Totaled Vehicle - Conflicting Info

[Emsflyer84]

Hey all, I’ve got a 2015 VW Passat that I recently got into an accident with. The car was towed to a towing company lot and is likely going to be totaled by insurance. The towing company told me I should not release the car to the insurance company (Geico) until I get a valuation on the car that I am happy with. They say if Geico takes the car to their own yard to assess, I can’t negotiate the value they give me.

This makes no sense to me, as I still hold the title regardless of where the car is. Geico wants to pick the car up and take it to an independent yard to asses and get all their photos, etc. This way they don’t need to pay storage fees to the tow company. The tow company wants to keep the car as long as possible to collect storage fees from Geico.

I don’t know who to believe. Geico told me that they don’t actually do the valuation on the car, it’s done by an independent third party so it’s “impartial”. It sounded like they wouldn’t do anything until the car was moved. In fact, the adjuster said he wants even going to look at it in person, but the yard it would be moved to would send him pictures, etc.

Any thoughts on the process, and what kind of luck folks have had with Geico in a total loss situation? Thanks!

 

[fed up]

Release the car to GEICO and cut out the tow company and storage fees. What that person told you is plain and simple bunk. GEICO will figure if the repairs exceed 65-75% of the value of the car, use something close to TRU-car to value your vehicle, and make you an offer. The offer will be true COST to replace, not necessarily the cost of dealer mark-up and profit

 

[Emsflyer84]

Release the car to GEICO and cut out the tow company and storage fees. What that person told you is plain and simple bunk. GEICO will figure if the repairs exceed 65-75% of the value of the car, use something close to TRU-car to value your vehicle, and make you an offer. The offer will be true COST to replace, not necessarily the cost of dealer mark-up and profit

Thanks for the reply. I’ll get the car released. They say they use a number of factors to determine value, including current market and recently comparable sales in the area. I have a general idea of what the car is worth based on NADA and similar listings, etc. we’ll see how close they get. Thanks.

 

[Allen Trent]

Hey all, I’ve got a 2015 VW Passat that I recently got into an accident with. The car was towed to a towing company lot and is likely going to be totaled by insurance. The towing company told me I should not release the car to the insurance company (Geico) until I get a valuation on the car that I am happy with. They say if Geico takes the car to their own yard to assess, I can’t negotiate the value they give me.

This makes no sense to me, as I still hold the title regardless of where the car is. Geico wants to pick the car up and take it to an independent yard to asses and get all their photos, etc. This way they don’t need to pay storage fees to the tow company. The tow company wants to keep the car as long as possible to collect storage fees from Geico.

I don’t know who to believe. Geico told me that they don’t actually do the valuation on the car, it’s done by an independent third party so it’s “impartial”. It sounded like they wouldn’t do anything until the car was moved. In fact, the adjuster said he wants even going to look at it in person, but the yard it would be moved to would send him pictures, etc.

Any thoughts on the process, and what kind of luck folks have had with Geico in a total loss situation? Thanks!

Call your agent, that is why you pay for auto insurance..................ooops, never mind. My bad

 

[mplsmm]

What a quandary, deciding who is the biggest liar, a tow yard or Geico? Talk about the lesser of two evils. I have faith that Geico can find a way to screw you out of value no matter where it's parked so I would stop enriching the tow yard.

 

[Bill Blanchard]

I worked in Claims for a large carrier. They used an independent company that went through a very detailed process to get to ACV. Much like a home getting appraised. Very detailed. I never heard of someone "negotiating" with the insurance company because that just wouldn't fly if brought before the State Insurance Commissioner. If the owner doesn't like the value, they can usually hire their own adjuster and pay $500+ to get a second opinion. But if that comes back lower than the insurance company's ACV, that's what the insurance company will pay. Or, the owner could "Owner Retain", get paid ACV minus Salvage Value, but then they have a "Salvaged Title" and they are hard to insure. Tow yards are notorious for big fees for storage and the tow bill. The owner must take steps to mitigate financial loss or the carrier could come back to the owner for failure to limit the expense exposure.

 

[Emsflyer84]

Thanks all. Already heard back from Geico. They surprised me with a much higher ACV then I was expecting. No negotiating necessary. Thanks all for the info.