Insurance / Totaled Car Question

[joe7987]

My girlfriend was in an accident a month or so ago (Stopped at a stop light, was rear ended by a girl going approximately 50 mph and never hit the brakes.)

She attempted to file with the girls insurance company, but the insurance company said that the girl wasn't one of their clients. Thinking the girl didn't have insurance, my girlfriend went and got the truck fixed/rental car out of pocket and decided to legally catch up with her later. After a lawyer's note, the girl sent her REAL insurance info.

Now here's the situation. My girlfriend's car is fixed. It works fine now. To be honest, there wasn't much wrong with it to begin with. The girl who hit her went under her truck, meaning that most of the shock was absorbed by friction, and not sheer impact. The insurance company says her truck is totaled. They gave her two options, keep in mind that her vehicle is fixed and is in fine working order with no frame damage:

1.) Hand the car over and get a small sum of money, but not enough to get a vehicle that is anywhere near reliable, especially considering that the vehicle is fixed.
2.) Let her keep the car, give her nothing, and send a letter to the state saying that her car is totalled. They told my girlfriend that she will then not be able to legally drive her car on the road, even though it's fixed.

What are the options here? It seems like bullshit that she can't take some sum of money to cover even some amount of the repairs and keep the car, like you do with all other insurance claims. Is there any way to get around this? There's no reason she should have to send away a working vehicle to be scrapped, only to get the equivalent of about a grand to buy a new car (after taking out the money used to fix essential things on the old vehicle + rental car).

Here are the approximate figures:

If they take her car, they're going to give her about 2800. She spent approximately 600 on rental car and 1000 on repairs. Her car is worth approximately between 2800 and 3500. That said, they're giving her the minimum value for her vehicle and not paying her for rental car or the amount she spent to fix it. They claim they're paying her for the rental car too though.

So my questions are

1. Are they legally allowed to pull this crap? Is there another option?

2. They said that if she keeps it, she won't get a dime and will not legally be able to drive it on the road anymore, even though it's in perfect working order. There HAS to be some way around this one. What can be done?

Thanks

 

[got traction]

If it was like a 82 dodge ram, I can see where the insurance company is coming from. With that said I have a few questions...What year/model truck? whos insurance company is telling her this? name of insurance company?

DO NOT agree to anything yet. Also, even if they total the truck and send a "letter' to the state, there are such things as salvage title cars, and I believe she would just have to have the State Patrol inspect the vehicle to be able to keep it registered.

 

[UCCRacing]

I agree about the salvage title...

But honestly GET A LAWYER... I know it sucks... But she did nothing wrong, so get a lawyer and sue the ins company and the idiot that hit her

 

[joe7987]

Vehicle is a '94 Chevy 1500. Thanks for the info so far!

 

[RonJ]

Who is your girlfriend's insurer? If the insurance company's decision seems like complete BS to you, tell the insurance company that you feel that their decision is unfair and now wish the issue to be decided by an unbiased third-party arbitrator. For a different situation, I requested this from my insurance company at their cost. The arbitrator reversed their decision in my favor.

 

[Rich-PMS]

I've never heard of such a thing. It can't be deamed a total loss if they DONT pay out on it.

I would contact a lawyer asap. Seems like you can take the b***h who hit her to small claims over the rental car charges- as she gave FAKE information.

 

[vjf915]

Sounds like they are trying to rear-end your girlfriend again.....

Seriously, contact that lawyer again. The insurance company SHOULD be reimbursing her for the rental car, and the money she spent to fix her car, and NOT turning it into a salvage car. I don't get why they don't do that anyway, it would be cheaper to reimburse her the $1600 she spent on rental/repair then it would to pay her $2800 for the car. Seems like they're asking for more work and giving away more money.

 

[joe7987]

^^This would be the best case scenario.

Yea, she's got a meeting with University of Central Florida law services tomorrow (they give free legal advice to students). We're too broke to hire a real lawyer. I should also mention that it was decided that the other girl is 100% at fault. I don't remember who the girl's insurance company is. Ron, I'll talk to my girlfriend about getting the company to get an unbiased third-party arbitrator. That's a good idea.

I appreciate all the ideas so far. If you think of any more, please let me know. We're in a pretty situation. We're both trying to pay our way through grad school and she's in the middle of a series of essential dental surgeries (not cosmetic) so we're broke as hell, and we need to get this sorted out the best we can. Don't exactly have cash to get her a new car, especially if they only give us an extra 1200 above what was paid for repairs / a rental AND take her car. Frustrating as all hell.

 

[RonJ]

I should also mention that it was decided that the other girl is 100% at fault. I don't remember who the girl's insurance company is.

The other party's insurance company should be dealing with this claim, not your girlfriend's insurance company. Have you or your girlfriend's insurance company contacted them? If so, why not? Your insurance company should only handle this claim if the other company says your girlfriend is at fault for the accident.

 

[joe7987]

The other girl's insurance company is the one who is handling it. Sorry, I probably didn't type clearly.

 

[LowNotSlow]

Should have gone through your own insurance. They have lawyers for this stuff and you're paying them for it.

 

[joe7987]

Should have gone through your own insurance. They have lawyers for this stuff and you're paying them for it.

We tried at first. They said that we need to call the girl's insurance. They wouldn't have anything to do with it.

 

[RonJ]

The other girl's insurance company is the one who is handling it. Sorry, I probably didn't type clearly.

We tried at first. They said that we need to call the girl's insurance. They wouldn't have anything to do with it.

At this point, you should again speak with your girlfriend's insurance agent. It's in your girlfriend's company's best interest to get this resolved. Otherwise, they may need to cover your girlfriend's claim. Afterward, if you are still at an impasse with the other insurance company, then request that they resolve the issue through an arbitrator. If they balk, then again inform your girlfriend's insurance company of the problem. In short, keep your girlfriend's insurance company informed about how your claim is going with the other company. Document everything in writing and be prepared to send a letter to the state of Florida insurance regulator and both insurance companies.

 

[joe7987]

Ron - My girlfriend doesn't have full insurance coverage. It's just the basic liability insurance. That said, her insurance company won't be paying her anything at all for any reason. Should we still contact them?

 

[RonJ]

Ron - My girlfriend doesn't have full insurance coverage. It's just the basic liability insurance. That said, her insurance company won't be paying her anything at all for any reason. Should we still contact them?

They may still be willing to advise you, although their motivation may be somewhat lower given that they are not financially liable. Still, a good and reputable insurance company should want to help your girlfriend. If they are jerks, however, request arbitration from the other company. Note that they may try to convince you that this is not an option. If so, contact your state's insurance regulator to see whether they are denying your girlfriend a legal right.

 

[joe7987]

Thanks for the advice Ron, I'll pass it on to her

 

[LowNotSlow]

Yikes, just liability.

I went through a similar experience this summer but I had full coverage.

Gone in an instant:


it's situations like this that make the extra money for full coverage absolutely worth it.

 

[joe7987]

Just received the full report on the car from the insurance company. $1600 worth of the damage they used to decide the car was totaled is rust damage... Yes.. rust damage. s**t that has nothing to do with the accident whatsoever. Can they do that? The car wouldn't be totaled if it weren't for the $1600 they decided was part of the claim.... I thought you could only factor in the damage that happened from the accident.

 

[joe7987]

Actually, I just looked at it even further and did some calculations...

The amount of damage calculated when I subtracted the amount they added for rust damage is $2663.13

This insurance company wants to pay my girlfriend $2663.13 + title transfer fee and take the car.... They seem to be hiding this fact by adding the rust damage figure onto the $2663.13, boosting the "total damages" up to over 4000.

Now if they're going to take her car.. shouldn't they be paying her the price her car would sell for (which is around 4k actually)? Only if they were going to let her keep her car would it be acceptable for them to pay her the $2663.13 seeing as that is the amount calculated for damages (without rust included). Am I thinking clearly?

 

[RonJ]

Tell them you want them to show you the rust damage that they are claiming. Raise your concerns then and tell them you think they are ripping you off. Also request a damage appraisal from an independent company. Did you try speaking with your girlfriend's company about this appraisal?