Total Loss Amount - Comparable Local Vehicles?

[Bacchus]

Hi, thanks in advance for any help or tips.

My girlfriend was struck on the highway on Saturday by a girl merging into her lane without signaling or head checking, and the cops have already cited her as the driver at fault, along with witness statements stating the girl gave no indication to cutting over. Her insurance (Mid-Century Insurance, which is a subsidiary for high risk drivers under Farmers) have been dragging their feet, having not even gotten statements from the driver yet, and said they will contact us possibly in the next 2 days. They won't cover a rental until their investigation is over, my girlfriend has already missed a day of work and am now having to take commute for 3 hours on public transportation. I have already had a friend who's a mechanic take a look at the car, and he says it would definitely be considered a total loss.

The car is a 1998 Subaru Impreza L Wagon with AWD, both of which are extremely important since the girlfriend is a dog behaviorist and often needs to transport training/foster dogs, and has a daily commute of 60 miles in the snow during the winter. It took her about 6 months to find this car, which was in great shape, had great reliability ratings, and fits her needs for her work. Our main concern is that NADA Clean trade in $1,650 Retail $3,250, Edmunds Private $1549 Dealer $2691, KBB Good Condition $1570 , but there are no Subaru's around that year, mileage, and condition for that amount especially now with snow in the mountains.

I am doing my homework ahead of time, since I like to be prepared when the adjuster finally contacts us. Would it help if we show local comparable AWD Wagon type cars? Or should we just show Subaru's? Or only Impreza's? Can we expand our local search until we find something comparable?

We just need any help/tips for a fair replacement.

 

[djs]

What you are experiencing is normal. There are a couple of things you can do though.

Lets start with some basics.

Insurance companies will almost never assume liability for an accident until they talk with both parties and sometimes wait to see a police report as well. The police reports can sometimes drag out this process.

Until they assume liability, they will not pay for a rental car, but will usually reimburse you if you had to pay for one out of pocket in the meantime (for a reasonable period of time).

You can also file the claim with your own insurance and if you have coverage, they, your carrier will pay to fix / total your car and pay for the rental car. This is always faster than going through the other carrier. You will pay your deductible upfront but when your carrier gets reimbursed from Mid-Century, they will reimburse you your deductible.

Value of car: Carriers do not use NADA or KBB, other than as a reference. On older cars though, sometimes its as close as they can get. They try to find actual sales and listing in the area for similar vehicles. They then make adjustments for condition, including mileage, interior condition, tread wear on tires, year, pretty much anything you can think of.

Finding the exact same car: Never happens. Keep in mind, an insurance companies job is to write you a check that makes you whole again. It is not their job to find you a better car, newer car, whatever, but to get you back (moneywise) to where you were before the accident, or as close to it as possible. From there, you can buy whatever you would like, or nothing if you prefer.

Dan

 

[Bacchus]

Finding the exact same car: Never happens. Keep in mind, an insurance companies job is to write you a check that makes you whole again. It is not their job to find you a better car, newer car, whatever, but to get you back (moneywise) to where you were before the accident, or as close to it as possible. From there, you can buy whatever you would like, or nothing if you prefer.

Dan

Thanks for the reply.
My girlfriend is not trying to get a better or newer car, she just want what is fair for what she had previously. She wasn't at fault, so why should she have to shell out another couple thousand to get a car that is comparable to what she had previously?