Insurance Settlement

[Josh]

Josh, not really playing the blame game here, But I would have appreciated the insurance company putting me on notice...at least I would have known that the car was being taken. As I stated earlier, I realize that I can find out where the car is, but the supervisor was planning to conduct his evaluation on Tuesday and agreed to call when enroute so we could meet him there, but he never contacted us. I then called the towing company to see if he had stopped by and it was then that I learned that the car was gone...and had been gone for several days.

To some degree that is on them. Ignoring the settlement number for a moment, you have no obligation to agree to their settlement offer. If they took the car away from you then you may have the right to have them return it. They may be on the hook for expenses to get the vehicle back to you, but it sounds like the best move is to haggle a little higher on the price and call it a day. Again, cars can be deeply personal and what a car is worth and what an owner thinks it's worth are usually two different numbers. You seem like a reasonable enough person and maybe after spending the night sleeping on it the offer might seem a little more fair. 244k miles? Hondas are amazing, you can tell when you look at used ones how long they last because they have so many miles on them, but the tranny and engine could have just as easily failed you on that in the next mile. Even for a honda, quarter of a million miles is a lot. It's hard for an adjuster to ignore that kind of mileage. You might be able to get the stereo out of it too.

 

[TCP]

No typo! The retail value for the comparable vehicles included in the report ranged from $1500 to $4000. But you are right, we took very good care of that car, and while it was not in excellent condition, it was a good car, in good condition. Guess that doesn't amount to much. I certainly was not expecting a huge settlement but thought $3000 would at least seem fair.

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To some degree that is on them. Ignoring the settlement number for a moment, you have no obligation to agree to their settlement offer. If they took the car away from you then you may have the right to have them return it. They may be on the hook for expenses to get the vehicle back to you, but it sounds like the best move is to haggle a little higher on the price and call it a day. Again, cars can be deeply personal and what a car is worth and what an owner thinks it's worth are usually two different numbers. You seem like a reasonable enough person and maybe after spending the night sleeping on it the offer might seem a little more fair. 244k miles? Hondas are amazing, you can tell when you look at used ones how long they last because they have so many miles on them, but the tranny and engine could have just as easily failed you on that in the next mile. Even for a honda, quarter of a million miles is a lot. It's hard for an adjuster to ignore that kind of mileage. You might be able to get the stereo out of it too.

You make a good point. I knew they were taking $1000 right off the top for the miles. I think the transmission had been replaced recently ( the hubby keeps up with all of the maintenance info ) but like you said, it was indeed worth more to me than any offer they will make. Thanks

 

[fjwinters]

I am going to be honest with you, the settlement offer they are giving you is very good. Insurance companies don't go by NDA, blue book, or black book values. We go by market value. Basically what will someone actually purchase the vehicle for in your area. The best way to figure that out on your own is the personal auto ads. They compare dealership vehicles in the area you live, private sales sometimes to get that figure.

2000 Honda with over 200k miles, I would not waste time with an adjuster and take the money. Your getting a good deal in my opinion.

 

[TCP]

I am going to be honest with you, the settlement offer they are giving you is very good. Insurance companies don't go by NDA, blue book, or black book values. We go by market value. Basically what will someone actually purchase the vehicle for in your area. The best way to figure that out on your own is the personal auto ads. They compare dealership vehicles in the area you live, private sales sometimes to get that figure.

2000 Honda with over 200k miles, I would not waste time with an adjuster and take the money. Your getting a good deal in my opinion.

(Insert long sigh here) but thank you for your advice. Very helpful.

 

[ToddC]

NADA is market value.

Don't even bother looking at KBB, it's 100% crap. The company exists only to supply dealers with stupid numbers to put on the stickers attached to the sides of cars (that number that no one pays) and to offer low amounts on trade ins. If you read what KBB values are (right from their website) you will see clearly that they don't provide market values of vehicles.

Putting $480 in tires on a vehicle does not add $400 in value and having the transmission replaced while ago does not add much (if any) value either. These are maintenance items that maintain the value of the vehicle.. not add it it. Tires are expected to have tread and transmissions are expected to be in working order. You should certainly bring these items up when discussing the value.

The report you are looking at is either from AutoSource or CCC. I can say that if it's from CCC that it's crap. If you were to call the places where the other vehicle's are listed from you'd probably find that those vehicles were not in good condition or sold for much less then they are listed. I'd _HIGHLY_ recommend that you are least review your vehicle information in that report. I've seen appraisers over look adding in a sunroof and correct engine information. When an appraiser sees a total loss they tend to see it as an easy right up. They just give the vehicle a quick look and move on. I think the supervisor your spoke to probably knows this as well which is the reason he offered to go look at the vehicle himself.

Don't expect to be paid the top retail value from NADA... this is not the market value of your vehicle. I'd recommend taking all 4 NADA listings, averaging them together and using that as a gauge.

 

[TCP]

NADA is market value.

Don't even bother looking at KBB, it's 100% crap. The company exists only to supply dealers with stupid numbers to put on the stickers attached to the sides of cars (that number that no one pays) and to offer low amounts on trade ins. If you read what KBB values are (right from their website) you will see clearly that they don't provide market values of vehicles.

Putting $480 in tires on a vehicle does not add $400 in value and having the transmission replaced while ago does not add much (if any) value either. These are maintenance items that maintain the value of the vehicle.. not add it it. Tires are expected to have tread and transmissions are expected to be in working order. You should certainly bring these items up when discussing the value.

The report you are looking at is either from AutoSource or CCC. I can say that if it's from CCC that it's crap. If you were to call the places where the other vehicle's are listed from you'd probably find that those vehicles were not in good condition or sold for much less then they are listed. I'd _HIGHLY_ recommend that you are least review your vehicle information in that report. I've seen appraisers over look adding in a sunroof and correct engine information. When an appraiser sees a total loss they tend to see it as an easy right up. They just give the vehicle a quick look and move on. I think the supervisor your spoke to probably knows this as well which is the reason he offered to go look at the vehicle himself.

Don't expect to be paid the top retail value from NADA... this is not the market value of your vehicle. I'd recommend taking all 4 NADA listings, averaging them together and using that as a gauge.

Very helpful. Thank You!!

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NADA is market value.

Don't even bother looking at KBB, it's 100% crap. The company exists only to supply dealers with stupid numbers to put on the stickers attached to the sides of cars (that number that no one pays) and to offer low amounts on trade ins. If you read what KBB values are (right from their website) you will see clearly that they don't provide market values of vehicles.

Putting $480 in tires on a vehicle does not add $400 in value and having the transmission replaced while ago does not add much (if any) value either. These are maintenance items that maintain the value of the vehicle.. not add it it. Tires are expected to have tread and transmissions are expected to be in working order. You should certainly bring these items up when discussing the value.

The report you are looking at is either from AutoSource or CCC. I can say that if it's from CCC that it's crap. If you were to call the places where the other vehicle's are listed from you'd probably find that those vehicles were not in good condition or sold for much less then they are listed. I'd _HIGHLY_ recommend that you are least review your vehicle information in that report. I've seen appraisers over look adding in a sunroof and correct engine information. When an appraiser sees a total loss they tend to see it as an easy right up. They just give the vehicle a quick look and move on. I think the supervisor your spoke to probably knows this as well which is the reason he offered to go look at the vehicle himself.

Don't expect to be paid the top retail value from NADA... this is not the market value of your vehicle. I'd recommend taking all 4 NADA listings, averaging them together and using that as a gauge.

You are correct that the report is from CCC. I am noticing that of the 13 comparable vehicles listed on the report 11 of them are sedans...my vehicle was a coupe. Don't coupes retail for more than sedans? Does it even matter in this case?

 

[fjwinters]

Very helpful. Thank You!! ---------- You are correct that the report is from CCC. I am noticing that of the 13 comparable vehicles listed on the report 11 of them are sedans...my vehicle was a coupe. Don't coupes retail for more than sedans? Does it even matter in this case?

Most total loss evals include what they call like kind and quality, so they look for similar cars to your own from different makes and models.

 

[ToddC]

Don't coupes retail for more than sedans? Does it even matter in this case?

Yes, the CCC reports are crap. If they can't find the same vehicle within a small area then the report will start changing year and models to get matches. The report will take 3 vehicles and alter prices to match the value to your vehicle. However, this is where things start to go wrong again.

My recommendation is to call the insurance adjuster and asked them to contact CCC and have them expand the search area. The adjuster probably won't know this can be done but it can. The adjuster may refuse. If they do, speak to the adjusters supervisor. A quick call or email to CCC and they will not only expand the search range but someone will review the data being returned. There is no charge to the insurance company for this so there is really no reason they should not do it.

You also should look over the 3 vehicle comparison portion of the report. I don't remember what it's called but they will also sometimes have a deduction listed. I wish I remembered what it was called but they claim its to bring your vehicle in line with those other vehicles that are ready to sell. It basically means that those vehicles were in better condition then yours. If it's in the report... it's crap. If you read the CCC report it will explain how they arrived at the value of your vehicle and the explanation really shows that no such deduction should be needed. Lastly, it's automatically added to the report... CCC never knows the condition of your vehicle other then a box the appraiser checked off... and they always check the same box.

If you wanted to go further, call the places that those 3 vehicles were for sale. Ask the sales person about the condition of the vehicle and if they recall what they actually sold for. Usually you will find that the information in the CCC report is incorrect.

Research the value of your vehicle on your own. If you want, write up a simple chart to break down this information. Send it to the adjuster. What you are doing is showing them that you are willing to support your view on the value of the vehicle. If you give a quick and easy to read breakdown then you are making it _very_ easy for the adjuster to consider your information. Adjusters like easy.