Insurance Settlement

TCP

New Member
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My car was recently totaled. The driver of the other vehicle was cited for the accident and her insurance company has assumed liability. We received a settlement offer which we rejected. We expected a lowball offer and that's exactly what we received. The supervisor of the adjuster that inspected our vehicle agreed to go inspect the car himself. We also fully intended to have our own adjuster inspect the vehicle as well. However, unbeknownst to us, our car was removed from the tow yard it was taken to following the accident, without our knowledge or consent. I still don't know exactly where the vehicle is, only that it's approximately 75 miles away! Just because the insurance company assumed liability, does it give them the right to take possession of my vehicle without my knowledge? Any steps we would like to take at this point to support our refusal of the settlement offer (I.e. Additional pictures, inspection, etc.) are now hampered because the insurance company has taken the car. Any guidance here would be greatly appreciated.
 
Sometimes when a car is suspected of being totaled they take the car to a salvage yard to forgo an auto body shop charging storage fees. Usually they need permission to do this. Did they take the car to a place called IAA (Insurance Auto Auctions) or a place called Copart? If they did the car is safe just get the address.

You have the right to hire your own appraiser but at your own expense. It doesn't mean the insurance company has to agree with an independent inspection. They will continue to try and negotiate with you to settle. You have to weight the cost of highering your own appraiser with the offer they have you.

Make sure you also ask for the whole total loss evaluation. It will show what options they included in there estimate and what vehicles they used to average out your vehicles value.
 
I'm not sure where the car is exactly. The customer service rep told me the city where the car was taken but she didn't know the exact location. The adjuster claims to have poor cell service so contacting her takes an act of congress. I could definitely figure out where it is but why the heck am I having to do that? I'm just upset that it was moved at all...without my knowledge. Of course they are doing what's best for them by trying to avoid the storage fees, but who looks out for me in all of this? This entire process is extremely frustrating. Either way this goes I come out on the losing end. Car is totaled, settlement offer is a joke, Lord knows how much it would cost to fight this, and I still need to get another car.
 
I understand your frustration. You need to get the address and name of the location your car is at. Do you have collision coverage? You may want to go through your own insurance and see what they value your car at. They can take the car pay you less your deductible then they will try and get your deductible back from the at fault parties insurance.
 
Losing end once again...my car was a 2000 Honda Accord that was really a second vehicle so the coverage was liability only.
 
Just for the sake of discussion, what was their offer? Could you tell us more about the car? Why is their settlement offer considered to be so low? Usually they have very specific processes they go off of to make sure people are getting fair offers.
 
I don't know of any towing company that will allow a vehicle to be moved without hearing from the owner of the vehicle. If a 3rd party can get a towing company to release a vehicle without the owners consent then you should blame the towing company. If the vehicle was not moved then the insurance company would have put you on notice that you'd be responsible for excessive storage charges. You'd then either need to pay those charges or have the vehicle moved yourself.

You can find out where you car is... just speak to the adjuster or that person's supervisor. They know where it is. If that supervisor told you he/she was going to look at it... then they know where it's at.

You can feel free to tell the insurance company that you are going to pick up your vehicle if this is what you want. You will need to pay the current charges on the vehicle and have it moved yourself. Not knowing where the vehicle is at this point does not hamper your ability to effect settlement. Truth is, knowing where it's at at this time does not change anything.
 
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Josh, my car was a 2000 Honda Accord EX Coupe with 244,000 miles and was in very good condition. The offer was $2400. The car had brand new tires (spent $480 on those) so right off the top this offer basically means my car was worth less than $2000 which in my opinion is absurd. I pulled the NADA value and the KBB value and averaged the two to come up with a ballpark figure. I also searched for comparable vehicles in my area...there were several as old as 1996 with comparable mileage, etc. with a retail value of almost $5000. My car also had an updated Bluetooth enabled CD player, spoiler and a few other options. Yes, I have the 26 page evaluation explaining why my car is only worth $2400 but it was worth a heck of a lot more than that to me! Could I take that settlement and purchase another Honda, anywhere, in the same condition as mine? I sincerely doubt it.
 
Josh, my car was a 2000 Honda Accord EX Coupe with 244,000 miles and was in very good condition. The offer was $2400. The car had brand new tires (spent $480 on those) so right off the top this offer basically means my car was worth less than $2000 which in my opinion is absurd. I pulled the NADA value and the KBB value and averaged the two to come up with a ballpark figure. I also searched for comparable vehicles in my area...there were several as old as 1996 with comparable mileage, etc. with a retail value of almost $5000. My car also had an updated Bluetooth enabled CD player, spoiler and a few other options. Yes, I have the 26 page evaluation explaining why my car is only worth $2400 but it was worth a heck of a lot more than that to me! Could I take that settlement and purchase another Honda, anywhere, in the same condition as mine? I sincerely doubt it.

I just want to make sure that wasn't a type, 244k miles? I know Hondas are solid, but that's starting to show some age there. The brand new tires aren't really that much of a difference. I just found one on autotrader near me for sale for $2,500 that has 100k fewer miles on it. I don't know what CD player you had installed, but maybe add $200 for it? If it was your personal insurance paying for it some of this stuff would have to be added individually, but nothing your listing really sounds like you've done much.

On that 26 page report, did they show you comparables in your area? I think you hit the nail on the head when you said "it was worth a heck of a lot more to me". As a guy with no dog in this fight, I think the $2,400 might be low, but it's not that low. If I can find a car with 100k fewer miles for $100 more than what they're offering you, it seems like a pretty reasonable deal.
 
Todd, 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.

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