I was on a car accident, an idiot ran a red light and t boned me. My car was totaled - first time- When the cops took the statements they told me the ther driver accepted running the light plus there was a witness. My concern is this, what if the insurance tells me my car is worth say $5K when I still owe $8K
I did not need to buy a car,
In sum, how do I make them pay $, how do I better protect myself against his insurance and mine?
What I mean is that it was not my fault, why should I pay if there is a difference between what my car is worth and what I still owe? the bastard who ran the light put me in that situation
How do I make them pay?
2007-07-21 04:44:12 · 11 answers · asked by Mr 777 2 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Insurance & Registration
Wow, horrible answers so far.
Look.. let me make it perfectly clear... lawyer or not.. suing or not.. you will NEVER EVER get more then the actual cash value of your car.... they dont owe you legally what you owe on the loan.
Let me explain.. right now you have a 8k loan on a car worth 5k.. if you pay the 5k.... you will have to roll over the amount onto a new loan.
So.. if this new car you get is worth 5k... you again have a loan of 8k for a 5k car... so how are they making the situation worse for you? Youd still be upside down 3k in a loan.
If they paid off your loan fully.. youd profit from this. Rigth now you are upside down 3k on a loan.. for your new car (seeing that you got the same car.. worth 5k) you wouldnt be upside any! How is that fair?
Again... the people who are saying to get lawyers etc... or uneducated in this field. You will NEVER get more then the car is worth.
Take this as a lesson to make better financial choices.
2007-07-21 06:23:48 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
It is unclear whether you have actually been told that your car is worth only $5k and you owe $8 k or if you are dreading that situation. If your car is totaled, you are entitled to the fair market value of your now destroyed car. That could come out to be less than you owe, leaving you with a choice. You can pay off your destroyed car with whatever settlement you get, as much as you can. This leaves you with no car, and perhaps a balance to pay. The other choice is to use whatever settlement you get to buy a replacement car and be pretty much in the same position you were before, driving a car and making payments.
The point is that you are not going to be paying any more than you already were paying. There is no extra expense that wasn't already there.
2007-07-21 12:15:26 · answer #2 · answered by fangtaiyang 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unfortunately there's probably not a lot that you can do. The other driver's legal liability is the fair market value of your vehicle immediately prior to impact. If you are upside down on your note then you'll still owe the remaining $3,000 and there's little chance that the other driver or their insurance company (or your insurance company) can be compelled to pay the difference. You MIGHT be able to negotiate a little extra out of them, but don't bank on it.
The only way to protect yourself if you are upside down on a car note is to purchase GAP insurance. That will cover you for the difference between your note and the FMV of the vehicle. Many insurance companies offer this as an optional coverage and most lenders also sell it separately or include it in the note automatically. If you do have GAP coverage, file a claim with the insurance carrier and they will pay up to the difference between the note and FMV or the policy limits, whichever is lower.
2007-07-21 13:59:17 · answer #3 · answered by Bostonian In MO 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Your auto insurance doesn't care how much you owe on the car. They are going to pay you the market value for your car. If it doesn't cover what you owe, that's not the insurance company's problem. It's nobody's fault but yours that you owe more than the car is worth. That's why you should have bought gap insurance. It covers the difference between the value of your car and the amount you owe.
2007-07-21 13:45:34 · answer #4 · answered by Scott H 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
How many times are you going to ask this? You will be paid the ACTUAL CASH VALUE of your car -- end of story. No one owes you anymore than that. Put yourself in the other guy's place; say you ran a light and crushed a '96 Toyota that anyone could buy anywhere for $8,000, only this idiot bought his at a pawn shop or something and owes $20,000 on it. Would YOU pay this bozo $6,000 extra?? No. Yes, he put you in this situation but YOU are responsible for having enough insurance (like GAP) to protect yourself from stupidity. Lawyer? Ha! Go ahead -- then he'll get 33% of your $5000 settlement. Insurance companies aren't afraid of lawyers...
2007-07-21 16:21:38 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
How many times does it need to be explained to you? You'll get the cash value of the car AND THATS ALL. The fact you owe more than that doesn't matter from a legal standpoint. That's what GAP insurance is for.
2007-07-21 15:06:36 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Since your did not have GAP insurance, which is insurance that pays the difference of what the insurance company values the car at, and the actual balance of the lien, the only thing I can think of is to pay the balance yourself, to save your good credit rating, and then take the sorry bastard to court for the balance AND for pain and suffering.
2007-07-21 16:24:36 · answer #7 · answered by worldthatwas 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
OK. so it was his fault. . But was there anything you could have doen to prevent the accident?? Did you see if he was slowing down? Or, did you just assume he was going to stop?This is what is known as defensive driving.
Sorry, the ins co will pay what the car is worth,l not what you owe on it. This is a dead issue.
2007-07-21 12:00:37 · answer #8 · answered by Barry auh2o 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
you have to sue them, an next time get gap insurance on your car, the insurance company never pays what you owe it on pay fair market value for your car that mean the appraise your car for what is was worth before the accident, I would get a lawyer an sue the person for the difference, it will take time to get your money also include the cost of suing into the money your asking for, should be a easy case to win, lawyer give free advice contact one, for good legal advice on what to do
2007-07-21 12:23:51 · answer #9 · answered by elltea 4 · 1⤊ 3⤋
well, get a laywer. thats all you can do. the legal system should win. but if that doesnt work, i know how you can get revenge. fun fun.
get like 40 sponges. get them wet, then squeeze them into a really tight ball. wrap string around it and leave it until it is completely dry. then go to the insurance company and flush their toilet and drop a sponge into the swirling water. it will get flushed down about 6 feet into the tubing, then expand and clog up their toilets for days. MWAHAHAHAHA
(all you haters out there are gunna give me like a billion thumbs down, but whateva.)
2007-07-21 11:54:40 · answer #10 · answered by Hunter 2 · 0⤊ 4⤋