i am needing some legal advice.?

Question

back on december 30th 2006 my pickup was totaled in an accident. it was a 98 s-10 and was not paid for. my payments were being made to chase bank through a chapter 13 bankruptcy trustee. a few days later after i got the news from my insurance company that it was a total loss, i went to my lawyer and had a chapter 7 conversion done. the purpose of that was to have the garnishment of my wages stopped. about the middle of jan., my insurance co. sent me a letter telling me that i was to receive a check. after waiting almost 3 months, i have been told by my chapter 7 trustee that since my truck will have to be paid off first before i see any money, that it could be another 1 to 3 months before i get a check if any thing is left over. i am really counting on that money to help me get a vehicle and my patience is wearing thin. my question is this; do i have any legal recourse, and if so, against the insurance company,or the lienholder, which is chase bank.

Answer 1

This isn't an insurance matter. This is a bankruptcy matter. Whenever you file for bankruptcy, you are basically putting your finances into the hands of the trustee of the bankruptcy court.

You vehicle had a lien on it. Your insurance has no choice but to pay the value of the vehicle to you and the lienholder, in this case, Chase Bank. They get the money for the remainder of the loan because that is secured property. You exempted it from bankruptcy, which is why you were continuing to make payments on it, in order to keep your vehicle during the bankruptcy. However, when it was totaled, the bank gets paid. Any money that is left over from the payment is now in the hands of the trustee.

What the trustee does with that remaining money will be up to the courts. I don't know whether you'll get any money that is left over or not. Since you are in Chapter 13, meaning you are paying off at least some of your bills, they may use the money to pay your bills.

You need to talk to your attorney. No, I don't think you have any recourse against the insurance company. They did exactly what your policy required. They paid off the lienholder, Chase bank. You'll need to talk to your attorney to find out where the remaining money went but my guess is, it's in the hands of the trustee who may be using it to pay some of your other bills.

Answer 2

You should take a look at the options you can find at: SAVEFINDER.NET-

RE I am needing some legal advice.?

back on december 30th 2006 my pickup was totaled in an accident. it was a 98 s-10 and was not paid for. my payments were being made to chase bank through a chapter 13 bankruptcy trustee. a few days later after i got the news from my insurance company that it was a total loss, i went to my lawyer and had a chapter 7 conversion done. the purpose of that was to have the garnishment of my wages stopped. about the middle of jan., my insurance co. sent me a letter telling me that i was to receive a check. after waiting almost 3 months, i have been told by my chapter 7 trustee that since my truck will have to be paid off first before i see any money, that it could be another 1 to 3 months before i get a check if any thing is left over. i am really counting on that money to help me get a vehicle and my patience is wearing thin. my question is this; do i have any legal recourse, and if so, against the insurance company,or the lienholder, which is chase bank.

Answer 3

The first two posters have covered most of what I was going to answer...

I will add that it is VERY rare for there to be "anything left over" from an insurance check to a lienholder on a vehicle that was determined to be a total loss. (If you had GAP insurance, that would take care of whatever else you owed on the car, but STILL, nothing left over to buy another vehicle with.) This is because vehicles depreciate; you're buying them based on their value at the time of purchase (and paying for them over time, based on that same value, even though the actual value depreciates over time and with other conditions as well.)

Don't hold your breath on getting the truck paid off unless you had GAP insurance (and as Faye pointed out, the remainder that will be owed afterward is something that you'll have to see an attorney about, because that will be a bankruptcy issue.)

In short, no, you don't have any recourse against anyone in this scenario.

Answer 4

Well, the fact of the matter is, you don't OWN the truck; you and CHASE own the truck. So legally, of COURSE the owners get the money - which would be you AND CHASE. The whole point of having a "leinholder" on the policy is that the payment goes to THEM, not the policy holder.

So no, you have no recourse, as the truck isn't YOURS yet. You don't have the TITLE. And you WON'T get the title, unless the actual cash value is MORE than the payoff value on the loan. So after the loan is paid off, then you get anything left. If there is nothing LEFT, and you still owe money on the truck, until the chapter 7 goes through your wages will CONTINUE to be garnished to make the payments until Chase is paid off.

Answer 5

sorry, but everyone here is right.. this is a legal thing, a bankruptcy thing.... but from an adjuster's standpoint.

I don't know how much was still owed on your truck.. but a total on a 98 Chevy S10, is not going to get either you OR your lienholder very much.

Answer 6

This is a matter of federal law you're asking about and your insurance company, as do you, have to follow the laws. Neither of you have any control of it.....your trustee is right so deal with it. You have recourse against no one.

Answer 7

You do need legal advice and here is really not the place to get it. Would you be interested in talking to an attorney?