops have negotiated rates for labor and part prices with the insurance companies. The insurance company gets cheaper work down when repairs are required and the shops have a consistent flow.

Now when you think about it, how can a shop improve profits if wages, part prices, etc. increase? They can't renegotiate with the insurance company all the time, so they have to cut costs on repairs. Now that OEM part is aftermarket. Instead of whole repaints, they'll just paint the area that was damaged or replaced. If a project with higher profit comes in, they'll take priority and you're stuck waiting. And if a part is damaged, but it's not visible by just doing a walkaround or it's hidden behind a panel, they might not fix it.

Insurance companies want to pay out as little as possible, the shop wants to make as much as possible, and you just want your car back together. Everyone gets paid except the person who had no influence on the whole fiasco. With that amount of damage, your best bet is to negotiate hard with YOUR insurance company on the price of the replacement. Then they'll fight for you since they'll have to pay you the difference if the other person's doesn't cover that amount.

Oh, and if you're not at fault, YOUR insurance is legally required to pay within 30 days. So they'll try to get a check as fast as possible. Be sure to push them on it.
 
Thanks for all the information guys. So far the only expenses I've had related to it were a doctor visit and a couple of x-rays just to make sure everything looks good. At this point I feel fine, necks is normal and don't seem to have any lingering issues so hopefully I won't have any more issues there. I'll be watching it though in case I feel any lingering effects later.

I did get the first pass value on the car on Friday before the holiday. I'd say it wasn't a bad offer, but it wasn't great either. Seemed to be a few thousand short of what I would need in order to get another A4 with the same features. They gave me 3 comps in the area as their basis, but they laughable as they all had at least 15k more miles with less features that mine. So i responded to their email with some local comps that I feel are closer to the actual value of the car. Hopefully I'll get an update from them today.
 
"I think I may send this to my attorney to look over before making any decisions, I'm thinking maybe he should get involved."
 
Next update...of the 4 comps I had found, 2 sold before insurance had a chance to review them so they were unusable and the other two are over 200 miles away so insurance company also won't accept them. Claims person is saying the settlement offer is in line with what they're seeing which is laughable because there aren't any cars within 200 miles with my features I can buy with what they're trying to give me.

I told her that I would not accept the settlement because I couldn't purchase a like car with the offer that they're giving me. She said that i was confused trying to compare actual cash value for my car vs. replacement cost. At that point I asked her...should actual cash value for my car be what I could sell it on the open market the day before my accident? Again she said no, saying that value would be replacement cost.

Which is funny because here are the definitions of those two terms on the insurance companies own web site.

What is the difference between replacement cost and actual cash value?
There are two primary ways to value your property assets if they are damaged, stolen or destroyed:
  • Replacement cost value: What you would pay for the item at today’s cost. So, if your laptop is stolen, your coverage will reimburse you the full cost to buy a new, similar model — even if it is three years old.
  • Actual cash value: What you would pay for a similar item at today’s cost (its replacement cost) minus depreciation — or what you would get for your property if you sold it.

I'm told my only recourse at this moment is hiring an independent appraiser using the personal appraiser clause in the policy, so now I'm working on finding a good rated appraiser in my area.

God I love insurance companies.
 
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