Most people seek auto insurance for the specific reason of being able to cover any loss suffered in an accident, on top of the fact that the number of states that make insurance a requirement by law is increasing rapidly. If you’ve been in a car accident that has rendered your car a complete loss, you should be seeking payment relative to the true value of the car prior to the incident that caused the totaled car. This term is referred to as replacement value, and generally you’ll have to know how to negotiate with a claims adjuster to get the true replacement value of your totaled vehicle.
What Constitutes a Total Loss?
The requirement most insurance companies use to deem a vehicle totaled after an accident or collision is:
- The cost of repairs must be 75% or greater of the total value of the vehicle.
- The total value of a vehicle is determined by the value of the car before the accident if it were on a car lot with no accident having happened.
- This takes into consideration the mileage of the vehicle, any factory upgrades, and any damage that had occurred before the accident that rendered the car a loss.
- Consequently, a vehicle that is older or that has more miles on it could be considered a total loss, but similar damage to a new vehicle without many miles might not render a car totaled.
Negotiating with your Claims Adjuster
When your vehicle has been deemed a total loss, it’s imperative to your financial benefit to know that you are able to turn down the first offer given by you’re the claims adjuster assigned by either your insurance company or the adjuster from the responsible party’s insurance company. If you are aware of the true fair market value assigned to your car and know that the insurance company is making an attempt to underpay you, you are well within your rights in this situation to negotiate the compensation for your car to get the best value possible from its loss.
In order to find the true value of your vehicle, there are a multitude of resources made available to you. You can refer to newspapers or car sales ads, there are blue book guides as to the values of different cars in different conditions, and you can even contact car dealers that have the make and model vehicle you are claiming for and ask them to give your vehicle, in pre-accident condition, a fair market value. You can then use this information to show the insurance adjuster that you know the fair value of the vehicle, and in many cases the insurance company will adjust compensation for your benefit.
Getting Help
A qualified attorney can also assist you in negotiating with your insurer. Your lawyer can help you to determine what the law entitles you to regarding the value of your totaled car and can thus help you to get the most compensation possible from the insurer.
