Can anyone help me with a car insurance legal issue?

I had a friend who did car shows.(lowriders) While at a carshow, someone bearly hit his car and only made a couple hundred dollars damage to his bumper. He had a some outrageous paint job that the insurence company would not pay for. From what I understand, you have to get your car insured for anything over blue book value and if someone else hits it, you must claim it on your own insurence.

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Nice guys finish last ... and im surely not going to finish last!

 

I'm not sure what it is precisely you think they need to pay you for still. Is it simply that you think the car had a higher resale value than $4,000, due to how well taken care of it was? If so, good luck. Getting more from the insurance company is going to be hard and will require a lawyer. Is it worth all that trouble?

When I was a teenager I had a 1974 Porsche 914. I got in an accident when a woman turned left in front of me and I hit her side. It was actually a pretty low-speed accident, but the car is a mid-engine so the front crumpled easily. The insurance company said it was the woman's fault and declared my car totaled and paid me something around $2,400 (I think). My father and I took that money, bought another 914 with a good body but a screwed up engine for about $1,000. Then we went to the auction and bought back my old car for $600. We took the engine out of that one and put it in the new one we got. Then, a guy we had outbid at the auction called us because he wanted the car's floorboards. We sold him those and then the rest of the pillaged car was sold to Pick-a-Part. So I ended up with basically the same car and we made over $800 on the deal. I never saw any of the money because, technically, the car was my sister's. When I went to college, it was sold to a neighbor who wrecked it before he even finished paying us off.

Of course, that story isn't very applicable to you because the body was what you were going to keep and the engine you were going to toss. But, it's a good story.

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RealGM
Gafford Art
Artisan Cakes

 

Unfortunately, there isn't much you can do. If you had collision on your auto, they would repair the damage for you and you wouldn't have to deal with the insured's company but you might face a premium increase.

The only way auto insurers will up the value of a vehicle is if you increase the level of insurance based on upgrades, etc. In cases of things like stereo's, speakers and other "removable" objects, you homeowner's or renter's insurance can cover the damage or theft of them.

That's a bummer but blue book's have not begun to truly value used autos the way they do newer one's no matter the condition.

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Onions is all I eat!

 

You are probably out of luck.
If it were a true 'classic' you probably could sue, and win something. While all Mustangs are a classic (I have a '96 ), a '93 wouldn't be, particularly considering the fact you used it for daily transportation, it had high milage, and wasn't in classic shape (you mentioned you intend to fix it up.).

For insurance, they use the resell value of the car, and on your car the resell value wouldn't be that high. Unfortunately, you get very little credit for keeping your car in good shape.

When I bought my present car, for example, I traded in a 10 year old Toyota Camry LE, with 105,000 miles, in immaculate shape. (The body was actually perfect, since they had to replace all but two body panels a year before due to hail damage. They offered a very low trade in on it at three dealerships.

I asked the dealer about it, and he said that to the present owner, who keeps a car well maintained, a car has a lot of value. When they sell the car, someone buying it looks at it as an older car with high milage. Being in good shape will make it easier for them to sell, but someone willing to pay more is going to look for a newer car.

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Stay Cool...

[This message has been edited by dc sports (edited March 08, 2001).]

 

Allstate is your problem. I hit a woman who ran a stop sign, and Allstate declared it was 20% my fault because I could've swirved (that is the correct spelling ) and missed her.

Another poster here also had problems with Allstate.

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www.swirve.com...The reason Al Gore invented the internet.

 

Allstate sucks. Five years ago, a guy hit me, totally my '86 Chevy Sprint. The guy admits complete fault immediately, so I just have to get my $1400 check from Allstate (the guy's ins co)

I spent over 6 weeks trying to get Allstate to send me a check. Every time I called, I needed to fax them a different piece of info. Every time, I faxed them what they wanted. I never received the check.

I was leaving for a 2 week vacation, and really wanted the check waiting for me when I got home, so I called Allstate and they promised to send the check out the next day. I took down the agent's name, and made him reiterate his promise to send the check the next day. I get home, no check, of course.

My father finally went down to an Allstate office in person and starts shouting and raising a ruckus, and he was presented with the check immediately. Unbelievable. Five minutes of shouting did more than 6 weeks of polite phone calls.

 

My truck was totalled by a 19-year old driver in a parking lot. My insurer came out, took pictures and made reports (Progressive). Allstate did NOTHING and gave me 100% of the blame.

Progressive is likely still battling Allstate over this because I had no collision at the time. My truck was gone and I got ZERO for it.

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Squirrels is all I eat!

 

It's not just Allstate. It is the insurance industry in general. At my old job, my health insurance covered some optical expenses. My wife got some new glasses and we submitted a claim for it. I have waited (and am still waiting) 7 months for them to pay. They keep complaining for more documentation.

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RealGM
Gafford Art
Artisan Cakes

 

You guys are making me grateful I don't have Allstate insurance, and when I got hit recently, the guy who hit me had Geico. The Geico adjuster there is Houston was mostly a pleasure to deal with. Full repairs paid for with no run-around. Rental car provided with no problems (though the Pontiac Sunfire was not really a car comparable to mine. I think insurance companies should have to rent you a car that is at least in the same class as the damaged car, but that's just because I hate having to drive POS Pontiac Sunfires with no cruise and no tape deck/CD player) The only problem was getting a check out of them for what they were calling a "medical settlement", but which I was using to pay for my plane tickets from Houston after the accident and to Houston to pick up my car when it was repaired. It took three or four calls to finally get that check to me. But they were polite about it the whole time.

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Houston Sports Board
The Anti-Bud Adams Page

 

Oh yeah, Allstate does suck.

I got hit on the rear driver's side passenger door by a dopey teenager on my lunch break two days before my wedding. I was changing lanes, and I think he was turning out from a driveway across the street, but I didn't see it happen. No one admitted fault.

I took the car to the adjuster and he said he could tell by the damage that it was the other guy's fault and that if he was still in the claims department, he would be all over it. Go away on my honeymoon. Come back. My claims agent tells me that it was my fault for making an unsafe lane change.

Nice. Luckily I had collision and they didn't have time to raise my premiums before we switched to State Farm. Bastards.

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Brought to you by the letter M.

[This message has been edited by AhPook (edited March 08, 2001).]