do i need to get a lawyer?

Question

i was just recently involved in a auto accident where a guy rear ended me and totaled my car. he was driving his companys truck. im afraid that his insurance company will only pay the remaining balance on the car($6,000) and leave me with nothing.should i hire a lawyer or wait and see what his insurance company does

Answer 1

you need a police report first. then i would let the insurance companys duke it out first. then if your are not happy get a lawyer. the lawyer is going to cost you money so use that at a last resort. also if you do need one, after the case is closed take the other driver to small claims court (you can do this youself) to get your lawyer fee back.

Answer 2

I've never worked through my insurance on a wreck that was someone else's fault (and have never had one that was my fault). I try to work through their insurance company direct, reason being I've seen insurance companies work together to get the settlement lower on friends and relatives accidents, kind of a you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours scenario.

They should offer the blue book value of your car, plus any recent work that might have been performed, such as new tires, and any add-ons such as custom wheels or stereo that are damaged or you don't keep.

If you owe more than blue book, hopefully you have GAP inisurance on your loan so it will pay the difference between what's owed, and what they pay you for the vehicle. If unsure, look at your loan paperwork to see if it was included when you got the loan.

Best thing to do is to find several vehicles in similar condition with similar mileage as yours and see what kind of prices they're bringing in your area. If they make an offer that's less, you can use this to your advantage and show them that the vehicle is actually worth X amount of dollars.

Lawyers are a last-ditch effort if they will not work with you and come to an agreeable settlement.

Answer 3

You WILL get actual cash value of your car... regardless if this is less or more then what you owe... what you owe doesnt matter. If it was based on what you owed... people who saved up and bought a car outright would be screwed and people who put all their lifetime debt into their car loan would make out like bandits. Amount owed has nothing to do with it and actual cash value is NON NEGIOABLE pretty much. All they do is plug in your type of car at nada.com ... put in your mileage and options.. take off for damages that is unrelated to accident and makes the car lose value.

Again, a lawyer will do nothing in this situation except take forever... and then take 1/3 of what you get.... Why would you want to give up 1/3 of your settlement? I doubt a lawyer would even take this case..

Answer 4

Wait for the offer. If the car is totalled, they do not have to pay more than the car is worth the day of the accident. If you owe more than it is worth, you are in deep without boots. They don't know what you own, and they don't care. If your car is worth more than your debt, you can claim for more. If you get a lawyer before the 1st offer you set an adversarial tone, and they will offer less for sure. I assume, since you didn't say, there are no injuries.

Answer 5

Oh please....no you don't need a lawyer, they don't take property damage cases. The insurance company will pay the ACV of your vehicle, not your loan balance. Since you know your car is a total, you better start looking for another car now.

Answer 6

If its totaled, they will give you only what the car is worth. This happened to me once, and after they paid me, i still owed money on the car. They also will take your car once they paid you unless you get an option to keep your car. For me they paid me 200 dollars less and i got to keep the car...then i sold the car for 1000 dollars and was able to pay off my balance. If your neck or back hurts you can get pain and suffering money. My ex got a lawyer and ended up getting 14,000 for the pain and suffering.

Answer 7

If you hire a lawyer he/she/it will take up to 40% of your settlement amount and drag the claim out for months.
Why don't you give the insurance company a chance first?

Answer 8

It doesn't hurt to talk to a lawyer. They don't get paid unless you settle with the insurance. Usually insurance companies will pay the blue book value of a car.

Answer 9

Get a lawyer. I was in the EXACT same situation 6 mths ago and all I got was a check for the current value of my car. I ended up having to get a new car, which means a new commitment to another car payment. I was not too happy about that!

Answer 10

yes get a lawyer & did u make a police report , hopefully u did so u have documentation, & have u spoken with the company about this issue. Make sure u are covered. & if a vehicle has intransits take down their vin number, just for future reference. I had to do that b4.