dealing with insurance over a "totaled" vehicle?

[Hellbent]

I've never had to do this before... Anyone have tips/information or work for an insurance company?
Background story: driving today on the freeway, a guy up ahead in a scion frs loses control/spins at about 75 and slams into the front of the MJ, in the ensuing carnage I was hit by two other vehicles.
I'm guessing the truck is going to be totaled. The left front corner is crushed in(smashed the bumper mount area), both fenders buckled, there's sideswipe type damage all down the left side, left rear leaf spring broke in half and spit the driveshaft out, left rear tail light area got crunched, and my grant steering wheel is bent into a u shape around the column. She got banged up good, but took it like a champ and kept me in one piece.
I called my insurance, they're supposed to come look at it tomorrow.
If it is a total, how do I make sure I don't get hosed? I've been told that in a case like that, you're supposed to get the amount of money it would take to replace the vehicle with a like vehicle in similar condition/equipment. Is this correct.....anyone in CA been in this situation before?
Just finding a decent 4wd MJ at all isn't going to be an easy chore.

 

[sidewaysstarion]

Last car that I had totaled was an 88 Starion, which as you know if a pretty rare bird (but not worth much). what the insurance company did was call up a bunch of used car dealers and ask them what they would try and sell that car for. well I paid $1,500 for it and they gave me $2800 so I was happy. Also letting them know all of the repairs of mods you've done to it recently tends to help the value a bit. Also if you don't like the number they give you, don't accept the offer, simple as that.

 

[GrimmJeeper]

if you don't like the number they give you, don't accept the offer, simple as that.

so much this.

don't be afraid to say no to their first offer, or tell them you need some time to think about it. their job is to save the company as much money as possible.

 

[xjrick94]

When I totaled my truck statefarm told me that what they do is look for similar trucks locally and see what they are going for. They then base their offer off of this. The problem we had was that when I crashed my truck there were no 7.3L crew cab 4x4's for sale within 200 miles of me. They tried low balling and giving me what similar gas trucks were listed for and I refused. They then increased the offer and I accepted.

 

[jrowell]

Start looking for like vehicles for sale right now. Find at least 3 similar vehicles for sale and print out their info. When the ins company low-balls you tell them what you think it is worth at send them the like vehicles for sale to back it up.

 

[travisk]

They recently offered my friend $1,000 for his old 4Runner with a bent subframe. He turned down the offer, dug up all his receipts for repairs and aftermarket parts and they countered with $6,000. He took the money, bought the runner back from them for $150 and went on his merry way.

 

[PahlMc]

If it's fixable you are in a great place! I've ad to do this twice, once for a truck and once for a trailer.

Craigslist and RDC/Pirate/Jeeps.com are your friend. Find a few vehicles for sale right now with as similar mods as you can. Law requires they pay similar value. Then buy it back if it's fixable and fix it! Side note I love RDC....everyone was asking WAY more than I thought a similar truck was worth but it was the support I needed to get paid.

Make sure you are honest about the mods. If the numbers you are coming up with are outrageou or the insurence company you are dealing with is second rate (they usually fight everything) then they may actually have someone audit the findings.

Don't forget small things like if your tires are new and the ad's they are not, or if you had aloy rims and the ad's are steel. It can add up.

 

[RWKHausSupply]

All I can say is good luck.
Unless you have added special mods to the policy, then their limit of complete loss is what kelly blue book/edmunds/nada has to say. They can, and at times will, budge a bit, but with a XJ most people think they are worth platinum, when in fact they can only sell for copper coated lead. And reason when book value is never accepted by a XJ owner.

I agree on the buy back though. IF you can buy it back, and there are worthy mods still of value after the accident, then look in to buying it back and taking mods off to start over.

 

[Hellbent]

Thanks guys.
I'm definitely not taking their first offer, whatever it may be.
They're supposed to be sending someone to look at it this afternoon.
The damage is pretty good, among heavy damage to the bumper mount/front frame corner, the left rear spring broke in half and it spit out both driveshafts. I'm almost certain it'll get totalled...although I'll know more later.
I intend to keep it, if possible....maybe part it out...who knows.
I'm researching other MJs around socal for comparison purposes.
I just hope the insurance for the guy that spun out and caused all this doesn't screw around, and just takes care of it.

 

[Hellbent]

I'm not too worried about the add on value/money I've put into it, as it's fairly minimal, and I have some receipts for the couple bigger things.
There's a couple obvious new things on the truck, that I don't have receipts for, as they were just cash deals. Again, not going to stress too much over that.

 

[markw]

If you do buy it back, you will have to go through a safety inspection before they will issue plates for it. It will also be a "salvage" title. This is how I got my daughter into her Mazda 3, 2005 100k miles, coworkers wife drove it through some deep water and hydrolocked the motor. Insurance company totaled it, he had to haggle with them, got paid back and I inquired about buying it back. They delivered it to my house, I've got more in the junkyard motor than the car.

 

[xjrick94]

You only need a brake and light inspection which is somewhere around $80

 

[sidewaysstarion]

All I can say is good luck.
Unless you have added special mods to the policy, then their limit of complete loss is what kelly blue book/edmunds/nada has to say. They can, and at times will, budge a bit, but with a XJ most people think they are worth platinum, when in fact they can only sell for copper coated lead. And reason when book value is never accepted by a XJ owner.

I agree on the buy back though. IF you can buy it back, and there are worthy mods still of value after the accident, then look in to buying it back and taking mods off to start over.

This only applies if you're at fault in the accident and had full coverage, since the FRS is the one that caused the accident they are the ones at fault and his insurance is going to pay for the accident.

Back in 2012 a rental car pulled out in front of a Toyota Sienna which swerved out the way into the side of my jeep and caused ~$1800 worth of damage. They did a value assessment on my jeep which they came back with a value of $5800 at the time. Long story short it took me over a year to get the money from the accident and that's what funded the lift on my jeep and since the damage was less than the value of my jeep they didn't total it. I've had 3 cars totaled in my years of driving (not at fault every time) and I'm pretty good at dealing with insurance companies.

 

[Johnnie Walker]

I hope all goes well with this, but hook me up with the drivetrain for a good price if you get it back. Haha.

 

[Hellbent]

It looks like it *may* go smoothly. The other guy's insurance is coming to look at it tomorrow. I have only liability and uninsured motorist on the truck, so it's all through USAA("his" insurance).
They were easy to deal with on the phone. It sounded like he/they were taking full responsibilty. Sounds like it's going to come down to: is it totaled? I'm 99% sure it is.
How much are they going to offer? And, how long will it take to get a check?
They are four vehicles total involved, and all except for one suffered heavy to moderate damage.
There's going to be very little usable off the truck...pretty much all parts of the body have some damage. Front axle is bent, rear's a 35(worthless), tcase is cracked, etc.

 

[EVILLT1]

I am a car accident adjuster for another insurance company, USAA is a decent company. I can tell you just from what you described your jeep is a total. They will likely have your keep the jeep or retain salvage. Ask the adjuster if there is any pd limit issues or concerns. If the responsible guy doesn't have enough pd coverage you will only get a prorated amount and it won't matter if you have receipts to back up what it's worth...
Hopefully they guy has a decent amount of coverage.... If not you may have to sue him in court to recover anything more... If you do that or if any of the other people he hit sues him you will be waiting a very long time before you see any money...

The insurance company comes up with the settlement amount based upon comparable vehicle sand there is certain criteria they have to use or meet for it to be valid. You can always request copies of what they used.

Shoot me an email [email protected] if you want more info...

Sorry your having to deal with this, I hope you are not too banged up...

-Robert

 

[Hellbent]

Thank you, Robert.
I do have another question, one pertaining to the limits you mentioned. The lady on the phone told me that may possibly come into play, due to the number of vehicles involved and the damages.
I'll shoot you an email...

 

[jeeperjohn]

It's been my observation that when people have a loss that exceeds the limits of the responsible party's insurance coverage they never get anything more out of the person. It costs too much to sue them unless they have deep pockets which most people don't. I wish you the best of luck, USAA is a solid company and they will treat you fairly.

 

[Hellbent]

the USAA adjuster/estimator came by a little bit ago.....real nice guy, overall they've been very good to deal with. He seemed to be a bit of an MJ fan. He knew what it was, and how hard it can be to find a decent one.
The truck is definitely going to be totaled. He took down all the values for the add-ons: lift, wheels and tires, stereo, exhaust, etc. Including the new windshield, front bumper, light bar, and lights I just did a couple weeks ago.
As long as the guy's coverage doesn't run out of money, I'm confident everything will work out in a manner I find fair, and am happy with.
If he does run out of coverage, it may just be what it is....we'll see.
I'll wait to worry about that after I find out what their offer is, and if there's money to cover it.
I should know a lot more within 1-3 days.

 

[RWKHausSupply]

What yr model and such is it.

We should all have a guess and see how close we can get to the offer...

As a quick guess its a 1989 MJ... I would think they offer $2700, but with some arguing you get them up to $4100. NADA shows a very high value for the 89 MJ - $2700~$6200.

Good luck with it and hope they take care of you....