niterida

I was in a small fender bender on feb 17. A guy in a big Chevy 2500 turned left in front of me and smashed up the front of my car. nothing too serious I thought, I figured new : hood, fender, bumper and headlight, and fix upper rad support. Not nearly enough damage to total a $15k car.

Well the insurance called on friday and my car is now a total loss. Because they value the car at $7K. WTF.

So I get the car back and it is completely torn apart and now I am left to fix this mess that I didn't cause.

Here is how the car came back to me from the body shop.











Does anyone know what I can do from here? I think I should challenge my insurances decision and go after this guys insurance because he admitted fault.
I think I need to prove my car is worth more than $7K

RTW DC2R

I hope you have a police report STATING it was his fault....

and yes definitely fight your insurance company. show them some for sale ads of similar cars if you can find some. How many miles are on the car? clean title? do they KNOW its a Type R? what insurance company is it?

niterida

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RTW DC2R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I hope you have a police report STATING it was his fault....

and yes definitely fight your insurance company. show them some for sale ads of similar cars if you can find some. How many miles are on the car? clean title? do they KNOW its a Type R?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I have a police report stating he was at fault.
100K miles and clean title. I bought it in 03 from the original owner.
I told the insurance that it was a Type R and not a RS or GSR etc.
Their response was "the car might have a specific market but we value your car at $7K so it is a total loss"

Todd00

Do a search...this comes up all the time. You'll get the same answers: reject their offer and submit proof that the car is valued more than they are saying.

Dave_B

FIGHT IT!!!

No way the car is worth 7k. BUT... this might be in your favor...

They could pay off the car, you keep it and fix it. Take a look at my sig... the car I rebuilt was in WAY worse shape. That would be an EASY fix!!!

Ed 341

They gave the car back with out the situaution being settled? Is it officially a total loss?

jomama

DON'T SETTLE with the insurance yet! you're getting screwed already with the settlement in my opinion...

jgirard

Just wondering, were parts stolen of it or something? Why is you driver side door panel, mirror missing? Is that the original door? where did he hit you? I'm guessing driver side front corner?

RTW DC2R

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Dave_B &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">FIGHT IT!!!

No way the car is worth 7k. BUT... this might be in your favor...

They could pay off the car, you keep it and fix it. Take a look at my sig... the car I rebuilt was in WAY worse shape. That would be an EASY fix!!!</TD></TR></TABLE>

this worked for me. after my interior was stolen (13K in total damages), car was totalled out. I paid a few bucks to keep it minus any deductibles I owed, and they paid off the loans and I repaired it myself. could work out well for you depending how much you have to pay to keep it.

or just go after the other drivers insurance and make them pay for it.

niterida

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jgirard &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just wondering, were parts stolen of it or something? Why is you driver side door panel, mirror missing? Is that the original door? where did he hit you? I'm guessing driver side front corner?</TD></TR></TABLE>

The body shop literally tore the car apart. and when they delivered it they "forgot" all of the parts they took off the car. I called them up saying I was gonna call the cops on them if they didn't give back all the parts.

What makes this hard is the car and body shop are 400 miles from me ( I am at school in central Cal). So I am totally in the dark about what is going on with my car.

I didn't settle with the insurance yet. I told them I just wanted my car out of that body shop and paid to have it towed back to my house.

jgirard

So did they put the parts in the car just not installed or are they still holding on to them? If not thats BS, you need to have someone go there and pick them up ASAP before they get "misplaced" as they will call it

niterida

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jgirard &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So did they put the parts in the car just not installed or are they still holding on to them? If not thats BS, you need to have someone go there and pick them up ASAP before they get "misplaced" as they will call it</TD></TR></TABLE>

I got them back, all of them. then I raised hell with the management.

and yeah the car was hit in the drivers front.

dc2-slow

Shouldnt be the other guy's insurance taking care of all this?

.Ash

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dc2-slow &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Shouldnt be the other guy's insurance taking care of all this?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Indeed, why are you going through your own? You always have more leverage with the other parties. Police reports are never solid indicators of fault since they weren't there to witness the incident. Not pertaining to your accident but fyi.

niterida

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dc2-slow &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Shouldnt be the other guy's insurance taking care of all this?</TD></TR></TABLE>

That is what I thought!

the guy said to me " you are more than welcome to call his insurance and file with them"

I was so furious and confused on the phone I didn't even know what to say to him.

I have left a bunch of messages with my insurance and am still waiting to hear back so they can answer my questions.

and the insurance I have is USAA, which has been good to me until now

JackBurton

Dude.. welcome to hell... I battled my ins for 2 months about the value of my car... DO NOT SETTLE YET!!!! be aggressive... With my stolen R, I had to show them comparable R's in my area. it took some time for one to show up because I have a 98. But with patience and the help of this forum, I was able to prove they were screwing me.

pvt_awol

dude, good luck on getting this situation figured out. I wish you the best.


One question, from the damage in the pics, it looks like front end damage. And you said that it was as well.


Why oh why, did the body shop feel that they had to remove the door panel? Or better yet, why did they remove the outside door handle? What the heck?

genetsang

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Todd00 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Do a search...this comes up all the time. You'll get the same answers: reject their offer and submit proof that the car is valued more than they are saying.</TD></TR></TABLE>


yup, thats what my buddy did with his em1. it was stolen and stripped. Insurance called him and gave him a lowball payoff.

my friend claimed that his car was worth more than whats listed in the books.
And emailed proof stating that it was. He got ads from autoshopper, NADA, private sales, and more importantly, the 99-00 si's were a limit production vehicle, hence holding value slightly higher than regular civics....

The insurance took all those into consideration and gave him a check and was happy.

Long story short. Show proof that your car isnt worth $7k. Stress to them that it isnt a regular production Integra. and stress it to them that its a limited production model/collectors car. and go on from there.

Good luck. and DONT SETTLE with your insurance, unless you get the value!!

genetsang

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dc2-slow &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Shouldnt be the other guy's insurance taking care of all this?</TD></TR></TABLE>


when i got into my little fender bender and even though it wasnt my fault, my insurance told me that i had to put a claim through my insurance first... They will either fix all the damages or if its a total loss, then they will cut me a check for it...

THEN my insurance will go file another claim with the person that hit me to recoop all the money for the damages..

Thats what i was told... maybe all insurance operate under a different policy? i dunno...

.Ash

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by niterida &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

That is what I thought!

the guy said to me " you are more than welcome to call his insurance and file with them"

I was so furious and confused on the phone I didn't even know what to say to him.

I have left a bunch of messages with my insurance and am still waiting to hear back so they can answer my questions.

and the insurance I have is USAA, which has been good to me until now</TD></TR></TABLE>

The reason they can't do it for you would be since they don't have legal rights to recovery without paying something. This usually means you pay your deductible to your insurance then they recover for you later. Problem with this, you are bound to their rules which are set in stone. In going directly thru the other party, you have more work on your part but their rules can be bent since you have no policy or contract with them. You always have the option to go thru either when you aren't at fault. Shoot me a pm if you have any questions further, this is what I do every day; I'll try to answer any questions I can.

JackBurton

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by genetsang &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Show proof that your car isnt worth $7k. Stress to them that it isnt a regular production Integra. and stress it to them that its a limited production model/collectors car. and go on from there.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Unfortunately, MOST insurance companies could give 2 fists about this. Limited production, and collector car are meaningless terms when it comes to "value". From my own experience, I sent my ins co... buckets of literature about the R... irrefutable evidence that the car is "RARE". It didn't matter. The only thing that matters is proof... and the only acceptable proof is local vehicles for sale, same model, same year, same mods. Again, this was my case, so I am speaking from my experience... but it seems to translate across the board to most of these heartless insurance companies.

pvt_awol

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by niterida &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
and the insurance I have is USAA, which has been good to me until now</TD></TR></TABLE>


well, if I wasn't scared before, I am now. I have USAA also.

I called them up the other day to see what they valued my ITR at. I told them that with all the theft going around lately, I'd be better off to sell it, than wait for it to get stolen so they could screw me over on it.

they WOULD NOT tell me a value. They said I'd have to file a claim and then go from there. So I guess they think our cars are worth 7k? WTF!!??

genetsang

you are absolutely right that insurance doesnt care if the car is a "rare, collectors, limited production etc.."

But if the OP shows valid proof/argument that his car isnt worth the $7k and rather MORE, the insurance company would at least consider and hear him out. Doesnt mean they will give him more for the car.. but at least take it into consideration.

Im speaking from my friends scenerio. All State screwed and lowballed him. He had nothing to lose, so he went out and did his homework. He got a reasonable payout for his lose.... after showing them what the car is selling for.. for his particular mileage/condition....

But yes, its a case by case scenerio... My friend benefited from it... and We all on HT is hoping that it would be the same for the OP.

batmobile

I just settled with USAA on Feb 22nd for a theft loss for a 2000 ITR with 64000 miles.

Their first offer was $12.8K. $12.8K, where have I seen that number before? Oh yeah, that's what Kelley blue book says its worth. That number took a lot of hard research effort on their part.

They ultimately gave me $14K + TTL after I showed them 23 comparable relatively stock cars nationwide that averaged $18K asking. I argued that $16K was a reasonable 'take' price.

They kept repeating that they would only accept local market cars - and there were no Type Rs for sale at the time in Houston. They faxed me a couple of GSRs and LSs to prove they had no idea what they were talking about.

Then they came up with a number right out of their 4ss - with no local comparables. And that was OK by their rules. Their game is to find the lowest hook to throw you and see if you bite.

Just like Vegas, the cards are stacked in their favor.

If you have the patience, and you have an appraisal clause, then the next step is to hire an independent appraiser who may back up your claim.

They may still balk and require you to help pay half for a third appraisal to reconcile yours and theirs.

And then your only recourse beyond that is arbitration (They wrote into your policy contract that you can't sue them). Google 'arbitration' and 'total auto loss' and find out that your odds are slim to none should you pursue this.

The only way you might 'win', is to just ride it out. Let them make the offer, and decline until it is acceptable. They need to settle it. They are using time and pressure on you to accept their terms. They want you to get mad, so to beat them stay cool. Good Luck.

They basically have us over a barrel.

Yeah, USAA is overall a great company. But their auto claims department are a bunch of d*ckheads.

Can't tell I am still a little bitter over it?




Modified by batmobile at 7:35 PM 3/4/2008

1sikitr

Srry 2 hear ,, GL with the insurance