Car Accident - Possible Write Off - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Northendzone · 04-11-2011, 01:30 PM

So this morning the kids and I were rear-ended by some inattentive fellow. He was driving a Ranger and we were in our Taurus - he hit our car in the right rear of the car abd basically pushed in the back corner of the car.

I'd imagine our car has has about $4,000 in damage - but what do I know about the cost of autobody repairs. Give the car was a 2004 I suspect it will be a write off.

I have enver been through this process before - so I am reaching out to see what experiences others may have had and what I need to consider.

As an aside, we all seem ok so that is the most important thing but the rest of this stuff is already turning into a PITA

blankall · 04-11-2011, 01:35 PM

I assume you got his insurance info? Report it to your insurance company along with his info. Your insurance company will pay for the repair. If liability is not an issue (ie it's obvious from the collision itself or the other driver admits fault) then you should not have to pay your deductible. If liability is an issue then you may have to pay it now, but have it refunded later.

This is all under the assumption you have good coverage...

Anyways, for you the bigger issue I'd worry about is frame damage. At $4000 the car is probably not a write off, but if the frame is damaged, the car may never be the same again. Getting the insurance company to pay for a repair is easy enough, but getting to pay for any devaluation on the vehicle due to frame damage is a pain.

Resolute 14 · 04-11-2011, 01:42 PM

I'm no expert, obviously, but simply put, I believe if cost to repair > value of car, the insurance company will write it off. If the car carries more value than the damage, the insurance company will opt for a repair.

As blankall notes, frame damage is the tricky part. For me, when I got involved in a five-car crash about 10 years ago, the only obvious damage to my car was the quarter panel on a rear door was ripped off and the rear wheel looked a little bent. But the damage was over $9k because the frame was screwed. As it was, the car was listed at about the same, and the insurance company was hesitant to write it off. Eventually they did.

Basically, someone will have to inspect the car for damage and give an estimate on repairs. From there, the insurance company will make its call.

blankall · 04-11-2011, 01:45 PM

Reread your post...I think I'm getting old. A 2004 is a relatively old car now, for some reason I was thinking of that as newish.

Depending on the model, obviously, if there is any frame damage to the vehile there is good possiblity that it is a write-off. In which case you will be given fair market value for the car. The difficulty here is now you have to take a risk by buying a new used vehicle. The one you had may have worked perfectly, but it's a crap shoot whether the one you buy will be in as good condition.

zamler · 04-11-2011, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blankall

I assume you got his insurance info? Report it to your insurance company along with his info. Your insurance company will pay for the repair.

No, the other persons insurance will be paying for the damages.

Northendzone, do you have collision coverage? If you do, then put in a claim with your insurance company. They will take care of the rest, and whatever costs are incurred, your insurance will collect from the insurance of the person that hit you. If you don't have collision coverage, then your insurance cannot do anything for you, except to put in a demand letter to the other persons insurance. Basically that means that the other persons insurance will be forced to deal with the issue. This only needs to be done if the person that hit you fails to report this to their insurance etc.

As for the value of the car, take a look here. it will give you a pretty good idea what your car is worth. If the car is written off, you have some options. You can chose to get a cash settlement and your insurance keeps the vehicle. If you do this, you will get somewhere near the book value (but probably less). If you opt to keep the car and also take a cash settlement, generally what the insurance will do is give you 100% of the parts required, and 50% of the labour, up to a certain percentage of what the car is worth (edit - this does no apply if you chose to get the car repaired at a body shop, it applies if you plan on keeping the car and taking cash, then repairing the car yourself however you like). These numbers vary depending on the insurance company. Your insurance will not fix the car up to 100% of its value, but only up to a fraction of that. Again this number depends on the insurance company you're with. You may have to pay some kind of deductible, it depends on your policy.

You have a choice where to take the car for an estimate, and you don't need more than one. It's your choice. The body shop will negotiate with the insurance company on the repairs. The actual value of the car will be determined by an adjuster that will come to look at your car. You can negotiate to a certain extent with the adjuster, for example I was recently hit from behind, and I got the adjuster to pin the damages to just under the value of the car, otherwise it would have been written off. I was able to do this because I sourced some of the parts myself, mainly bumper parts, which dropped the cost of the repairs.

If a car becomes a write off, then it will have to be re-certified before it can be insured, which will cost about $500, so that is something you want to avoid.

CaptainCrunch · 04-11-2011, 02:24 PM

4 years ago, I had just finished paying off my car when I was rear ended by a guy who ran a light and basically caved in the back of my car by 8 inches.

After talking to the police I talked to the insurance company and they arranged to tow it in for an assesment on the damage, they also provided me with a rental car (more about this later)

It took them about a week to get back to me, the body damage was $8000.00 which was more then half the value of the car so they decided to write it off and pay me out. Here was the kicker, once they come to an agreement they would no longer pay for the rental car, so I either had to pay the rental myself or return the car. It took them about a week to get me the check, but I didn't keep the rental and had to depend on other people for transportation while I shopped for a replacement vehicle.

zamler · 04-11-2011, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I didn't keep the rental and had to depend on other people for transportation while I shopped for a replacement vehicle.

That type of thing varies depending on the the insurance company. In my case, I was actually able to get more money above the estimate, because the other persons insurance had allowances for a rental. I didn't use a rental and did not need one (I own 3 cars), but I got the money for it anyway. I would not have gotten the money at all if I didn't ask, I just asked the girl I was dealing with if there was anything else she could do for me, never hurts to ask!

TylerSVT · 04-11-2011, 02:35 PM

If it did damage to the rear 1/4 panel and its attached to the roof in any way it will be a write off.

Good to hear you are all safe and good, most important factor. Most likely you'll be getting more for your car than its valued at, that seems to be pretty common, people get their cars totaled and the resale would be about 4 grand, they would get 5... its weird, i have no idea why this happens.

troutman · 04-11-2011, 02:37 PM

Glad to hear you are feeling well, but a keep a close eye on it. "Whiplash" injuries are notorious for manifesting later on.

VladtheImpaler · 04-11-2011, 02:40 PM

This is going to sound cynical (well, whom am I kidding - this is cynical), but 99% of the time the "victim" winds up being fataed on the property side because you will never get fair compensation for your vehicle. Therefore, it's incumbent on you to go get some physio and make a PI claim. Get your $4,500 (per person). Yes, this is cynical, I know, but I am giving him practical advice, based on doing this for 12 years. He can dismiss this, but at least he knows his options.

P.S. Whiplash takes up to 96 hrs to set in - see how you feel Friday before telling anyone you are "fine".

Northendzone · 04-11-2011, 02:50 PM

we have collison insurance on the car and we also have the rental car coverage as well - as of this moment the car is at the suggested body shop for an estimate and I have a rental car.

i had a quick look at yahoo and it suggested that my vehicle was worth betwee $5,000 and $7,000 - the suggested website above yielded a similar value.

at this point i can't see myself wanting to buy back the vehicle and then deal with fiixing it. you could feel a small ripple in the upper portion of the quarter panel and the right rear bumper shock was almost ripped off the portion of the fram it was mounted to - so it would not surprise me if the was some kind of frame issues (I'd estimate he hit me at 25 or more kph).

took the kids and myself to visit the family chiro - and we found out that they direct bill so at least i won't be out of pocket for that .

VladtheImpaler · 04-11-2011, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Northendzone

we have collison insurance on the car and we also have the rental car coverage as well - as of this moment the car is at the suggested body shop for an estimate and I have a rental car.

i had a quick look at yahoo and it suggested that my vehicle was worth betwee $5,000 and $7,000 - the suggested website above yielded a similar value.

at this point i can't see myself wanting to buy back the vehicle and then deal with fiixing it. you could feel a small ripple in the upper portion of the quarter panel and the right rear bumper shock was almost ripped off the portion of the fram it was mounted to - so it would not surprise me if the was some kind of frame issues (I'd estimate he hit me at 25 or more kph).

took the kids and myself to visit the family chiro - and we found out that they direct bill so at least i won't be out of pocket for that .

Perfect. Your insurance will direct pay for 21 visits to chiro or physio (depending on the diagnosis - 21 is standard in 90% of cases) - this will not count as a claim, as these are no-fault benefits. You will typically receive blue book value for your vehicle. If you have any question, post them or here or PM me.

TheSutterDynasty · 04-11-2011, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

Perfect. Your insurance will direct pay for 21 visits to chiro or physio (depending on the diagnosis - 21 is standard in 90% of cases) - this will not count as a claim, as these are no-fault benefits. You will typically receive blue book value for your vehicle. If you have any question, post them or here or PM me.

What's the process after this? Does your physiotherapist have to make a whiplash diagnosis for this to be useful? What kind of leverage do you gain from such a diagnosis?

Northendzone · 04-11-2011, 03:16 PM

thanks vlad - as an aside, i spoke with some medical person at the insurance company and i detected what sounded like condecesion from her when i mentioned the chiro word.

be interesting to see if this gets messy from a chiro point of view as the kids and i have all been to the chiro in the past - i go more regularly than the kids.......

also from a vehicle point of view the wife has been suggesting she'd like to get rid of the car - but that being said we already have a vehicle load for our truck and she is talking about quitting her job so this does not come at a grreat time.

Marvelous · 04-11-2011, 03:24 PM

I just had my car written off too from an accident. It was his fault. I followed some of the advice in this other forum when it came to settling the value of my car. You realize very quickly what depreciating asset really means.

http://forums.redflagdeals.com/non-f...-money-430232/

Yes you do settle with your insurance company first and then they go after the other insurance company for their losses.

Basic rule is research the market value of your car and be prepared to defend the value with evidence from the market. Best places to look for similar make model, year and km's is at the dealer websites where they feature their inventory. Kijiji is typically overpriced for vehicles and dealers typically don't nudge on their used car prices.

Also in my case, I showed them receipts for some winter tires and other items recently added to the car. They reimbursed me for those and added it to the settlement.

This does become a PITA inconvenience because I didn't intend to buy another car for at least a few more years and live car payment free for as long as possible.

Good to know everyone was able to walk away okay for the most part.

zamler · 04-11-2011, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

This is going to sound cynical (well, whom am I kidding - this is cynical), but 99% of the time the "victim" winds up being fataed on the property side because you will never get fair compensation for your vehicle.

This is certainly true. And in my case, because I had put quite a lot or repairs into my car (and new tires) it would have been impossible for me to take the settlement and go out and buy an equal replacement. If I would have just let them write off my car, I would have lost huge, all that work down the drain for starters.

But I don't know if I can get on board with "faking" and injury. One of the first things I was asked by the insurance is, were you hurt. I was not, I have felt no health effects even though my car was hit pretty hard.

tete · 04-11-2011, 03:59 PM

Not sure how old your kids are, but you must replace their car seats if the car has been in an accident. Insurance will cover the replacement cost - for a write-off, there should be no questions, but I've heard of insurance balking when the damage is less than a write-off.

Northendzone · 04-11-2011, 04:14 PM

the kids are both in booster seats - but thanks for this thought I'll ask the insurer.

also in a bit of f funny twist - the other driver and myself are both witht eh same company

longsuffering · 04-11-2011, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

This is going to sound cynical (well, whom am I kidding - this is cynical), but 99% of the time the "victim" winds up being fataed on the property side because you will never get fair compensation for your vehicle. Therefore, it's incumbent on you to go get some physio and make a PI claim. Get your $4,500 (per person). Yes, this is cynical, I know, but I am giving him practical advice, based on doing this for 12 years. He can dismiss this, but at least he knows his options.

P.S. Whiplash takes up to 96 hrs to set in - see how you feel Friday before telling anyone you are "fine".

This confirms a lot of what I suspected about Vlad.

VladtheImpaler · 04-11-2011, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheSutterDynasty

What's the process after this? Does your physiotherapist have to make a whiplash diagnosis for this to be useful? What kind of leverage do you gain from such a diagnosis?

What happens in the vast majority of cases is that you are diagnosed with Grade 2 whiplash, and get 21 direct-paid visits which must be completed within 90 days. The initial diagnosis can be made by your GP, a chiro or a physiotherapist. It's all a dirty little game because your insurance doesn't want to pay for your treatment (even though they are obligated to for 2 years following the accident), while the chiro or physio wants you to treat as long as possible, so that they make money. Sometimes some of these people even really care about your health.

When it comes to making a claim against the party that caused the accident, if you complete 21 visits you are basically entitled to the maximum under the cap (~$4500 for pain and suffering), though you will find that insurance companies will usually not want to pay that unless you get a lawyer.