Can you argue with the car insurance adjustor's decisions?

[MillauFr]

Whatever happens don't worry about getting collision and comprehensive coverage on a 2015 Kia. Just drop the insurance coverage. I dropped coverage after my Subaru was 7 years old. Even before that I had a $5,000 deductible. It isn't worth making claims.

 

[leebee]

Whatever happens don't worry about getting collision and comprehensive coverage on a 2015 Kia. Just drop the insurance coverage. I dropped coverage after my Subaru was 7 years old. Even before that I had a $5,000 deductible. It isn't worth making claims.

Insurance is required by law in Maine, so this isn't an option.

 

[WDWEPCOT]

Couple options
One - you can withdraw your claim and pay for the damages yourself
Two - your insurance company can total your car you can see if they’ll sell it back to you if they’re going to salvage it basically you’ll be buying your own car back so the amount of money that they’re gonna give you for the car they’ll deduct the amount of the highest salvage value of the car and that will be the amount of money you’re going to get if they will sell the car back to you
Is not an issue of the condition of the car it’s the fact that the car is old and it just cost so much to repair cars these days you’d be surprised how much it cost to repair that little bit of damage that’s been done to your car because your car is old it’s just not got the value to put the money into it to repair it that’s probably why they’re going to total it
If I was you I would be checking into what the Kelley Blue Book value is for that car so that you have a good idea of what a good price is so you know when they offer you something on it that they’re offering you a fair price because you can reject their price and tell them it’s too low
Good luck!!

 

[disneychrista]

Insurance is required by law in Maine, so this isn't an option.

Insurance is usually only required to cover the other party in an at fault accident unless there is an lien holder. The law is to protect the other party not you.

 

[slo]

I’m so sorry to hear this @leebee
I don’t have much to offer except a hug. My husband got into a car accident about a month ago on his way to work, luckily his airbags were not deployed because the insurance would’ve totaled his truck if they did. As the body shop is repairing his truck, the farther they get into what needs to be repaired, they are finding more and more wrong with it. I’m kind of surprised that State Farm is continuing to agree with all these additional repairs and items that need to be replaced. I don’t even want to think how much our insurance is gonna go up after all of this.

My dad ran into the back of his garage and the airbags were deployed, and State Farm totaled his car - it was not even three months old. I think the airbags being deployed is the game changer with this - from everyone I talk to when airbags are deployed the car is totaled.

I hope everything works out for you and I’m just glad that you’re OK

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I know from the finance end, it is not unusual at all to have "owner retained" vehicles. Basically the insurance will pay a lower settlement to the lienholder and the owner keeps the vehicle. I would ASSUME if you own the vehicle outright, they would just pay YOU a lower settlement and you keep the vehicle.

I cannot speak for what would happen to the title once the lienholder signs off, but I would assume it would be converted to a salvage title or something at that point.

It is also not unusual for "total loss" vehicles to be perfectly drivable. Some of the most common I can think of is hale damage. I remember seeing one vehicle that was a total loss because a tree fell in such a way that it put a decent sized SCRATCH on the back lid. (Of course that raises the question of why somebody would have something like a Ford Escape circa early 2000's financed).

 

[Micca]

Sorry to hear about this leebee, glad you're ok! No advice except to remind everyone how tricky it can be to drive on ice. Hope you can figure something out with the car.

 

[mjkacmom]

Insurance is required by law in Maine, so this isn't an option.

Car insurance is required in NJ, but we don’t have collision on our 2007 or 2011. We have $5000 deductibles on all vehicles, because even those with collision, we only file claims for very large claims (like my odyssey, 8 years old but very low miles).

 

[barkley]

a few years ago we slid on the snow and despite it being a very slow slide and not a hard impact into a snowbank (covering a boulder) did some damage to the plastic on the front of our car (underneath the bumper which was fine). i've got a $1K deductible and figured it would not be worth it to submit a claim so I took it to my regular mechanic/body work guy. he took one look and then showed us how that plastic piece extended under the car, how much would have to be removed from the car to replace it and then reattached...and suggested we submit a claim b/c it was going to run over $2K to replace got into a 'minor' fender bender (rear ended) a few years earlier (different car) and despite it looking like no damage we had the truck inspected just to be safe-found out that little hit had done some significant damage and had thrown off the alignment of the bed of the truck and broken some brackets. another costly repair but the other person's insurance had to cough up the cost.

what can appear to be an inexpensive repair can in reality be very costly.

 

[_19disnA]

Most insurance companies probably have standard procedures for how they deal with claims. A 10 yr old vehicle will likely have difficulty finding available repair parts and based on the amount of damage, a significant amount of labor would be needed to do all of the repairs. You might ask the insurance company if you have an option to keep the vehicle even if they 'total' it. You could then shop around to compare repair estimates from other local/reputable garages.

 

[barkley]

I get that insurance companies have their criteria and cost analysis on repair vs totaling a bit older car but having just helped a family member try to replace a car that died a 'natural death' (age/mileage/wear) and experiencing the general LACK of used cars (other than used e.v.'s which are in abundance) let alone the prices of available used cars the reality is while the Kelly blue book an insurance company uses to determine the re-sale value of that older car may be remotely (very remote in our experience) accurate-actualy finding a replacement can be near impossible.

it's one thing to be in an accident and have your car at the mechanics and (ideally) have rental coverage for the time you're without it-another thing entirely if the insurer quickly decides to designate it 'totaled' in which case you don't qualify for the rental and you are stuck trying to even find a replacement (let alone a safe/reliable/decent mileage one-and hoping against hope you are not buying something on the verge of needing costly repairs).

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

Airbags deploying is a much more costly repair than you think. There are special tools needed and procedures needed to replace them. In a car that old, the cost to repair is probably more than what the car is worth, which is why it is totaled. Totaled doesn’t mean undriveable, it means not worth the cost to repair. You can get a salvage title, have the insurance company pay out the value and get it fixed yourself, but I’m not sure what happens with your insurance at that point.

 

[kymom99]

I’m so sorry to hear this @leebee
I don’t have much to offer except a hug. My husband got into a car accident about a month ago on his way to work, luckily his airbags were not deployed because the insurance would’ve totaled his truck if they did. As the body shop is repairing his truck, the farther they get into what needs to be repaired, they are finding more and more wrong with it. I’m kind of surprised that State Farm is continuing to agree with all these additional repairs and items that need to be replaced. I don’t even want to think how much our insurance is gonna go up after all of this.

My dad ran into the back of his garage and the airbags were deployed, and State Farm totaled his car - it was not even three months old. I think the airbags being deployed is the game changer with this - from everyone I talk to when airbags are deployed the car is totaled.

I hope everything works out for you and I’m just glad that you’re OK

If you are 3 years accident free, your rates won’t go up.

 

[sam_gordon]

If you are 3 years accident free, your rates won’t go up.

Doesn't that depend on the insurance company?

 

[_19disnA]

You can get a salvage title, have the insurance company pay out the value and get it fixed yourself, but I’m not sure what happens with your insurance at that point.

I would be careful about getting a car with a 'salvage' title. In some states they won't let you renew your license plates for such vehicles since they are considered unsafe to drive on the roads. Make sure to understand the applicable laws for where you live to avoid surprises down the road.

 

[kymom99]

Doesn't that depend on the insurance company?

Yes but slo mentioned State Farm. That’s who I have and that was my experience.

 

[sam_gordon]

Yes but slo mentioned State Farm. That’s who I have and that was my experience.

Wondered about that, but the statement could also be read that it applies to all insurance companies, so wanted to clarify.

Thanks!

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

@leebee the best use of your time and energy right now would be to research the fair market value of your totaled car, gather any recent repair/maintenance receipts for that vehicle as they can be used when negotiating with your insurance company about the value of your vehicle, and start thinking about/researching what type of vehicle you will purchase/lease to replace your Kia (unless it is a spare vehicle and you don’t necessarily need to replace it right away.)

A 2015 Kia with airbags deployed is a goner. And even though it may not look like it, if your airbags deployed there is more damage to the front end than a cracked grille. Sorry this happened.

 

[MillauFr]

Insurance is required by law in Maine, so this isn't an option.

Yes you need to have liability insurance. You don't need coverage to repair your own vehicle in case of an accident. Collision and comprehensive. As you are unfortunately finding out now having collision and comprehensive isn't going to pay enough to replace your vehicle if it gets totalled.

 

[slo]

If you are 3 years accident free, your rates won’t go up.

Really???
This was a good post to wake up to!
Thanks