Count me in with the 'Sue!' gang. You should get paid for your pain and suffering. Side note- I dated a girl who got t-boned... But seriously, she got t-boned and sued, got around $8k after lawyer's fees and medical bills were paid off. It amounted to a few law office visits, maybe 10 hours of her time. She decided to spend the money on a boob job and got no argument from me.
Sorry to hear that and hope you both get to feeling better. I nearly got creamed the other day turning left from the southbound SH Tollway feeder onto W Bellfort. When the second light under the tollway turned green, I started to pull through the intersection when out of the corner of my eye I noticed a car coming fast northbound on the feeder. I slammed my brakes just in time to watch this guy plow through the red light going at least 60+ MPH. Up until recently, I was pretty unconcerned with gas mileage and would have gunned straight through without really looking. Fortunately for my friend in the passenger seat, I accelerate slowly and conservatively these days. If I was driving like I used to, she'd most likely have been just one more traffic fatality. Just goes to show you that even with all the aggressive drivers in this town, good old-fashioned defensive driving can save lives.
Called the other driver's insurance today to find out what they decided about my car. The lady told me it will be a total but somebody else dealing with it will be calling me in the next few days. I know what that means in the basic sense I think. The cost to repair the car is more than what the car is actually worth. Is that correct? So they'll basically pay the rest of the car off, which is just under $2000 and I'll be stuck without a car or a new car payment for another 4-5 years. Is that basically the gist of it?
Nope, they won't necessarily pay what is owed on the car. They will generally NOT use blue book value. Start scouring the local ads to see if you can find cars similar to yours to see what the going rate is, because that is what was used when we had two cars stolen in Houston a number of years ago. One option you MAY have is to insist they buy you a similar car rather than paying you the cost to total it.
Just be lucky those folks have insurance...I never had an accident until I moved to DFW, and I had 3 within the first 3 years. (2 of them were about 8 months apart) None of them were my fault, and none of the other drivers had insurance. It was a mess, Luckily My State Farm Agent really took care of me (kept State farm from cancelling my policy or raising it an ungodly amount).
I would be more worried about my health than the car. Are you still having issues? Have you been to a chiropractor? If you had a concussion, I can guarantee you also have probably severe whiplash. If you don't get stuff like this fixed immediately, it will haunt you for the rest of your life. Trust me. Hire an attorney, get your back/neck checked out and let them handle the other BS.
Well the woman called today and valued the car at $8,750. I did what I was told and declined she came back with $9,100. Declined that offer as well and it is now at $9700.
what is the trade in value of your car? You can check at KBB.com Counter with retail value saying you always buy at a dealer or something.
Already checked and the value of the car listed there is just under what she offered last so she has actually offer a little more.
well legally they have to pay replacement value which is probably what KBB calls individual value or whatever. I would shoot for retail value because really, that is pretty close to replacement cost when you have to look around for a car. I would not accept anything less than the private party value though.
Private party value on my car is $8,100. I think the latest offer is good enough and I shouldn't push it any further.
Wow. What is retail? I cannot believe it is 20% more than private party value. That was easy. My brother had to have several heated phone calls before they budged on his car. What company are you dealing with?
Retail was $9400 or something like that. The company is Southern Pioneer Insurance and they only deal with commercial insurance for companies, institutions, dealerships. The car that hit me is owned by a car dealer.
BTW, do insurance companies usually just give injured drivers/passengers pain and suffering monies or do people have to usually fight for it? The reason I ask is because my girlfriend receive $5000 when she broke her nose in a wreck last year when she was a passenger and it was the other driver's fault. My friend said he sprained his wrist when he was driving and it wasn't his fault. He received $500. Both of them did not ask for it they just received phone calls to tell them to come pick up the funds. As it is, I am not expecting any monies for pain and suffering so if I get anything I'll be surprised.
I actually feel a lot better now. I still get bouts of dizziness every now and then but they are gradually getting less and less common like the doctor said they would.
Its not unusual to get twice in "general damages" (pain/suffering) that you do in compensatory damages (medical treatment). If your medical bills are $1000, should should expect and/or ask for $2000 for pain/suffering. If you did not seek medical treatment or have medical bills, then most carriers are not going to consider general damages. There are always exceptions to that rule though.
OK, well I am still not expecting anything so I'm not getting my hopes up. BTW, the offer the lady sent me was for the value of the car only meaning that I have to use that money to pay off the car with as well ($1800). Is that generally how it works?
If you car is totaled, most major carriers owe you what is called ACV (actual cash value). Some call it FMV (fair market value). ACV is replacement cost minus depreciation. FMV is what a willing buyer would pay to a willing seller for a vehicle that is exactly like yours. The best way to gauge this value is not KBB or NADA (these are just market guides and most carriers do not even consider these, although they may use them as a reference), but to go to Autotrader and do a local market area search for vehicles that are just like yours (same year, make, model, options, similar mileage). Don't just look at dealer listed vehicles. Look at private party ads also, because most carriers factor these in (i.e. there is a difference in price between private party vehicles and dealer vehicles and you are not automatically owed what it would cost you to buy from a dealer, whether you prefer to buy from that dealer or not). Your settlement is mean to indemnify you (make you whole). I tell people that we owe them what the vehicle was worth to them, not to a dealer (i.e. if they were to have sold their vehicle immediately before the loss, what could they have expected to sell it for). Most carriers will also account for any prior damage or abnormalities in the condition of your vehicle when calculating the value too. Your settlement is going to be based strictly on the ACV/FMV of your vehicle. What you owe on it is irrelevant. It will not be considered at all. If you have a lien on your vehicle, then the carrier is going to be required to settle with your lienholder first up to the amount they are owed since they own the title and are technically, the owner of the vehicle. So if you owe $1,800, the carrier is going to automatically deduct that $1,800 from your settlement and pay it directly to your lienholder and then pay you the balance. The lienholder sends the title directly to the insurance company.
