My Own Little Budget-Buster (Final Update - 02/16)

[tinatark]

I just received a call from USAA -- they are willing to offer me a little less than 60% of the vehicle's current retail value (the vehicle concerned has a NADA retail value of roughly $8K with options and mileage taken into account).

I was also told the 60% was not inclusive of Illinois sales tax - which would be reimbursed to me if I bought a replacement vehicle within 30 days (nothing like being strong-armed into a decision - I had not planned on purchasing a replacement vehicle until later).

I am being told this "settlement" is based on the "vehicle's condition" with an unclean interior/exterior -- that does not sit very well with me, as I have kept the vehicle in near-perfect condition (and we've had snow/ice on the ground for over 2 1/2 weeks - of course, there is going to be something of a dirty carpet/mats, this time of year).

I told the USAA Rep that I am not signing anything until I receive paperwork from them stating what enabled them to come to this decision.

I called the other party's claims representative @ Erie, and he told me when he interviewed my wife, yesterday she told him "we were dealing with USAA". I somehow doubt she said that, because even though she is on the policy, she is not on the title (I purchased the vehicle before I got married) and cannot legally make decisions on the disposal of my vehicle.

Here's my question to those of you who have "been there/done that" - if I were to sign anything, would I be signing all future rights away, or could I collect and perhaps file a civil suit for the remaining $3K?

Should I be looking to "lawyer-up" at this point in time?

We just dealt with this same situation last year - the person who hit us had USAA, we had Farm Bureau.

You can get the comps USAA's company is using - with our car, they used 3 - one had been totaled, one was "out for hail damage repair" and the third was a funky color, no options, and had been listed for sale for a year or so with no buyers. The two for sale by dealers were at buy here/pay here dealerships - those cars are typically just junk. They also used the wrong zip code for us, so the comps they used weren't even in our area.

After fighting with USAA for over a month, I called Farm Bureau and had a check within a few days, for almost $3k more than USAA offered.

If I were you, I would contact the other company (their insured was at fault, right?) and see what they offer you. You aren't obligated to use one company or the other - when our car was in an accident, our agent said we could use either one - we thought with USAA's reputation we would just use them - WRONG! Also, you can get reimbursement for loss of use - with us, it was our rental car maximum for the number of days we were without the car.

Whatever you decide to do, you need to do it quickly - USAA will stop paying storage fees and such a day or so after their offer.

Oh - the other option - you can buy it back for "salvage" value and have it repaired with the rest of the *totaled* $ - especially if the damage isn't severe.

 

[ozziejen2000]

Two cents from a prior claims adjuster here.

USAA has to provide you a car report that shows how they came up with their value, make sure that everything is correct on it including the options in your vehicle.

If you recently put on any new tires or anything non maintenance(oil changes, etc), submit the receipts to the adjuster.

If you are able to find any comps on your suv (same model, year, mileage) send them to the adjuster.

Remember that USAA has to subtract your deductible and the sales tax until yuo get another vehicle. They will send the final bill to the other insurance company for reimbursement, which you will then get your deductible back. I would not sign anything from USAA until you have the final breakdown letter with the car report that shows they came up with the value.

Remember that you are not going to get retail value for the car because, they owe fair market value. Retail value is the amount that a dealership will get and that includes their fees to advertise the car and pay their costs. I usually recommend, autotrader or kbb.com - Although your car may have been impecably maintained, most car reports will report it as avg.

I personally have USAA and would not have any other company. I did not work for them either. I love the company and have had three claims with them.

I am sorry that you are going thru this. You are not going to get any more $$ if you lawyer up either. The other company's insurance company is not going to give u any more money either. The insurance companies all use third party vendors to come up with the car reports.

 

[JB2K]

OP back - I did indeed contact the other insurance carrier (Erie Insurance) first thing, Monday morning (I called the person who was handling the claim for the person who hit me). Within 90 minutes, I received a call from one of Erie's adjusters in my local area who will be paying a visit to the body shop, this (Tuesday) morning.

I am hoping to hear something definitive from Erie by the end of the day...

 

[delmar411]

OP back - I did indeed contact the other insurance carrier (Erie Insurance) first thing, Monday morning (I called the person who was handling the claim for the person who hit me). Within 90 minutes, I received a call from one of Erie's adjusters in my local area who will be paying a visit to the body shop, this (Tuesday) morning.

I am hoping to hear something definitive from Erie by the end of the day...

You should only be dealing with Erie. When I had a car totaled by someone else, USAA (my ins) told me they wouldn't be able to beat the offer that the other insurance company was going to give me and I would have to pay my deductible out of it as well.

I stuck with the other company and I was able to take what they gave me, the actual check, and go to a used car dealer and replace my car for nothing OOP. I had the check in hand ready to sign over to the dealership and told them I wanted XYZ car and this check was all that I was going to be able to pay for it. Cash in hand spoke a lot louder than me just browsing w/o an idea of what money I would have to spend. I did have to fight for more money for things I'd just replaced and upgrades (stereo system and new tires and new brakes) but it was worth the battle. They paid for my rental for the 2 months this was going on too.

 

[JB2K]

OP back one final time.

Erie's adjuster made contact with me, this morning, and it appears we may be close to a settlement that I consider reasonable.

However, for those of you who have been down this road before, would you care to explain "Title Holdback" to me? What I have is a Net Settlement minus a Title Holdback (which is $X,XXX), which will give me a check for $X,XXX.

My copy of the police report arrived, this morning -- it appears the contributing causes of the accident were "Failing to reduce speed to avoid" (primary) and "Following too closely" (secondary). I am not certain as to whether or not the LEO I mentioned in the OP was cited (his statement was that "traffic slowed down and he was unable to slow down").

Based on that, is there anything I should be on the lookout for going-forward?

Thanks for all your responses.

 

[tlbwriter]

However, for those of you who have been down this road before, would you care to explain "Title Holdback" to me? What I have is a Net Settlement minus a Title Holdback (which is $X,XXX), which will give me a check for $X,XXX.

I've never heard of or dealt with "title holdback," but I did find this on Yahoo Answers (so take it for what it's worth ):

you accept the offer, they send you a check for the offer less the title holdback, you send them the title, they send you the holdback amount.

Must be a state thing.

 

[disneyfan007]

We are insured with Erie Insurance and my son totaled his car going back to school from Christmas break. We received a check for 80% of the settlement almost immediately. Once we mailed the title to them, within days we received a check for the remaining 20%. They were really very quick and easy to work with.

 

[wtrmlnlabs]

We were given this option, bayne you can do it too...
They sent the paper work and full check to a local agent. We took our title in, signed the papers there, gave them the title and got the full check on the spot...

 

[JB2K]

This will be my final update...

"Title Holdback" is an amount of money held beck in the event a legal title cannot be produced (which wasn't the case with me, as I had the full title ready to go).

The Erie adjuster met me at my home, this morning, signed for the title of the totaled vehicle, and said I should receive a check from Erie within 2-3 business days. For those curious, Erie gave my former vehicle an "average" rating, which was more fitting than USAA's "fair" rating (which would've devalued my vehicle, significantly).

I have to admit, for a company I had never heard of, they responded quickly and acted professionally.

Again, thanks to those who joined in this thread -- your advice was most appreciated.

 

[vallamen]

I've been with Erie since I was able to drive at 16. They have always been great and very quick. We have been in a couple of accidents (none our faults) and in 2 cases the at fault driver changed their minds after the fact and tried to say that it was mutual fault or our fault. Erie fought it, won, and very promptly got us our check and quickly reimbursed for things like rentals and replacement car seats. We have been happy with them thus far. Glad it worked out for you.