Someone hit my car the other night while it was parked outside of my house. Of course they took off and I didn't get a license #, but I did file a police report. I filed a claim with my insurance company, and they had a tow truck come out and tow my car to one of their recommended repair shops. The insurance adjuster works in that repair shop as well (I did not know this at first). The repair shop called me 5 times over 2 days telling me the price to fix the damages (went from $7,000 the first day, all the way up to $9400 by the end of the 2nd), ensuring me the entire time that the car is still "in the green" and that it's "still under the 80% threshold of being repairable." During this time, the adjuster still had not called me. Finally, on the 3rd day the adjuster called me and said the damages were up to $9800 and that I just had to pay my deductible to get the car repaired. I was shocked, I know my car is not worth anything close to that as I was looking to sell it previously. He tried to tell me the car was worth anywhere from $13,400-$18,000. I bought the car brand new for almost $19,000. I asked him to send me the report he ran because I know my 2010 base model Altima that is in fair to poor condition is not worth anything close to what he quoted me. His report did not show the previous condition of my car (I had a previous accident that I did not report because I did not want to pay the deductible, it had a "glued on" bumper that was spray painted and a broken headlight, and that is just the obvious stuff). I asked him if he even looked at it and he said no, he just compared it to vehicles in the area. Does this sound off to anyone else? Is it possible he has an agreement with the body shop to get them work? I don't want a car that will have an accident reported on it that I will never be able to sell.
My Adjuster is Saying my Car is Worth More Than It is
- Thread starter onyx
- Start date
- 11,995
This doesn't sound odd. You'd have to really beat on the car to have it in as bad of shape as you're referring to, either way, they owe you a replacement vehicle plus tax and tags.
For the most part (if not in it's entirety), adjusters don't really care where you get your car fixed. FullAuto is an adjuster himself so he can shed much more light on this than I can, but it doesn't matter to them if you get the car fixed or what shop you use. With their approved shops I believe it does make the process smoother, but it's illegal for them to steer you to a shop and it's illegal for them to get kickbacks,
If your car took a significant amount of damage and you're not getting it repaired, that's going to probably make it harder to sell then an accident in it's history. Folks might not look at a carfax report, but they will notice the car is held together with duct tape and crazy glue.
For the most part (if not in it's entirety), adjusters don't really care where you get your car fixed. FullAuto is an adjuster himself so he can shed much more light on this than I can, but it doesn't matter to them if you get the car fixed or what shop you use. With their approved shops I believe it does make the process smoother, but it's illegal for them to steer you to a shop and it's illegal for them to get kickbacks,
If your car took a significant amount of damage and you're not getting it repaired, that's going to probably make it harder to sell then an accident in it's history. Folks might not look at a carfax report, but they will notice the car is held together with duct tape and crazy glue.
Not sure where that statement came from..... Why do they owe him a replacement vehicle if it doesn't qualify for being totaled?
Onyx - What is it you want to have happen? What I think I read is you want the insurance company to value your car around $10K (or less) and write you a check, minus your deductible. You are basing this on the fact you think your car isn't worth the $13K they say its worth.
Explain to the adjuster that based on the amount of damage and the fact that you appear to not really want the car any longer, that you would prefer they total it. If it's close, they will usually take a look at it. They will take a look at the repair estimate vs the damage to the car. Estimate may come down though if the body shop is including repairing some of the previous damage. They will look at the condition of the car and get an estimate of the market value based on what similar cars have sold for in the area and make a decision.
Now, how did a person hit your car in front of your house, do this much damage and still drive away in their own car? Most of these I've seen are 2-3K repair jobs, some a bit more, but this seems high. Not saying it isn't possible, just not the norm.
Dan
- 182
When the adjuster determines a value on a vehicle, they typically look at dealer pricing for similar vehicles based on age, location and mileage. Dealers charge more because in efforts to make the vehicle sellable, they tend to bring that condition from "fair" to "good" with minor repairs and cosmetics. With that as a parameter, the valuation begins to sound more reasonable.
All that said, if you "don't want a car with an accident reported on it that you will never be able to sell", FullAuto gave you great advice. Withdraw the claim. Or you can take his second piece of advice and hope for an extra grand in hidden damages, which would meet the threshold and total the vehicle.
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