Dealing with Insurance Companies..

After several days of back and forth with his insurance company...I feel as though I am in a baseball game... One low ball (offer) after another low ball (offer). They are basing their offers on blue bbok retail prices without regard to my trucks low mileage, condition, and added items that were totally destoyed and will require replacement on a new vehicle. Thank God there are 9 innings in a baseball game as I am not swinging at any of their offers thus far.. Just complaining about the calls...

If totaled your are owed fair market value for your truck in its current state. Note this is retail value not trade in and yes they might try and pay you trade in value.

The same holds true for replacement parts, if your truck is in excellent condition then you can demand factory new replacement parts if they are available. Do you think the truck is totaled? If so then start looking at what like trucks are selling for and not just in your market area.

Don

Don't be afraid to negotiate a settlement with them. We had a similar situation with my mom. She was driving a 10 year old car that literally looked brand new inside and out and had very low miles (about 49K as I recall) for year car. The initial offer was right at average value. I contacted the adjuster and found out that he had not actually seen the car in person, but only utilized photos of the damage. I described the car to him and requested that he review the case and take a look at the car in person. I met him and the yard where the car was towed to and he agreed that it was in much better shape than average and adjusted the quote accordingly. We were happy with the amount and all was well. Since it was totaled, we were dealing with diminished value, but I would include it although depending on the age of the truck, it is much harder to get them to agree to diminished value the older the vehicle gets.

As was stated above, be professional and polite. While this may be personal for you, it is just business to them.

dapperdan wrote:
Food for thought, make sure you get a fair settlement, not just repair costs!!

In August of 2014 I T-Boned a young lady who never stopped for a stop sign. We were both OK, I was only going about 30 MPH at the time and jammed on my brakes, probably going closer to 20 or 25 at impact (air bag never deployed). Her car suffered pretty bad damage to passenger side at the door and rear of it. My truck was a mess, all of the radiators/cooling units were trashed as well as grill and partial fenders and hood. $7200 damage to MY truck, her insurance covered ALL of it including my deductible.

Last February I decided to buy a new 2015 RAM, when I gave the dealer my truck to check out "moderate front damage" came up on the car-fax report. After telling them what happened I was offered significantly LESS for my trade-in due to THAT damage! I checked with two other dealerships (just for my own peace of mind) and sure enough the damage incurred the August before came around to bite me in the U - NO - what!!! From now on if it's not my fault I'll be going after the other guy for "lost value" as well as damages.

Dan

X2!
Something no insurance company or agent will volunteer to you.
May have to threaten court with the other driver.

You're all over it.
If you can't find a low miles comparable truck to value against, keep going down in age til you find the most comparable newer model.
Recepts of all the mods as well.
Don't forget about diminished value, don't know how to calc it but plenty of Ben Ike's with salvage titles to compare to for a ballpark figure.
And also the tax and licensing costs of another vehicle, whether same year or not.

Most importantly remember there isn't a single non profit ins co out there. Just like you try to reduce costs to increase profit in whatever industry you're in, so does the ins co.

An Appointment wrote:

DD716TED wrote:
Just seeking suggestions and/or advice... This week my Immaculate Truck was attacked and severly damaged by a logging truck on the interstate. No injuries thank goodness. I have been in contact with the truck's insurance company and already they have provided a rental car for my use while things are assessed and hopefully settled. That is the part that scares me.. The blue book value of my vehicle is no where near what it can be replaced for. My vehicle has extremely low mileage, and many added many extras such as sound system, hard tonneau cover, etc... I have receipts for what I have added. I have found several similar vehicles within 100 miles for reference of value, but they are all less equipped, double the mileage of my vehicle, yet priced well above what blue book lists for my vehicle. I am just trying to get everything lined up for discussion when the Truck's insurance company when they make an offer??? any suggestions or ideas on preparing for this would be appreciated.. I have never delt with an insurance company before but!!!

I hesitated to get involved in this but --

Sounds to me like you're on the right track.

Your Agent knows about the accident and is advising you to stay the course?

Go for it.

And BTW, if the Loggers Insurance offer is fair, take it. You really don't want to tangle with an Insurance Company. If you don't think it's fair, you can go to arbitration in many States. I don't know about yours.

Just be careful. Be patient, polite, businesslike, do NOT make threats, do not argue, do not try to bargain (it's okay to plead :) ). And under NO circumstance bring up the dirty word of 'lawyer'

They'll sometimes just shut down and walk away. Turn it over to Legal. They got lawyers, too

The other guys just want this thing over and done with. They know their Insured is in the wrong and they just want it gone.

Help them. Give them receipts. Show them pictures. Show them other trucks that are up for sale.

A few thousand dollars is a lot to the average person (it certainly is to me) but it's next to nothing to an Insurance Company. They deal in the Millions.

The adjuster you're working with just wants this case gone. He or she has got a lot of other claims to worry about besides yours. He wouldn't mind giving you twice what your truck is worth but he needs to justify it to his boss, And you can help him do that.

Just some things to keep in mind.

Good luck. And use your Agent for advice, if nothing else.

Insurance is complicated.

Thank you for your comments... This is pretty much what I am planning on doing when the insurance company gets back with me. I think this will be sooner rather than later as I have their rental car in my driveway. I have all the documentation, receipts, pictures and listings of like vehicles in hand ready to go... My biggest point (in my mind) will be the extremeley low mileage (80 k less) my vehicle has/had compared to what is available as a replacement... No matter what they settle with, I will have to add $$$ to get a vehicle I like,, thanks again

DD716TED wrote:
Just seeking suggestions and/or advice... This week my Immaculate Truck was attacked and severly damaged by a logging truck on the interstate. No injuries thank goodness. I have been in contact with the truck's insurance company and already they have provided a rental car for my use while things are assessed and hopefully settled. That is the part that scares me.. The blue book value of my vehicle is no where near what it can be replaced for. My vehicle has extremely low mileage, and many added many extras such as sound system, hard tonneau cover, etc... I have receipts for what I have added. I have found several similar vehicles within 100 miles for reference of value, but they are all less equipped, double the mileage of my vehicle, yet priced well above what blue book lists for my vehicle. I am just trying to get everything lined up for discussion when the Truck's insurance company when they make an offer??? any suggestions or ideas on preparing for this would be appreciated.. I have never delt with an insurance company before but!!!

I hesitated to get involved in this but --

Sounds to me like you're on the right track.

Your Agent knows about the accident and is advising you to stay the course?

Go for it.

And BTW, if the Loggers Insurance offer is fair, take it. You really don't want to tangle with an Insurance Company. If you don't think it's fair, you can go to arbitration in many States. I don't know about yours.

Just be careful. Be patient, polite, businesslike, do NOT make threats, do not argue, do not try to bargain (it's okay to plead :) ). And under NO circumstance bring up the dirty word of 'lawyer'

They'll sometimes just shut down and walk away. Turn it over to Legal. They got lawyers, too

The other guys just want this thing over and done with. They know their Insured is in the wrong and they just want it gone.

Help them. Give them receipts. Show them pictures. Show them other trucks that are up for sale.

A few thousand dollars is a lot to the average person (it certainly is to me) but it's next to nothing to an Insurance Company. They deal in the Millions.

The adjuster you're working with just wants this case gone. He or she has got a lot of other claims to worry about besides yours. He wouldn't mind giving you twice what your truck is worth but he needs to justify it to his boss, And you can help him do that.

Just some things to keep in mind.

Good luck. And use your Agent for advice, if nothing else.

Insurance is complicated.

Whatever aftermarket stuff you add to your vehicle, or how well you take care of it, doesn't really affect your blue book value of the vehicle that much.

It's like remodeling the bathroom or a living room on a house and then counting the whole amount you spent when you sell it.

Only like 10% of what you spend to upgrade actually counts to the selling price.
Simply because most people won't care what you did to it, if you are trying to off load it.

That's the way insurance companies work.

Having a custom car body shop I deal with insurance companys all the time. If its totaled tell them to find a truck comparable to yours in mileage and equipment. They will try to do bluebook but they have to make you whole again. Your add ons you have done pretty much mean nothing if they bolt on. You are free to remove and keep these in most cases.
If its not totaled you are free to choose the repair shop you want and keep in mind they have to pay you diminished value on your truck.

As long as the trucker's insurance company intends to pay the bill the OP insurance company will most likely set on the sideline.