fineleg Posted January 19, 2011 Posted January 19, 2011 Thank God people are all safe. Phew! Can someone give me information on how to negotiate with insurance company if they declare a car as totaled (they do it even if its repairable, but based on value of the car). I'm concerned if they'll (most likely) lowball an offer. How do you arm yourself with right info to negotiate with them if it comes to it. Any tips? Anyone faced the 'totaled' situation before? 6-7 years old vehicle, so not too bad in that sense. But...repair can be complex/expensive - so thats when insurance evaluates if they can declare it 'totaled' if repair can be 70% or some such of the value.
Mamu Posted January 19, 2011 Posted January 19, 2011 Thank God people are all safe. Phew! Can someone give me information on how to negotiate with insurance company if they declare a car as totaled (they do it even if its repairable, but based on value of the car). I'm concerned if they'll (most likely) lowball an offer. How do you arm yourself with right info to negotiate with them if it comes to it. Any tips? Anyone faced the 'totaled' situation before? 6-7 years old vehicle, so not too bad in that sense. But...repair can be complex/expensive - so thats when insurance evaluates if they can declare it 'totaled' if repair can be 70% or some such of the value. Where r u located? Which country? Where did you bang ur car in? WHose fault was it ? If it is not your fault you can put a fair price + extra and u will probably get it. But if it ur fault -- not sure.
flamy Posted January 19, 2011 Posted January 19, 2011 were you in the car finey? :omg: come here babeh, lemme give u a hug and some more :icflove:
Sir john Posted January 19, 2011 Posted January 19, 2011 finey if you are in india than i can advice you about insurance . :hmmm:
punjabi_khota Posted January 19, 2011 Posted January 19, 2011 What happened, your pair of finelegs got stuck between the pair of pedals ? :dontknow: You will get the KBB selling price or thereabouts. Probably something between 'fair' and 'good' depending on when was the last time the insurance company looked at your car. Btw, which insurance ? :D From what I have seen with some people whose cars got totalled, they actually got much more than what they thought was the price. A friend of mine had a deer accident where his car was totalled, he got 2400 for the car which he bought for 1600 Doesn't matter if you were at fault or not, as far as paying for this accident. But if you were @ fault, most companies will jack up ur rates from now on.
Jersey #10 Posted January 19, 2011 Posted January 19, 2011 There is not much you can do to negotiate with insurance company as they are very firm with their policies. When my Dad's car was totaled back in 2008, the insurance company sent us check worth the KBB value of the car. KBB provides the estimated value of your vehicle in the private trade market based on a few criteria such as your location. Most insurance companies will give you a few hundred dollars more than the KBB value though. I would prefer getting the check over having a totaled car repaired.
IKnowU Posted January 19, 2011 Posted January 19, 2011 Insurance companies will probably give you the same car in brand new condition(as long as you were innocent of the offence) because its cheaper for them to replace the car then fix it for you.
lonestarranger Posted January 19, 2011 Posted January 19, 2011 To top it all, the vehicle will be getting a 'Salvage' title.
Aaku Posted January 19, 2011 Posted January 19, 2011 I just read some car insurance thread started by you yesterday :omg: :omg: :omg:
fineleg Posted January 19, 2011 Author Posted January 19, 2011 Thanks for the responses folks. I havent been able to respond individually since been a bit shaken today and feeling nervous (and busy with insurance and stuff). Good thing is no one hurt - and so far so good in that respect. Roads were slippery, and there was a 3rd vehicle that made a sudden movement, so the vehicle just in front hit the breaks suddenly, I didn't have much time to react and mine rear-ended the one in front of me. Technically at-fault - yes. Since it was a rear-ending. I should have given more distance between the vehicle in front and mine. However, this was a regular road and I gave "normal" distance between the vehicles. But should have given a bit more given that roads were a bit slippery - Lesson learnt! (hopefully) Called the cops, and an officer came and wrote down an incident-report. Nice officer, he was friendly and helpful. Had to call the Towing company since the car cannot be driven. Heavy damage in the front part of the car. See the thing is these days cars are built to collapse and absorb the impact. As a result, the car gets damaged more, but it saves the people from impact. So, in that sense the damage to the car was as-per-design (Toyota) - and the officer and the repair shop guy also said as much. Air bags did not deploy - so it was not big enough for that to happen. That's good I suppose. Speed of impact was probably 35 mph. Actually break was applied suddenly, so impact speed may have been slightly less since the traveling speed was around 35. Country: USA Miles on the car: about 60,000 miles 6-7 year old Corolla, so relatively not too many miles if you take into account the number of years. I just got around to checking: Kelly Blue Book: Range of value given seems to be from $6,000-$9,000 Thats a WIDE range - so not sure where in the spectrum it falls. The car has been maintained well, and in good condition otherwise. No issues with the car. Repair shop will do estimates in a couple of days - They'll need to "tear-down" the front part of the car to figure out damages and estimates. I know the Radiator is damaged, front panels, front structure, hood (bonnet) all damaged, and the inside parts - they'll need to assess that if there is moderate or severe damage. Once they know the price, then they'll compare it to the value of the car. The question is What is the value of the car? - each company may determine it a bit differently. I am looking around in the web on Kelly Blue Book and NADA to get some idea as well.
fineleg Posted January 19, 2011 Author Posted January 19, 2011 Company is: Amica Mutual Insurance http://www.amica.com/default.html The insurance company has been helpful thus far. However, the real nature of the customer-service and quality will only be known when they handle claims, and how they settle them, are they fair etc. So far, they have been prompt and helpful in answering questions. The main work of estimating and how they'll proceed etc will happen in the next some days. So, I'll wait and see how they go about it. If they repair: I asked them if they can use new Toyota OEM parts for the repair. They said that they'll have to try to see if Used OEM parts would work - and if they dont only then they will use New parts. They do assure me that they "quality certify" parts, and the repair work is guaranteed for the lifetime of the car - other than usual wear and tear. And this is part of the certified repair network. Personally - I always prefer new OEM replacement parts, but I can understand that some parts are just commodity - for example, a radiator is a radiator - even Toyota buys them from 3rd party vendors. If at all there is a problem in any major components like Engine or thereabouts - then I need to insist a bit more (dont know whether my insisting makes a difference or not). For now - I will wait for them to process the repair estimates and get all damage written up first. PS: Missed the ODI - because of all this commotion! :(( Seems like Yuppo had a good one! :kkr:
punjabi_khota Posted January 19, 2011 Posted January 19, 2011 Toyota Corolla: Such a desi :D :isalute:
fineleg Posted January 19, 2011 Author Posted January 19, 2011 :isalute: :icflove: Hence I'm pure Indian QED Where the hell is that amits - his theory on pure Indians (desis are indians, right? :D) has been shattered
urbestfriend Posted January 19, 2011 Posted January 19, 2011 Oh..You had an accident :omg: Thank god, you're safe :eyedance:
kabira Posted January 19, 2011 Posted January 19, 2011 Now which lousy driving examiner (read BCCI selector) passed you at the exam (read selecting for the team)
The Outsider Posted January 19, 2011 Posted January 19, 2011 Well, at least this firmly establishes fineleg's gender. Good to know no one got hurt. Insurance companies will pay out the higher end of the KBB value, in case a car is totaled.
flamy Posted January 19, 2011 Posted January 19, 2011 Well' date= at least this firmly establishes fineleg's gender. Good to know no one got hurt. Insurance companies will pay out the higher end of the KBB value, in case a car is totaled. daym, i was gonna say the same
beetle Posted January 19, 2011 Posted January 19, 2011 Well' date= at least this firmly establishes fineleg's gender. Good to know no one got hurt. Insurance companies will pay out the higher end of the KBB value, in case a car is totaled. :omg:outsider...:whack: Thank God you are ok finey......:icflove: And:omg:you are impure...I thought you were a sexy mallu from Trivandrum....:((
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