car accident?

Question

My parents were in a car accident and their car has been declared a toal loss by the insurance company. Now they are left carless and with only 3,000. How can they go about getting more money at least to pay for the repairs or get in a new car. We are in San Antonio texas.

Answer 1

usually "total loss" means that the repair met a certain percentage of the value. you can usually repair the vehicle and have some money left over if you are patient on the repair. dont go to a high dollar repair shop and try to make it new again. just patch it up and you will be good to go.

Answer 2

They may be carless but you can still find a good used vehicle for $3,000.00. Insurance coverage pays the market value of a car -- NOT REPLACEMENT COST. As for the idiot that advises someone to grab their neck and scream for a lawyer -- so what?? Alleged injuries are illegal and do NOT make a property claim worth one cent more. A slime lawyer will settle out of court (usually 90% of the time for exactly what the ins co originally offered) and deduct his 45% fee. You morons out there that whine about the ins companies not paying claims have NEVER bothered to read your policy -- you know, that LEGAL document you signed when you purchased your insurance? I live in a state where it is illegal to repair a vehicle that collision repairs exceed 75% of the value of the car. I have never heard of someone trying to sue the state because their car was 'totaled', just the ins company. Don't blame us because your parents made a bad deal buying a car. Buy gap ins if you must, just hush.

Answer 3

The money they received was based on the value of their car. It is supposedly enough to buy another car: same year, make, model and similar milage. The bases of "totaling" a car is based on the cost of repair against the value of the car. It used to be (20 years ago) the damage was equal to or greater than the value of the car. Now insurance companies use about 70% of the value of the car. This varies by company. This allows for hidden damage that could push the repair above the value, safety (believe it or not) as a newer car can receive very severe damange that could affect safety and still be below total car value, and (the companies may not want to admit this part) higher salvage value for the car, less damage means more salvagable parts.

A couple years ago, I , unfortunatly, rearended an SUV with my car and was totaled by insurance. $2100 in damage vs. $2950 value. It was all simple repairs, bumper, headlights, hood and paint. Since I knew the history and real condition of the car, I bought it back for about $250 and the body guy I used is a friend of mine, so he sold me the parts (all aftermarket) for his cost, and still had about $500 in my pocket. A few years before, I had been rearended with slightly more cost of repair and it was not totaled...it was worth about $1500 more, and was therefore enough above their threshold.

Was that enough rambling???

In the end, there is probably not much they can do to get more money, unless they can argue the value is more than the insurance company said, but I doubt that is a winnable fight. About all they can do is look for another comparable car, since that is what the money is actually for.

Now to look on the bright side...the did receive about twice what they would have if they had traded it in.

Answer 4

Many folks feel ripped off when a car is "totalled."
A car is "totalled" when the repairs are estimated to cost more than the book value of the vehicle.Therefore, your parents were given the amount of money their car was worth on paper. This always seems to be unjust because the accident puts you in a situation that causes you to have to buy a new car or come "out of pocket" with the rest of the money to fix your car. the only way you may be able to get more money is to sue the other people in the accident if it was their fault. Sorry, but most of the time , wrecks cost everyone and you just have to start over.

Answer 5

Insurance pays the value of the vehicle that was damaged, less any deductible that applies. If the current market value of a car is $3000, that is all the insurance will pay. Your parents will not get a new car to replace their old used car, but they can go out and buy a similar vehicle for what the insurance paid. They could also use that money as a down payment on another car, and make monthly payments on a car loan!

Answer 6

If the insurance company declared it a total loss, you can't fix it for $3,000. That kind of money will buy you a fairly decent used car though, but not a late model one.

It is probably a little late, but somebody should have been grabbing the back of their neck and screaming "whiplash". That ups the settlement on the car a bit. And yeah, I know it isn't entirely moral, but neither is what the insurance company did.

-Dio

Answer 7

I feel that getting a lawyer and fighting would be a wasted effort. All insurance companies base the prices on the same scale. Chances are, it's a fair offer and there's plenty of decent cars out there for 3 grand.

Answer 8

Have them visit their bank- request a loan, let the bank know they have 3k to put down for another car. See what they can do..or just to go a buy here pay here lot and get a cheap car that will atleast get you from point A to point B.

I hope they have a lawyer to help give them some legal advice about their loses as well.

Answer 9

sorry to hear that.. for now, the only way is to lease a car, the car payment is lower, but you dont own the car, however you have to pay for full insurance though.

lease a hyundai.. cheaper but with more warrnity