Dealing with Insurance

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Jun 12, 2020
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Location
SW Missouri
My mother was rear-ended in her car at a stop light on Wednesday. She was in her 04 Taurus that has around 390,000 miles. The other person admitted fault to their insurance company however the insurance company stated that they are only obligated to compensate her for the blue book value of the vehicle which I was told is around $250 due to age and mileage. The car ran and drove great, she is still making the 100 mile daily trip after the wreck with the trunk lid tied down. The back bumper skin is destroyed and it got into the internal structure because the truck lid won't latch and she stated that some of the screws in the trunk lid hinges are torn out.

What would your thoughts be in this situation? I told her to start working her way up the chain in the insurance company to hopefully get a better offer. She even told them that she's fine with just fixing it good enough that the trunk lid closes and doesn't leak but they declined to even consider it. I feel like the other person's insurance is responsible for either a repair of the damage caused by their customer or some sort of fair compensation to replace it with something similar. She doesn't want a new car just this one repaired where the trunk works or some form of compensation to replace it with something similar.
 
Insurance company will only pay for the damage to be fixed or to total out the car, whichever is less. They won't pay for hack repairs either.

She'll likely have to have the car totaled out and just drive it with a salvage title and find a small local shop to help her with a cheesy repair.

I put a new taillight on my Camry years ago and kept driving it after it was totaled.
 
dont talk negotiate.
You want 2500 for a replacement car


they do this all day you wont win if you try to "convince" them.

How is your mother any aches and pains?

If they can settle this without 10k for hospital bills they should be happy.
I agree, I've been through this before in a wreck of my own. Both parties were fine, they didn't even contact police they just exchanged info.
 
What state does your mother reside in (MO?) and what state did the accident occur.

I assume she does not have collision coverage?
 
If she has full coverage, and there’s an accident report finding the other party at fault, then her insurance company can handle it, and her rates shouldn’t go up, since she wasn’t at fault. Any decent, reliable car is $3K easy!
 
If she has full coverage, and there’s an accident report finding the other party at fault, then her insurance company can handle it, and her rates shouldn’t go up, since she wasn’t at fault. Any decent, reliable car is $3K easy!
What planet would that be on? In this market......
 
Put together some “comps” including KBB, Edmunds etc and any for sale cars that equivalent and counter offer. They are hoping you accept lowball.
 
Full coverage she can subrogate the claim thru own insurance and they will collect all money they pay her for claim from at fault party without increase in rates.
Been there and done that, it really does work... They work for you, and the shop will work with them, for you. And after you pick it up, you will never hear about it again.
 
I’d ask for $2500-$3000 and for her to keep the salvage and keep driving the thing. Just find examples of other cars with similar age/mileage and submit them to the insurance.
 
Rear ended at a stoplight ? Around here the ambulance chasers would turn that into a six figure settlement .
The vehicle that hit her was #3 behind the light, light turned green, first car hadn't moved yet. The person behind her saw a green light and didn't pay attention that traffic wasn't moving yet and ran right into her.
 
My Dad who was a lawyer for an insurance co always told me that if you got rear ended you were hurt. You didnt have to do anything about it but you were always hurt. It was the only way you were going to get a fair settlement in a decent amount of time. They bet on your needing the money sooner rather than later and the longer they get to keep their money the more interest they make. But if you say your hurt they want to settle ASAP before something else happens like you pull your back out gardening or the pain is not going away. Its not right but when you are dealing with a big corp that wants to get out for as little as possible or drag it out as long as possible they dont leave you any choice.
Of course their are some companies that will deal with you more honestly but you wont know who they are until its too late.
 
A quick look shows that $250 being the “trade in” value, private party resale is $1,000-$1,500 and a quick look of what’s available from dealers shows them in the $3,000 to $7,000 range. I’d tell the insurance company they need to do better than less than friggin scrap value. Heck, my brother in law just told me they’d give him $900 for both his crap box Nissan that’s living on head gasket in a bottle and a questionable S10.
 
Wait for the valuation and see how much it comes back at. You can ask this or show the insurance company some comps, but that won't matter until they run their own report.

The report should gather how much other comparable vehicles are selling for and adjust based on mileage and a few other small factors. Considering we are currently in the clown world phase of automotive pricing, you might get more than normal for the vehicle. I think any recent major repairs like a brake job, alternator, or transmission would add value as well, not face value but something (which is better than nothing).
 
I hope she's alright
I would still get checked out (this is coming from someone who's been rear ended 3 times 😒)
This time last year when my sister totaled out our 2006 Taurus, State Farm paid out $5700 (minus deductible)
TBF ours only had 60k, and a whole bunch of recent work, but the used car market still hasn't cooled off
 
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