Tough Question (please Help)

[icebeam]

I really don't know what to do. A guy hit me and their insurance admitted fault. The guy only has 25k of coverage for property. He caused 15k worth of damage to my brand new car worth 38k. My insurance refuses to total saying when you add 15k of damage plus the 15k of salvage its only 30k. They say they would have to find $8,000 hidden damage to the car (which likely won't happen) to be able to total it.

His company is State Farm and mine is Geico. In Arizona you can only get diminished value from a insurance of someone that hit you.
So do I have state farm start the repairs and hope they are close to the estimate and I can go after state farm for diminished value. But if they find the repairs to be 25k i won't get anything for diminished value and I would lose the ability for gieco to total the car seeing that extra damage.

So which way do I gamble? This situation is making me want to cry. If the guy had 50k worth of coverage state farm would just total the car as 15k repair + 15k salvage + 10k lost value.

Thanks for any help

 

[_oracle_]

If you've gotten a fair and accurate estimate for repair (at $15k), there would be no reason to total the vehicle. While the at-fault party clearly has lower levels of coverage, there appears to be sufficient coverage for property damage, rental vehicle, etc...

What type of damage is there to your vehicle? So long as there is no major damage to the structure of the vehicle, the adjuster has no reason to total it based on the estimate for repair.

 

[djs]

Where are you getting your numbers from?
Salvage value is probably more like 3-6K, definitely not 50% of the value.

8K of diminished value on 15k of damage? Doubtful.

Get the car fixed. Sounds like there is plenty of coverage to make that happen.

Bottom line: Insurance companies are not going to total a $38K car for $15K in damage. It hasn't crossed the threshold that they will have that discussion even.

Dan

 

[FullAuto]

State Farm isn't going to repair your car. You'll choose the shop. The shop you choose may be on State Farm's direct repair program, but that isn't the insurance company repairing your car.

If the estimate is $15k and the policy limit is $25k, you're good. There isn't $10k in hidden damage. Even in a situation where the policy limits are exceeded in the repair process, your insurance company has the ability to come in and take over. It will be easier in your case since Geico has lower repair standards than State Farm. But, there won't be $10k in hidden damage.

Your diminished value estimate is not realistic.

 

[icebeam]

State Farm isn't going to repair your car. You'll choose the shop. The shop you choose may be on State Farm's direct repair program, but that isn't the insurance company repairing your car.

If the estimate is $15k and the policy limit is $25k, you're good. There isn't $10k in hidden damage. Even in a situation where the policy limits are exceeded in the repair process, your insurance company has the ability to come in and take over. It will be easier in your case since Geico has lower repair standards than State Farm. But, there won't be $10k in hidden damage.

Your diminished value estimate is not realistic.

What do you think the diminished value should be. According to the dealership I was going to trade my car into they would give me 35k trade in but with the carfax saying tow away and major accident they could only give me 25.5k so I'm not sure why its not realistic. Also according to national auction price this seems maybe only 1-2k low. So there is at least 8k diminished value?

Keep in my too that now the car can't be certified and that makes it lose a lot of value.

 

[FullAuto]

What do you think the diminished value should be. According to the dealership I was going to trade my car into they would give me 35k trade in but with the carfax saying tow away and major accident they could only give me 25.5k so I'm not sure why its not realistic. Also according to national auction price this seems maybe only 1-2k low. So there is at least 8k diminished value?

Keep in my too that now the car can't be certified and that makes it lose a lot of value.

That 1-2k low is the diminished value. Be sure to let us know how it turns out.

 

[djs]

Dealership trade in pricing and auction pricing is not a good way to determine values. You need to look at what cars have actually sold for in recent transactions. This is where the true value of a car is 'tested'.

When you are emotionally attached to an outcome, it is easy to see why things should work that way. When you step back a bit and take some emotion out, it is a bit more realistic.

Since I have no details of the accident damage, type of car, your local market, etc., its hard to give much insight on what realistic diminished value is. I can say though, looking at 50% of the damage amount is almost always very unrealistic.

Is there structural damage to the car? Are they straightening the frame? At $15K of damage, why are you saying its a 'major' accident? It could be, but it can all be more cosmetic as well. Heck, my wife backed into a tree and broke the window out of the back of her car. That cost $3500 to get repaired and it was what I would consider minor damage.

Dan