Did you fill out an accident report? In my state, you need a police report under certain circumstances, and you also have to fill out your own accident report to DMV in some circumstances–among other things, if anyone was physically injured, or over a certain amount in property damage. DMV tracks things like which intersections are most dangerous, and what the most common causes of accidents.
Definitely check your obligation to report to the state.
Check the details of their offer. A few years ago, my car was totalled. The damage was not that much, but it was to the front right corner of the car, and they discovered that the wheels could no longer be properly aligned. So it had the unibody equivalent of frame damage.
It was hit-and-run, so I was dealing with my insurance.
They notified me they were going to total it, and after a bit, they sent an offer. It was very lowball. I read the offer and discovered they had identified it as the most basic trim level. It was actually a mid-trim level.
I contacted them and let them know that I disagreed and why. I explained my car’s trim level. They got back to me with an offer that was about 2x the first offer.
I accepted. I later found that their offer was based on the top trim level. Anyway. Check they got the details of your vehicle right.
You might be able to ask them what the impact on your premium would be. I mean, you can ask, and depending on how they work, you might get a useful answer.
Those numbers are- IMHO bogus. Find you what similar vehicles are selling near you, and $3000 salvage? If Salvage is that high, then it is not totalled.
In that case, you might as well take the $4k+.
Yep, at least find out.
It should have no effect on registration, except maybe lower it. Your company will not give you collision insurance normally, which again- makes things cheaper. And why would you want Collision insurance anyway here?
Exactly.
With Geico? yes. With most others? No, if that is your only claim in a “so man years” period.
And just take the $$- but I think the OP needs to counter offer.
Lot of unknowns there, your carrier may not have checked probably, you may have gotten at it far below the actual part value (you did say cash purchase), or it could be like during Covid, where even “junked” cars sudden soared in value with the shortage of anything driveable.
Enjoy it! My experience (semi-professionally) has been decidedly otherwise, as has that of friends.
The market valuation report was compiled by. CCC Intelligent Solutions, described as a cloud-based platform that provides software and workflow tools for the insurance, automotive, financial institution, and collision repair industries. They appear to have been able to determine a lot about my car’s features, just from my VIN. The only thing that they missed is my aftermarket satellite radio system that I had installed in 2022.
Look on Facebook marketplace, craigslist, and especially local car dealers. See what they have your vehicle listed for. Take the top three highest and send those to them.
Next contact a junkyard and ask what they would give for you truck totalled, as junk- maybe $500? Question their salvage value.
Tell them you are still hurting after the accident (which is true, altho the hurt may not be physical) and if they dont offer at least $2K more for totalled but you keep, you are contacting your attorney.
Update: they asked me to send them links to “comparable” vehicles which they defined as (among other things) an odometer reading not more than 12-15K miles difference from my 196K. This turned out to be impossible to find, so I compromised by confining my picks to >100K miles.
The prices average out to about $13,500. I’m not expecting them to jump at the chance to give me nearly double their original offer, but we can begin discussing realistic solutions that result in my being made whole.
Does anyone know if a declaration to total a vehicle is set in stone, or does the carrier have the ability to reassess that determination and just have the repairs done?
Quoted for truth. Once, long ago, my car was damaged by a neighbor who backed into it while my vehicle was parked. Their insurance company (State Farm) admitted all liability. I informed my insurance company (USAA) of the accident, but consented to let State Farm pay to fix my car, pay for a rental car, etc. Big mistake.
I quickly found out they (State Farm) had no interest whatsoever in making me happy. As far as they were concerned, I was just a liability. They wanted to get my car repaired as cheaply and fast as possible. They then threatened to stop paying for my car rental before my car was fixed, which was yet another battle. At some point, I talked to my insurance company and they told me that if I had just gone through them, then all of that hassle could’ve been avoided. Then they would’ve gone after State Farm for the money. I took the hint and for every accident since then that I’ve been involved with, I have refused to deal with the other insurance company.
This is also good advice. When my wife’s car was totaled by a drunk driver a few years ago, I dealt with my own insurance company (USAA) using the lesson I recounted earlier. I was able to talk them into increasing the payout by providing receipts of all of the work I had recently put into the vehicle. Again, it helped that I was their customer.
But I found that after the payoff, I had nowhere near enough money to replace the vehicle for a comparable one. That’s when I found out about the 20% increase over the total-out value option you can add to your policy. I promptly added that option to all my auto policies after that.
As I’m fond of telling my adult son, I know a lot of life hacks because of the many, many mistakes I’ve made over the years. The difference is that I try to learn from my mistakes.
Again, not 100% true. If it’s even close (85% or more in my historical experience) to the adjusted market value, they’ll likely not bother, because of the potential for additional damages above and beyond the initial estimate. Of course, sometimes the adjuster gets it wrong, and they think it’s under that level, but then THEY’RE on the hook for it, which is why they tend towards conservatism.
IN GENERAL (huge generality) if they think it’s close, they’d rather give you a cash settlement and let you manage the repair yourself, because that way, if it is above and beyond, well, too bad for you, but a relief for them.
My gf’s Silverado was initially going to be “totaled”. She was very unhappy with this and expressed her disappointment. I guess it was a borderline call, because they reconsidered and repaired the truck.
IME everything is negotiable if you start early and push hard.
Nothing is ever “set in stone”. But like any other bureaucratic process leading to a decision, then followed by actions based on that decision, they are set from the git-go in slowly hardening cement. Your goal is get them to agree with your desired outcome before the cement is too hard for them to change their mind from whatever was their initial inclination.
There is some unknowable gateway event inside their bureaucracy where their decision becomes functionally irreversible. Maybe it’s after they issue the order for their finance department to cut your pay-off check. Maybe it’s 3 steps earlier when the great grand-boss signs off on the settlement. etc. Each company will have a different process and a different last chance gateway event.
You can’t know a priori when the decision has become irreversible. All you can know is the later in the process the harder change is. So get to work ASAP changing their mind.
Note that this only works if you have collision (or comprehensive) coverage on the car. If you only carry liability insurance, you don’t get that service.