Insurance company refuses to provide breakdown of value on totaled vehicle.

[Owen Lucas]

Is it typical for an insurance company to refuse to provide the numbers showing how they determined the value of a vehicle, line by line... and to flat out refuse to even address any compensation for installed accessories?

Has this been escalated to management? It sounds like the appraiser probably did a quick look of the vehicle at Copart and knows he got it wrong. Would rather you settle like most agreeable customers. There should be a 20 page report or so report. Probably doesn't want to go back an fix things. Escalate to management, get a copy, point out errors, dispute and file a complaint with your state.

 

[JTK]

I'd be frustrated too at a ridiculous low ball offer. I don't think any insurance co would or could provide you with a line-item list with the value of each. Really all that matters is the total amount.

I'm not big on aftermarket accessories, but I could see where you'd want some type of reimbursement for a $3000 set of wheels and tires, etc. (just as an example).

 

[Blinker]

Itemized breakdown? No.

Evaluation report? Yes.

You are entitled to an evaluation report, not a part by part itemized breakdown.

 

[Owen Lucas]

I'd be frustrated too at a ridiculous low ball offer. I don't think any insurance co would or could provide you with a line-item list with the value of each. Really all that matters is the total amount.

I'm not big on aftermarket accessories, but I could see where you'd want some type of reimbursement for a $3000 set of wheels and tires, etc. (just as an example).

Insurance companies use software like CCC Value Scope to write total loss valuations, these are regulated by the state. They don't just log into KBB or NADA and pull up a figure. There is a process to getting a value based on the uniqueness of each vehicle.

I'm sure OP won't get full value for aftermarket options just how much more value they add. Same with new tires or a battery, probably will get 10% of replacement cost but still worth asking for. Easy solution to this problem is speak to a manager or the managers boss.

 

[Pelican]

Because we asked for one. The first offer was such a train wreck, that it put the entire thing in doubt. It still isn't clear that they have corrected all of the omissions in the first offer.

The assessment of write off is determined solely by repair cost (General) vs Current value, they don't have to give a piece by piece breakdown, if only 2 items cost more than its value it's a write-off. Insurance Co. give 3 offers 1st the one they hope you'll accept, a 2nd one if you protest and finally a 3rd and final one if you really move it up the ladder. So you have one more **** at the target!

 

[Owen Lucas]

The assessment of write off is determined solely by repair cost (General) vs Current value, they don't have to give a piece by piece breakdown, if only 2 items cost more than its value it's a write-off. Insurance Co. give 3 offers 1st the one they hope you'll accept, a 2nd one if you protest and finally a 3rd and final one if you really move it up the ladder. So you have one more **** at the target!

Not sure if you re being facetious lol but the valuation is supposed to be correct from the start. Only thing that can and should be adjusted for are errors like the wrong trim was selected or there was an engine rebuild at some point.

 

[mk378]

The settlement is supposed to be enough to buy a used vehicle (at retail, including tax) the same make model and condition that yours was just before it crashed. This is a single number there is no need to "break it down."

If it's your company paying they don't have to cover accessories unless you put them on the policy and paid an additional premium. The premium you were paying assumes the truck in stock condition with its factory options only.

If the crash was not your fault so the other guy's company paying, they do have to cover accessories.

 

[SteveSRT8]

I have had a ridiculous lowball offer on a car stolen from us. A quick call to my agent (State Farm) and the offer was properly updated in minutes.

I have also had a similar experience with a totaled work van and I had to complain loudly to my agent and to the other company (I do not recall their name) But that was also resolved to my satisfaction.

I feel certain they will eventually bring the value to a reasonable resolution...

 

[Rand]

When I had to deal with this the crasher had erie insurance and I couldnt even talk to them.. they were playing games hard.
so I turned it into my insurance.. and they used CCC.
BUT came in over 6500 lower than my final settlement... and it was my insurance... They are in business to make money not pay out.

So many errors.. in my case.. a comedy of errors.. after it was resolved I moved on to different insurance.

about 8 weeks of pulling my hair out later I got fair settlement.

I also had to sue for my dr bills but thats another story. Didnt make a penny off that but came out fairly whole.

Edit: adding some details.
They mailed lowball check in wrong name.
mailed another check in wrong name.
used wrong model of car. (elantra vs elantra touring) This is like saying ford fiesta when you had a fusion.. totally different car model.
After I pointed that out... they
used high mileage and hail damage cars with very small adjustment ie 90k mile car given a $500 mileage adjustment when mine had 19k miles.

Eventually I got my way.. but I would rather go to a 4 day timeshare presentation than go through that again.

 

[Gimpy1]

Not sure if you re being facetious lol but the valuation is supposed to be correct from the start. Only thing that can and should be adjusted for are errors like the wrong trim was selected or there was an engine rebuild at some point.

Not exactly there are many thing that are taken into consideration. UPD mileage, condition, the market (based on zip). While you may think you vehicle is in excellent condition it might not be base on the year. The valuation of a vehicle is a muti step process and is very thorough. Sometimes you have to call the oe dlr to get exactly what options the vehicle had. I've done about 20k veh valuation in my career across 3 platforms and can honestly say most people don't understand ACV vs replacement value and is where the friction starts.

 

[Andrew1972]

normally you have to pay slightly extra and notify the insurance company installed accessories (not factory) exist before getting extended coverage of particular model vehicle. I presume they are giving you payout on trim level . You don’t really go into what installed accessories are, what does that mean?

 

[BigCahuna]

This was my experience. In Sept, I had an accident with my motorcycle. The other guy was determined to be at fault, so his ins would be responsible for the damage. It turned out, the guy didn't have enough ins to cover the damage. His ins co sent me a vehicle value report, along with the repair estimate from the Harley dealer . Which was itemized. Every nut, bolt, screw and washer, as well as all the parts that needed to be replaced. The frame was bent in the crash, so the bike was totaled. It listed the frame as a obsolete part. It also was the most expensive part. So I guess in the op's situation, it depends on who did the repair estimate. They have to add up the charges to decide if the car was worth repairing, so there should be a copy somewhere. Age of the vehicle as well as book value determine if they are going to total it, or fix it. As long as you get enough to replace the car, take the check and go car shopping.,,,

 

[FordMan59]

If your family member doesn't agree with the offer they could have a private appraiser do an appraisal. Of course this will be at their expense and the appraisal may be more or less than the one provided by the insurance company. I also have Auto Owners insurance and recently had an accident. When they sent me a copy of the adjusters estimate it seemed to me they were very fair and replacing some parts that I see no damage to.

 

[FZ1]

I am assisting with a family member who was in an auto accident. This is related to the purchase of the 2009 Silverado, right before Christmas.

There is an impasse with the insurance company who is paying out on this, which is Auto-Owners Insurance They are refusing to provide a breakdown of the numbers that they used to determine the value the totaled vehicle. All they want to provide is a single number.. They act as if the breakdown of the numbers, of how they determined the total value of the vehicle, is some sort of trade secret.

They came out with an offer, and quickly cut a check. It took about 2 minutes of looking at the appraisal, which was a piece of rubbish written up by Copart, to realize that this offer was severely lacking. It should have never been submitted to us. It was missing several key options on the vehicle, and all of the accessories installed on it. To be honest. the appraisal seems like it was done by someone who was looking at pictures of the vehicle, and not by someone doing it in person.

The second offer added an additional $1500 to the first offer. Now, when Auto-Owners is asked to provide a line by line breakdown of how they determined the value of the vehicle, their response is that the second offer is their final offer, and they refuse to provide a breakdown of how they arrived at their payout. We have asked several times for a breakdown of their offer.

In addition, there has yet to be any offer of compensation for installed accessories, which are clearly shown (and itemized) in provided pictures of the wrecked vehicle.

Is it typical for an insurance company to refuse to provide the numbers showing how they determined the value of a vehicle, line by line... and to flat out refuse to even address any compensation for installed accessories?

Lottsa ways to determine the estimated value. Nada and talk to a dealer. It's a total, right? No need for detail if it's a total. They just bought the truck, so what did they pay for the truck and what is offered by the insurance co?

 

[DuckRyder]

This is really impossible to help with without some additional information that was already gotten into.

There could be a number of things going on not the least of which is that if the friend has not given Auto Owners permission to speak with the OP, he is not getting anything.

Generally:

Almost all states if not all states exercise some purview over acceptable methods of valuation. Not all of them are necessarily in the vehicle owners best interest but they are what they are and the insurance company is bound to abide by them.

There are 3 Major estimating (and thus Valuation) Vendors, Mitchell, Audatex and CCC. Audatex and CCC certainly have the ability to download manufacturers data for most makes and models at least with respect to as built configuration, port or dealer add ons don't come over. On a 2009 Truck I'm not sure you would get it but it is not impossible.

All three of these systems have both a listing of factory options as well as aftermarket options. CCC and Audatex have the ability to add user comments and adjustments as well (this will kick it out of the automatic process and delay the evaluation). Mitchell did as well the last time I used it.

The evaluation consist of two parts:

1. The vehicle and equipment
2. Condition

Condition: Audatex uses 5 levels, the rating guide is a lot like a lease vehicle turn in guide. scratch larger than a credit card, x number of burn marks, seams split that sort of thing. The condition is rated then audiotex says what is average based on the year. CCC uses 4 levels that are somewhat simpler.

Now with that out of the way, not every single thing adds value many things would be considered "preferential". The method used to value in absence of a requirement will probably be comparables.

It is also true that certain things might be excluded if not declared, depends on the state but it could come into play for a truck or van especially.

 

[Hermann]

Call your state's Insurance Commision.

 

[Gimpy1]

I'm sure we've all seen the commercials where you get in an accident, snap a few pics of the damage, send them to your insurance company and they deposit the money in just seconds? This is exactly what results from that.

Wrong. The photo apps all end up assigned to an appraiser and they write the estimate based on visible damage, but every company has gidelines on what qualifies for the photo app. Also the #1 rule for appraisers whether its a photo app or a field inspection is only write what you can see. Believe me there is another person doing estimate audits and assuming damage is a major deduction on your score.

 

[Gimpy1]

Call your state's Insurance why if t

Gimpy is about the only one in this thread that knows what they are talking about, listen to Gimpy...

Once you've answered the questions it'll be easier to help.

I will say typically Auto Owners is pretty good.

Thanks for the props. I deal with these issues every day all over the US.

 

[Owen Lucas]

Not exactly there are many thing that are taken into consideration. UPD mileage, condition, the market (based on zip). While you may think you vehicle is in excellent condition it might not be base on the year. The valuation of a vehicle is a muti step process and is very thorough. Sometimes you have to call the oe dlr to get exactly what options the vehicle had. I've done about 20k veh valuation in my career across 3 platforms and can honestly say most people don't understand ACV vs replacement value and is where the friction starts.

That's basically what I said, "correct from the start" as in the adjuster should have gotten the mileage, model, options and condition correct. But I am suspecting he didn't which is why he is reluctant to provide the report which would show his errors and make him do work by fixing it. The market report should reflect the zip accordingly. Whether someone agrees to the value is another story.

From the guys I have talked to, modern valuation systems should automatically decode the vehicle options from the VIN (unless you are driving a rare low production, old or weird vehicle), but it is still up to the adjuster to inspect the vehicle to see if they missed something or there are additional features. These systems aren't perfect and it's the adjusters job to adjust the report. But people are lazy, overworked and underpaid, so here we are.

I suspect this is just a low quality inspection, the adjuster knows it and doesn't care that the customer gets ripped off. 1000% escalate this and don't touch anything until a report is in your email.

 

[CKN]

Ok so first I am a licensed all line adjuster in texas, and have 15 years exp. Ive worked in total loss, fire/theft and non injury claims, i am also a license physical damage appraiser in PA NY SC and VT. So now that Ive established that. First the ins company will not give you any info since you are not part of the claim. Second is your friend an insured or claimant? 99% of personal auto total losses use an electronic ACV calculation. The most common are ccc and audatex. When a total loss evaluation is completed they provide a 5 to 10 page report on how the vehicle value was determined. Aftermarket accesories rarely increase the value by vey much for claimants, for insureds its dependent on the policy language. BUT in either case the add ons are not valued dollar to dollar. The vehicle owner does have the right to access how the vehicle value is determined, if this is for an insured the policy will state the valuation methodology. Depending on the state, there are laws that specifically state what must be provided to the vehicle owner. Since we dont know if the vehicle owner is the clmt or insured AND what state this is in any and all answers given here are pure speculation, I suggest you look up the state dept. of Insurance law on total losses to see what must be provided to the vehicle owner. Ignore anyone that says get an attorney, most attorneys won't handle a physical damage case unless there is an injury and if they do they typical retainer is 40%. Feel free to PM me if you have questions, but I cannot answer legal questions.

This is a refreshing post....only because it's written by somebody who actually knows what they are talking about.