This past weekend my sister got into a car accident and the air bags went off, and it was not drivable. We called our insurance company and they are coming out on Tuesday to survey they car. To my knowledge there are two things that they can do: 1) Call it a total loss 2) Repair the damage I was wondering the best case scenario would be, either one or, two. I was thinking one since I would not have to pay the deductible ($1000). I also know that they will assess how much the car was worth fair value, but I was wondering how to maximize that amount. TIA
Was it a new car that payments were still being made on? Was it paid off? Getting it totaled would be best. Once a car gets into a accident it is never the same. However, if you owe more than the car is worth, and you do not have gap insurance, then you'd end up having to pay that difference off. And then also buy a new car with no help from insurance.
There are payments left on the car. I haven't checked exactly how much I owe on it, and the adjustor is coming tomorrow to evaluate the car.
Did some looking into the situation and I owe 9,000 on a 07' Honda Civic Coupe, the blue book expected value is 14,000, so even if there is a residual amount between the blue book and what they give me I do have room to wiggle. Would a total loss be the best case scenario?
This is what happened to me. I'm 19 and I started working at 15 and saved up all my money to buy a new car. I got my sisters used when I turned 16 but I saved up enough money and got a little help from my parents for making good grades my first semester in college. I bought a one year old BMW 328i, fully loaded(Sports package, Nav, and Premimum package) with only 18,000 miles on it. I payed 23.5 for it. This past August, a month before I was suppose to go back to school, I was driving 4 of my friends and a Mexican with no insurance ran a redlight and T-boned my car. Thankfully nobody was seriously hurt(My car had all the seats occupied and the Ford exphedition hit my friend sitting right behind me. They said that if the car hit me then I would of died because the front door is so much wider than the back) Anyways, within the next couple of days the insurance company said that the car was totaled and that there was no possible way of repairing it. At the time of the wreck my car had about 28,000 miles on it and was still in great shape. I guess the company never looked at how much we payed for the car and they appraised the car at 34,500. So I lost my car, but got more money for it than I payed for( a lot more) With that money I bought myself a used 335 which I'm happy with right now. I'm not for sure if this helped but if you have any more quesitons feel free to ask.
If they do a total loss on it you need to look up the car's value from multiple sources and take highest value and tell the insurance company that is what you want and show them that the car was in very good shape and that you have all maintenance records also to prove it along with any after market parts or regular service just done that you had to buy parts for like tires, brake pads, etc. When I had a total loss(Damn 18 year old t-boned me running a red light and said his excuse was he was on the cell phone) the state farm insurance company was very flexible and willing to listen to my offers for a settlement price. Good luck.
Generally insurance companies do not go off the blue book value. They tend to look to see what similar cars to yours are going for with respect tor esale value.
You could. Any added evidence would help. But, wouldn't it be tough to get someone to appraise it if its totaled?
Well, i got into a wreck the day b/f xmas eve...luckily everyone was fine, but damn I loved that car...paid for, etc...It wasn't drivable and got it towed that same night... just got the call today that it was probably going to be totalled...the guy said there was a 70% rule, meaning if the repairs are greater than 70% of the N.A.D.A. value, the ins. co. usually totals it, but then you have to do some research and comps to make sure you get a good value on your car, before the wreck... I'll be doing some research the next week or so...
