Is my car going to end up totalled?

Monday morning, as I was leaving the house to take my kids to camp/daycare and myself to work, my neighbor backed his giant truck into the passenger side of my car. This is my first insurance claim on a car, and I don’t really know quite how it works.

I have a 2005 Camry, basic model. To my uneducated eye, it looks like the front quarter panel, both doors, and probably the rear quarter panel need to be replaced. The front quarter panel and the doors are all very badly damaged, and there is a small portion of the rear quarter panel that seems to have been ripped off. There was a huge rip in the right rear tire, as well, and the wheel rim looked damaged.

My neighbor’s insurance company is Pemco, if that matters. They’re currently paying for a rental car for me. The body shop has promised me their final estimate tomorrow. The guy I talked to said he’s seen “about $7200 so far” but he had a technician tearing apart the doors now, and there might be more.

What value is the insurance company likely to use for my car? The “blue book” value I can find online looks like about $9-$10k, depending on whether I use the “price I would get from a dealer” or “private sale” numbers and for “good condition”. Is it a simple matter of whether the estimate from the body shop is more or less than that value, or does the rental car enter into it some way, or what? Am I likely to get an actual answer from the body shop tomorrow, or am I going to get some “this is what we will charge to repair it, and now we are waiting for the Pemco adjuster to say if it’s OK”?

I’m also in the middle of trying to refinance my house, so I’m not real excited about adding a car payment to the mix at this moment if I can avoid it. Any opinions on what is likely to happen next? If they do announce that it’s totaled, do they then cut me a check and tell me to give back the damn rental car immediately? If it’s not, do they just keep paying until I get my car back, however long it takes? What happens?

Start looking for used cars in the $9,000 range.

My experience is that the payouts are quite generous. If it is totaled, you should be able to purchase a car exactly like the one you have, if not a bit better. There’s no reason for a car payment to get involved.

I don’t know about value limitations, but some damage regardless of cost will total a vehicle. My mother, for instance, years ago hit ice and wound up hitting a telephone pole in such a way that the axle was damaged. It didn’t look all that bad but since the axle is kind of “structural” damage (as opposed to cosmetic), it was totaled.

Your car insurance policy determines how long and how much you’ll get reimbursed for your rental. It should say it right on the document. Nothing you can do about it now; that’s something you have to choose when you purchase or renew your policy.

Oh, heck, they totalled out my car, with relatively minor damage, just because I said I thought I smelled gas. They never checked to see if the gas tank had ruptured…decided it just was too expensive to replace or repair. I forget how old the car was, but it was in great shape. We did not get enough money to get a comparable car because it was over so many years old. But it wasn’t ancient.

Damage is ALWAYS worse than what a novice thinks…and I’m a novice. I’ve also heard that any damage that warps the firewall (the metal between the passenger compartment and engine bay) is an automatic total.)

I’m not claiming under my insurance, but under my neighbor’s. I know what my policy would give me.

By doors being bad, do you mean the windows blew out and the B-pillar was bent? That usually means a total loss.

No, the impact was low. (I think the trailer hitch on the truck did most of the damage. The truck was inclined as it hit me, since he wasn’t all the way out of his driveway yet.) So both doors are crumpled in at about knee level, as is a good portion of the front quarter panel. The part of the rear quarter panel that is damaged is down at the level of the tire behind it. The windows did not blow out, but neither door would open.

Anyone got a guess on how long I get this rental for, and whether it is coming out of my final settlement or not?

I have your exact model of 2005 Camry. I had to replace the hood, front bumper and front driver’s quarter panel last winter and it set me back $5,200.

I think it’s toast. And I actually had PEMCO for a while. Hated them with a passion so watch your back.

My guess is you should get fully compensated for it, though they often try tricks like only covering the rental starting the day AFTER the wreck. I think, though, they usually do whatever they can to please the non-fault driver in order to avoid more costly legal battles.

From personal experience, there’s a very high chance your car will be deemed a total loss. Due to how nearly all cars are “unibody” construction where the car body itself is the frame, it doesn’t take much damage to wreck one beyond repair, and any amount of damage beyond crunching a fender or door is going to be expensive to fix. From your description, it sounds like your car was moving forward, his hitch poked out into the road and did a sort of slow-motion T-bone. Chances are pretty good that the B-pillar got bent, seeing as you couldn’t open either door. (This is the middle section of the car - the door frame that’s the back end of the front door and the front of the back door.)

The fun part is with what level your neighbor’s insurance is going to pay. They have a duty to make you “whole” and not make you suffer great financial loss, but I can’t speak to the details as I have no experience with insurance in Washington. In an ideal world, you’ll end up driving another basic model 2005 Camry with no money out of your pocket. Of course, it doesn’t always work out that way, but it should come close.

Once they make a settlement offer, they’ll probably continue to pay for the rental car for a “reasonable” amount of time - maybe a couple more days, maybe a week, by which time, you’ve hopefully found a replacement car. Unless you arrange to keep the rental longer, this shouldn’t cost you anything.

Exactly the opposite of my experience. I was able to put a downpayment on an older, cheaper car with what I got when my car was totaled.

In a third party claim (i.e. one where somebody else’s insurance is paying) you are entitled to the difference between the value of your car before the accident and after the accident.

What does that mean? Imagine your car was worth $10K before the accident – you could reasonably expect to be able to sell it for that. Then the accident happens. How much could you get for the wrecked vehicle? If you could sell the wreck for $5000, you’re entitled to the difference – $5000. If you could sell the wreck for $100, you’re entitled to $9900. If nobody would pay you anything for the wreck, you’re entitled to the full (total) value of the car – $10,000. The cost of the repair doesn’t enter in to it.

You had an asset of a certain value. Some or all of that value was taken from you. That’s the amount you’re owed.

Then you got rooked, and should have argued with your insurance company.

ETA: Sorry, that response was to Opal

Well…that’s one element of damages. She’s also probably entitled to damages for “loss of use” while the car is being repaired or for a reasonable period of time to find a replacement. That’s where the rental car comes in. They pay the cost of the rental rather than trying to guestimate the value of using the now-wrecked vehicle for a period of time.

Other elements of damages are possible–towing costs, lost wages if any, cost of replacing a parking decal if any, cost of transfering subscriptions to satellite radio/gps services if any, and maybe several I’ve omitted just going from the top of my head.

A settlement is an agreement between the potential plaintiff and the insured/insurance company. The final number is negotiable. You are not required to just take the first offer made. Ask for what you want, but be reasonable about it. Have documentation to support your position–receipts, statement from employer regarding lost wages or personal time taken as a direct result of the accident–that sort of thing.

Jurisdictions vary on elements of damages recognized and routinely paid. You should consult a lawyer licensed in the appropriate jurisdiction with any specific questions.

I am a lawyer licensed in the appropriate jurisdiction! But I’m just curious what’s typical in this situation, since it’s not one I’ve been in myself, and no one in my current workplace practices in this area. I put it in IMHO in the hopes that I might get some information about experiences that others have had. For example, what does an insurance company typically consider to be a reasonable timeframe to buy a replacement car? Does the fact that the body shop still has not told me anything about the value enter into this (i.e., is Pemco likely to take the position that I should already be looking even though no one has told me for sure yet whether it’s totaled or not)?

I have new car seats for the kids, and I need to send the Pemco lady the invoice for those (as another example of incidental costs). (Car seats are supposed to be replaced after an accident, as many are designed with crushable components can can sustain damage that you can’t necessarily see from the outside.) I didn’t pay anything for the tow - I think the tow company is billing the insurance directly. I have AAA, so they would cover the tow anyway. I haven’t missed any work days, although my productivity has taken a hit this week.

Thanks!

Sorry, I did not realize you’re a lawyer. I think a lot of your questions about time frames involved are going to vary around the country. I’m in a rural area, and repair options are more limited than they might be elsewhere. There are only so many bodyshops around here, and if all of them are busy, repair is going to take some time. Factor in things like opening days of local hunting seasons, and whether the high school football team is at home or away this week, and they may take even longer.

We claimed some lost off personal goods when Typo Knig’s car was totalled - they were in the trunk and we couldn’t get the trunk open enough to retrieve everything.

As noted, we also requested compensation for lost wages (we each lost several hours of work dealing with the mess). We didn’t have anything like parking decals etc. but those are quite reasonable expenses.

There was no “here’s the value of the wrecked car, we’ll pay you the difference” - we were given a figure for the car and we signed it over to the insurance company.

IIRC, we requested about 800 dollars in compensation for goods and lost time. They said “how about 1200 and you go away” and we agreed. The payout for the car itself was of course separate and was more than enough for a down payment on a replacement (we bought new). The rental car was covered in its entirety. We knew by then there were no medical issues to deal with. So the 1200 was more than fair.

I’m a little surprised that the body shop is taking this long, but if they’re saying 7200 bucks, and the car is only worth 10,000 anyway, I think it’s a fair chance that it’ll be declared totalled. That much damage would seem to include sufficient structural issues that the car might simply not be safe in a bad crash in the future.

I’d suggest checking with the body shop again, give 'em a nudge for an estimate, and also check with the insurer. I wouldn’t necessarily say “I’m a lawyer!” but of course if that slips out in conversation, well, no need to lie about it :).

Funny you mention car seats: We were rear-ended with Moon Unit in her carseat and the Geico adjuster tried arguing about that part of the claim (we had a rather pricey model). But I held firm, even though it was a low-enough speed that the seat might have been fine.

Yep, I think it will be declared “totaled,” which really sucks if you owe more on the car than what it’s worth.