Collision with Deer - $ Advice Needed

[kymom99]

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

I use State Farm. Step daughter totaled her car. You cannot transfer title with a lien on it for any reason.

 

[Lewisc]

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

I use State Farm. Step daughter totaled her car. You cannot transfer title with a lien on it for any reason.

I had a car totaled by State Farm. I had to give them a clean title.

Either tvguy is mistaken, State Farm made a mistake or there was something exceptionally different in his case.

I'll speculate the car wasn't totaled, in the legal sense of the word. The car was totaled in that it made no sense to consider repairing it.

 

[EMode]

My last car was totaled out by Geico but I am still the title holder. They just deducted what they would have gotten in salvage from my payment. So there are cases where a car is totaled out by an insurance company and the car owner remains the title holder. This is for a car that was paid off so I'm not sure if its a different situation if there is a lien holder on the title.

 

[Lewisc]

My last car was totaled out by Geico but I am still the title holder. They just deducted what they would have gotten in salvage from my payment. So there are cases where a car is totaled out by an insurance company and the car owner remains the title holder. This is for a car that was paid off so I'm not sure if its a different situation if there is a lien holder on the title.

Maybe that's what happened with TVGuy. If you don't agree to that kind of deal the insurance company is responsible for the storage costs and for the cost to tow the car to the salvage yard.

 

[tvguy]

I had a car totaled by State Farm. I had to give them a clean title.

Either tvguy is mistaken, State Farm made a mistake or there was something exceptionally different in his case.

I'll speculate the car wasn't totaled, in the legal sense of the word. The car was totaled in that it made no sense to consider repairing it.

See the 4th paragraph of item 1. This is from carinsurance.com and describes the exact process I went through. Check to me, my problem to pay off the loan.

http://www.carinsurance.com/Articles/5-things-to-do-with-a-totaled-car.aspx

 

[EMode]

Maybe that's what happened with TVGuy. If you don't agree to that kind of deal the insurance company is responsible for the storage costs and for the cost to tow the car to the salvage yard.

In our case the car was still fixable and we decided we wanted to keep it and maybe fix it, or leave it as is since the damage didn't effect any driving capabilities. It is an older minivan and now its only being used to transport dirtbikes so the look wasn't a concern.
The deal was if we kept it the insurance company would deduct whatever they could make from it, which in our case was only around $300. We got way more than we expected for the car in general so that $300 wasn't a big deal. I'm not sure if that is the same as TVGuy, but I assume its something similar.

 

[tvguy]

A ha. A little more research. The lender only gets the check if the loan papers have a clause that give the lender first priority on a settlement check. So that could be a factor too.

 

[Denise W]

A ha. A little more research. The lender only gets the check if the loan papers have a clause that give the lender first priority on a settlement check. So that could be a factor too.

So was your lender listed as a lienholder on your State Farm policy?

Denise

 

[tvguy]

So was your lender listed as a lienholder on your State Farm policy?

Denise

As I recall the lender was lienholder on the policy and registration.

 

[kymom99]

The info I just found said the check would be made to both the lien holder and the owner.

 

[UCFGrad01]

My last car was totaled out by Geico but I am still the title holder. They just deducted what they would have gotten in salvage from my payment. So there are cases where a car is totaled out by an insurance company and the car owner remains the title holder. This is for a car that was paid off so I'm not sure if its a different situation if there is a lien holder on the title.

That's a different option, called owner retained salvage. It may or may not be an option if there is a lien holder...it depends if the lien holder agrees to maintain a loan on a salvaged vehicle. Most times they don't agree to this, because the collateral is worth a fraction of what it should be. If someone owes less than the owner retained salvage payout, they can utilize this option. Payment is made for the balance of the loan to the bank, then whatever is left is issued to the customer. This settlement is lower than if the insurance company takes possession of the car, as the projected salvage auction value is subtracted.

The info I just found said the check would be made to both the lien holder and the owner.

That is a way to do it, although a giant pain for the customer. You have to have the bank sign too before you can cash the check. If you can even manage to get them to agree to that, it often means mailing it somewhere and crossing your fingers you get it back. The only times I've seen this done is at the absolute insistence of the customer, and they generally call back to change their mind when they figure out the adjuster wasn't kidding when they tried to warn them about what a pain that process is