Brad, I’m not UnPossible’s brother, I am an insurance adjuster, I settle total losses exclusively (well, Ok, sometimes I pay to get a fence repaired or a tree replaced as well)…and my name is Brad. The foo is with us today.
The simple answer is: Read UnPossible’s post again, only omit that bit about kbb.com (Kelley Blue Book). Had I no misgivings about impuning the integrity of a large corporation I would explain exactly why, but if you do your research on real steel and get a look at what NADA (National Auto Dealer Association) suggests for the price ofa car–they explain their pricing methodology: dealer’s reports of the actual sale price of cars, professional appraisers, published ads, etc so you know where the number comes from–you will understand that you will very likely be disappointed if you set your heart on the KBB value. Because you won’t get it, and the claim adjuster will laugh so hard at you for bringing up that source that you will hear coffee dripping from their nose for the rest of the conversation.
An insurance company is likely to base their price on either NADA or on a database company like ADP that actually does the legwork of researching vehicle sale prices, coming up with an average price, and then adjusting that price based on condition, options and mileage. The best thing you can do is just that: pretend you were going to buy the exact car you’ve just wrecked (before the accident, obviously) and decide how much YOU would pay for it. Be honest-you don’t know its history unless the owner has maintenance documentation. Apart from that all you have to go on is the actual appearance of the car.
Not in my experience. I have better things to do than argue with someone about the value of their car when I know they’re right. It wastes my time, demoralizes me, isn’t good for the customer, delays my handling of other claims pissingoff those customers I haven’t even called yet…Nuts. The operation I work for covers 6 states, everyone here will pitch you a rock solid number the first time around. If you can present information we didn’t have yet, we’re happy to look it over, explain what we can do for you and then get the damn claim closed. The money doesn’t come out of our personal checking accounts, we are not judged by what we pay on a car, we do not get any kind of incentive for paying less on a claim. What we DO get reviewed for is if a manager has to handle an inordinate amount of complaint calls coming from a particular claim handler’s work, paying more on a claim without documenting why, departing from normal procedure without documenting why…etc. In essence, if your car is NOT average, the initial offer may seem low. Be prepared to HELP your claim rep by documenting why your car is worth more. Sentimental value will get you plenty of sympathy, but no money.
Nope. The shop providing the estimate has to be approved by the insurance company. Bubba can write you an estimate for 50% of what the insurance company came up with. But bubba may not be using sound repair techniques. The insurance company is obligated to repair your car to pre-loss condition, if they can not count on Bubb to do that, then they do not have to accept that estimate. If they do not accept that estimate, they can total the car. To clarify, the decision to total the car is NOT yours. The insurance company has an obligation to the state DMV to abide by salvage title laws, and to help enforce them to some extent. There is absolutely no incentive for an insurer to allow a car to be repaired when they believe it should be totalled. In California, ANY car deemd a total loss by an insurance company must have a Salvage or Non-Repairable title. This means the car can not be licensed ever again until sufficient repairs are done to the car to make it roadworthy, and then it has been inspected by the state. In the case of a non-repairable title, forget about it. It’s a paperweight. The insurer determines which brand to put on the title based on the state’s guidelines. “Owner-Retained” total losses are sometimes an option, but be prepared to deal with the DMV to get the car licensed, and you will forever have a “branded” title. Meaning that there will be a mark on the title indicating the car has been declared a total loss at some point in its life. Take heart: in Florida owner-retention is not an option. Even for a $2,000 car with cosmetic damage.
This is sometimes true, sadly. Typically we see this with very small “high-risk” insurers though. The real insurance companies–like ones that might advertise their services on TV–do not take this point of view because they have too much to lose.
