Insurance Settlements...

[fleuryisgod]

My car was stolen last week and then taken on a joy ride and was just trashed. After the insurance company looked at it they told me they are going to write the car off. Their offer to me was about $2000 less than what I would like to get for my car and I am just wondering if anyone here has been through something like this and what were you able to do to get the best value for you vehicle.

[ok, ok,....I get it]

Tell them why you want more money and do research. Are cars like yours worth $2000 more? They should have done an ACV (actual cash value) report. You could ask to see the report. Essentially they looked at vehicles similiar to yours and what they were worth in the market place, who is selling what for how much.

You can't just stamp you feet and say give me more.

[fleuryisgod]

Forgot to mention one catch. My car is an imported car that is not sold in Canada, a 2004 scion xb. When I looked on autotrader.ca in all of Canada there are none on the site that is the same year as mine and only 4 that are one year newer. The 05 are between $16000-$22000. The $16000 has the same amount of miles as my car has in it. The insurance company has offered $11500 which I feel is just too low but it is hard to compare to anything else.

[nickerjones]

Screw insurance companies.... im fighting a battle with one right now who claimed responsibility for my wreck and told me to get treated. I did and now they say well the doc charged too much ( i have already paid bills from my insurances med-pay) and are offering me 2100 less than my bills..... i told them that they were taken advantage of the situation and they said well we might be able to give you a couple hundred more but thats it , i told them i will wait and hope my back doesnt start hurting again.... GOOD LUCk

[ok, ok,....I get it]

Ask them for their ACV report. They should give it to you, it's your claim, your car. Then you can see on what they are basing their offer.

[ken0042]

Sounds like you are on the right track. Be sure to present as much info to the insurance company about how much your car is worth based on what similar cars sell for.

Do they sell that car in the States? Maybe a few phone calls to dealers would help. Heck, even embellish the facts to the sales people a little bit. Like if you are calling a dealership in Detroit, tell them you are asking them because you are being transferred to Sarnia.

When my car was stolen my insurance broker (not the main insurance company) told me to get as much info as I could to back up what I was going to want for compensation. I was lucky in that when my car was found the damage was minor.

[GGG]

Depending on your insurance agreement you may be able to hire and independant apraiser to asses the value of your vehicle. I did this in Saskatchewan (government run insurance rather than private) and was able to get more money for my vehicle. I have heard of people doing it here though.

[Ice]

I hate when my cars get totalled. Both times I refused the initial offer from my insurance company. I found "is this one of those situations where I'm supposed to get a lawyer" was successful both times in them suddenly being more reasonable. I think they always lowball initially hoping nobody will put up a fight and they'll save money. My totalled cars were always in excellent condition with low miles and I refused to take below blue book for them.

[ok, ok,....I get it]

Originally Posted by GGG

Depending on your insurance agreement you may be able to hire and independant apraiser to asses the value of your vehicle. I did this in Saskatchewan (government run insurance rather than private) and was able to get more money for my vehicle. I have heard of people doing it here though.

Yeah you can do that, but you need to pay the costs associated with hiring an appraiser.

Most of the work you can do yourself.