Collision with Deer - $ Advice Needed

[TinkOhio]

We're back on the Budget Board seeking sage advice from the friendly Dis community.

My husband hit a deer (or it hit him!) on the highway last night. Luckily, he seems fine, but our beloved Santa Fe was totaled! Both the state trooper and the tow truck driver said that it was miraculous that he wasn't hurt. The car was towed to a yard. An insurance agent said that an adjuster would be in contact with us within 48 hours, and that it would most likely be scrapped. She also said that it is considered no fault of my husband, and that we are fully covered. We have a rental for as long as we need it.

So what should we do now? We had one more year to pay on the loan, which was obtained through our credit union. The car was in great shape. We loved it, and would love to get another. We've never had a car totaled before. Does the insurance company pay the credit union the balance and then give us the remaining value of the car to put down towards another? Is there a best way to handle this? We were looking forward to paying this car off and then buying my husband a new car. Looks like this might have to be pushed back for a while.

Thanks so much for any advice about this matter! We could really use some guidance.

 

[tvguy]

They normally just write you a check. They don't care about any loans, they expect you to take care of those. And if settlement doesn't happen before the next payment is due, make that payment and keep making payments until you pay off the loan.

 

[MomToOne]

Does the insurance company pay the credit union the balance and then give us the remaining value of the car to put down towards another? Is there a best way to handle this?

Basically, yes. The insurance company will first determine the fair market value of the car - more on that in a minute. They will payoff any outstanding balance with your lender, who will release the car to them once the payoff is processed. The insurance company will then cut a check for any remaining value to you, minus your deductible, once you also sign a release for your interest in the vehicle. The insurance company is then basically the owner of the car - they sell the car at auction, to recoup what they can on it.

I just recently had my car totaled as well. I was prepared to fight with the insurance company on it's value and did a bunch of research, pulling comparable values from local dealers on similar used cars (same make, model, year, as close in mileage as I could get, from dealers within a 500 miles radius). I was pleasantly surprised when the insurance company's initial settlement value was exactly what I was seeing at dealers - which was actually 1-2K over the Kelly Blue Book or NADA value. I didn't have to fight at all.

Once they've cut you a check, I don't believe the insurance company is on the hook the pay for the rental anymore - make sure to ask your claim handler about how long they will cover that. You should know the settlement value within just a few days, even though it will be awhile before all the sign offs can be gotten and the checks cut. I suggest once you know the settlement amount, you start shopping for another car and have an idea of what you want so that you can move quickly once you receive the payoff (or even before, if you can swing it).

 

[MomToOne]

They normally just write you a check. They don't care about any loans, they expect you to take care of those.

This is completely incorrect - they ABSOLUTELY care about loans, because without the lender releasing their lien on the vehicle, the insurance company cannot sell the vehicle at auction. And they will payoff the loan with the lender directly themselves, because they don't want the lender sending you the lien release or released title, they want it to go straight to them.

The only possible exception is if you want to keep the car (which I don't recommend because you will have to get a salvaged title with DMV, and your lender will probably have a big issue with a loan on a salvaged title). In that case you may just get a check from the insurance company, but once your lender learns a salvaged title has been issued - and they will - they could possibly call your loan and demand immediate payoff.

(I work for a company that is involved on the lender side of all of this, and deal with insurance company payoffs every day.)

 

[3boymthr]

As PPs have noted they give you the current market value of the car. Be prepared this could end up costing you a lot of money. They may or may not give you enough to pay off your loan (this is dependent upon what you paid for the car and how much interest you had to pay for the loan). If they don't give you what you owe you are still liable for the amount owed. I used to work for GMAC. I can't tell you the number of people who went to collections because the car was totaled but they still owed several hundred (or several thousand) on the car and they didn't pay it off because they thought they were done with payments because the car was now the property of the insurance company. So after the loan company is paid call to make sure that the insurance paid it off. If not you are on the hook for the balance AND you won't get any cash to help buy a new car.

 

[Denise W]

They normally just write you a check. They don't care about any loans, they expect you to take care of those. And if settlement doesn't happen before the next payment is due, make that payment and keep making payments until you pay off the loan.

This is incorrect. I was a claims adjuster for 30 years. If your loan is listed on your policy, your carrier will get the payoff amount, and send a check for that amount to the lender. When the lender sends the title to your carrier, your carrier will then send a check for the balance of the value to you. You will be paid under your comprehensive coverage, not collision coverage, because the accident was with an animal. Start looking around for vehicles exactly like the one you had to get an idea of its current market value. The mileage on the car and all prior damage, plus the condition of the car will be considered when they make you an offer. Good luck!

Denisw

 

[ZehnJahren]

I was recently involved in an accident where my car was totaled as well (it was also not my fault).

The insurance company paid my loan and then issued me a check for the rest of the value of the car; I received a "thank you for paying off your loan" letter from my loan holder after the insurance company sent them the check and have held on to that in case I need it in the future. I had to sign my title over to the insurance company upon receipt of the check, and I took the rest of the check they sent me and put it down on the next car I bought.

Just be sure that your loan is paid off - go as far as to call the loan company if you must.

Of added interest to you, I believe I only had 3 days with my rental car after they issued the check. I had to rent a car on my own for an additional week as I looked for a new car. I did not like how fast I was forced to move; add this into your calculations!

 

[SC Minnie]

OP-- also check with your credit union and the loan you have. When I've financed a car through a credit union the loan has included GAP insurance.

 

[yoopermom]

DH and DS had totalled vehicles this past year, and I hit a deer with mine and had massive body damage, so I can relate, OP....

At least up here where this type of accident is common, the process goes quite quickly: adjustor goes out to see vehicle, files the report saying it's totalled, insurance decides on a dollar figure they're willing to pay out to you, you agree or negotiate for more based on your reseach, the $$ first goes to any outstanding loans and then the balance goes to you to buy whatever you choose.

In our case, the amount offered for my son's car was higher than what I expected, but for my husband's truck was lower (due to the very low mileage on it, I believe). Our insurance was excellent to deal with, looked over the links that I sent from autotrader of similar trucks, and offered us X amount more, which we accepted.

As has been mentioned, the rental vehicle is due back as soon as it is decided that repairs are not going to be made.

We pay our insurance monthly, and we were credited back to the day after the accident once the claim was settled.

In DH's case, we had medical claims to deal with as well (his truck rolled and he was taken to the e.r.), so we were careful not to sign off on any of that until we knew that his injuries for sure were not long lasting.

Both were bummers in that it was difficult if not impossible to find replacement vehicles equal to the ones we had for the $$. I especially cried over DH's truck, because it was literally due to be paid off the next month, and now we have another two years of payments on the replacement one.

Good luck!

Terri
Who lives in the land of deer car crashes...

 

[TinkOhio]

Thanks to all for the quick replies and great information. Fortunately, our car would have been paid off in a little over a year. We will not owe anything and should be getting money back after the loan is paid off. Unfortunately, the car is worth so much more to us than what we will get for it! It's almost 4 years old, has low mileage and is (was) in excellent shape. We were planning on holding onto it for a long time. We aren't big on the idea of getting a used car to replace it because of the possibility of inheriting someone else's hidden problems. So this will be a big hit.

Thanks to those who mentioned looking into the rental issue. We were told that we have rental coverage at $30/day, up to $900 per incident. We will have to find out if that ends after they find the car to be totaled.

Thanks, too, for the information about researching comparable cars. I'm not good at haggling, though I love to find a bargain. Is there a good way to approach this? Where are good resources for finding comparable cars in our area? Any other things we should do to get the best settlement?

Thanks, again, for all of the help!

and Terri-- the crash happened in Michigan!

 

[jedijill]

Also, if you have made repairs/maintenance in the last few months, provide those receipts to the adjuster. Things like new tires, brakes, etc. They will give you some credit. Make sure that all the options and aftermarket upgrades are included when they give you a price.

My insurance also kicked me off my rental car a few days after they declared the total loss....not from the day I got my check but from when they declared the loss. They delayed cutting my check and I had to scramble to find a car at the last second.

Good luck!

Jill in CO

 

[UCFGrad01]

This is completely incorrect - they ABSOLUTELY care about loans, because without the lender releasing their lien on the vehicle, the insurance company cannot sell the vehicle at auction. And they will payoff the loan with the lender directly themselves, because they don't want the lender sending you the lien release or released title, they want it to go straight to them.

The only possible exception is if you want to keep the car (which I don't recommend because you will have to get a salvaged title with DMV, and your lender will probably have a big issue with a loan on a salvaged title). In that case you may just get a check from the insurance company, but once your lender learns a salvaged title has been issued - and they will - they could possibly call your loan and demand immediate payoff.

(I work for a company that is involved on the lender side of all of this, and deal with insurance company payoffs every day.)

I work for an insurance company and this is all correct information.

Thanks to all for the quick replies and great information. Fortunately, our car would have been paid off in a little over a year. We will not owe anything and should be getting money back after the loan is paid off. Unfortunately, the car is worth so much more to us than what we will get for it! It's almost 4 years old, has low mileage and is (was) in excellent shape. We were planning on holding onto it for a long time. We aren't big on the idea of getting a used car to replace it because of the possibility of inheriting someone else's hidden problems. So this will be a big hit.

Thanks to those who mentioned looking into the rental issue. We were told that we have rental coverage at $30/day, up to $900 per incident. We will have to find out if that ends after they find the car to be totaled.

Thanks, too, for the information about researching comparable cars. I'm not good at haggling, though I love to find a bargain. Is there a good way to approach this? Where are good resources for finding comparable cars in our area? Any other things we should do to get the best settlement?

Thanks, again, for all of the help!

and Terri-- the crash happened in Michigan!

You may have a few days in the rental, but that will likely be it. Your policy lists a maximum of $30 per day, $900. You'll notice it doesn't list days. In addition, that's the maximum. Your policy coverages are all listed at maximum, meaning you're covered up to that amount. It doesn't mean the maximum will apply in all situations.

 

[yoopermom]

OP play around on autotrader dot com to find your comps. Put in exact same make model year trim extras etc. I had to do about a 5000 mile variance on the vehicles mileage because DHs truck had such low mileage. I also extended the search area to 500 miles to find enough comps since we live in a remote area. I emailed the insurance agent a list of the possible comps and we negotiated from there.

Terri

 

[tvguy]

This is incorrect. I was a claims adjuster for 30 years. If your loan is listed on your policy, your carrier will get the payoff amount, and send a check for that amount to the lender. When the lender sends the title to your carrier, your carrier will then send a check for the balance of the value to you. You will be paid under your comprehensive coverage, not collision coverage, because the accident was with an animal. Start looking around for vehicles exactly like the one you had to get an idea of its current market value. The mileage on the car and all prior damage, plus the condition of the car will be considered when they make you an offer. Good luck!

Denisw

Well, it was how State Farm handled it in the lone instance I have dealt. And I made it clear I had a loan on the car. Claims adjuster said that was my problem came to my house with a laptop and portable printer, printed a check on the spot after I signed some paperwork.

 

[tvguy]

This is completely incorrect - they ABSOLUTELY care about loans, because without the lender releasing their lien on the vehicle, the insurance company cannot sell the vehicle at auction. And they will payoff the loan with the lender directly themselves, because they don't want the lender sending you the lien release or released title, they want it to go straight to them.

The only possible exception is if you want to keep the car (which I don't recommend because you will have to get a salvaged title with DMV, and your lender will probably have a big issue with a loan on a salvaged title). In that case you may just get a check from the insurance company, but once your lender learns a salvaged title has been issued - and they will - they could possibly call your loan and demand immediate payoff.

(I work for a company that is involved on the lender side of all of this, and deal with insurance company payoffs every day.)

State Farm didn't have anything to do with my car. The tow company the car was taken to and stored at for over a month kept it and disposed of it in exchange for the storage fees. I did have to take the lien release to them however after I paid off the loan though.

 

[badiggio]

OP-- also check with your credit union and the loan you have. When I've financed a car through a credit union the loan has included GAP insurance.

When I purchased my last vehicle,GAP ins. was an option,that I took.I highly recommend it in cases where financing is involved or if you've had a previous balance added onto a new purchase.
Can you imagine driving off the lot,having your car totaled,and owing thousands with nothing to show for it?

 

[Lewisc]

Well, it was how State Farm handled it in the lone instance I have dealt. And I made it clear I had a loan on the car. Claims adjuster said that was my problem came to my house with a laptop and portable printer, printed a check on the spot after I signed some paperwork.

State Farm didn't have anything to do with my car. The tow company the car was taken to and stored at for over a month kept it and disposed of it in exchange for the storage fees. I did have to take the lien release to them however after I paid off the loan though.

PP already told you if a car is totaled the insurance company generally takes title. Lien holders are paid. You get a check for the net amount.

A car is totaled when the cost of repairs exceeds a % of the value of the car, I think 80%.

It sounds like your car wasn't really totaled. Rather you decided to use the insurance money toward a new car rather then repairing your car.

 

[ilovemk76]

They normally just write you a check. They don't care about any loans, they expect you to take care of those. And if settlement doesn't happen before the next payment is due, make that payment and keep making payments until you pay off the loan.

Do you just make stuff up or post just to get a reaction?

 

[tvguy]

PP already told you if a car is totaled the insurance company generally takes title. Lien holders are paid. You get a check for the net amount.

A car is totaled when the cost of repairs exceeds a % of the value of the car, I think 80%.

It sounds like your car wasn't really totaled. Rather you decided to use the insurance money toward a new car rather then repairing your car.

No, it was totaled according to State Farm. They wrote me a check, I had to pay off the loan, and then provide the lien release to the tow yard. No replacement car was involved.

 

[tvguy]

Do you just make stuff up or post just to get a reaction?

Ah, no. As these boards demonstrate time and time again, things happen differently in different places and with different companies.