What if you disagree with the settlement figure from the insurance company?

Question

My car was totaled from a guy running a red light, and now they are not offering even kelly blue book value.

Answer 1

No insurance company uses KBB.
Go online to NADA.com and that is more likely what a settlement would be.

The insurance company determines the Actual Cash Value of your car, and that is what you are offered. Plain and simple, nothing more and nothing less.

If you don't accept their offer, they will just close their file until you do. They are not going to offer you more money to resolve the claim.

Answer 2

They are not going to offer Kelly Blue Book.

The values in the Kelly Blue Book are inflated. The retail value has a disclaimer that says:

Blue Book Suggested Retail Value
The Kelley Blue Book Suggested Retail Value is representative of dealers' asking prices and is the starting point for negotiation between a consumer and a dealer. This Suggested Retail Value assumes that the vehicle has been fully reconditioned and has a clean title history. This value also takes into account the dealers' profit, costs for advertising, sales commissions and other costs of doing business. The final sale price will likely be less depending on the vehicle's actual condition, popularity, type of warranty offered and local market conditions.

NOTE: it says it is a suggested starting point - the value includes advertising cost, commissions etc.

The insurance company owes the Actual Cash Value of the damaged vehicle. That means what you could have reasonably sold your vehicle for- given it's age and condition, mileage just prior to the accident. Not what you would ask for it. The insurance company does not owe for advertising or sales commissions.

There is no insurance company that I know of that uses Kelly Blue Book.

The industry standard is the NADA (National Automobile Dealers Association). This book is used by most insurance companies and banks (when they decide how much to loan you to purchase a car).

Insurance companies will also have access to Market Surveys. These provide the most accurate value of your car b/c it is drawn from actual sales of vehicles.

A few things to keep in mind when valuing your car: 1. it does not matter if the miles are "highway miles" ---- miles on a car are miles on a car regardless where you do it -

2. Your car probably is not "top retail" condition. Most cars are average condition to slightly below. After all, did your really have the engine steam cleaned? Could you take your car as it was (no cleaning or nothing) and park it in a dealership lot and just pop a sale sticker in the window? Probably not - most cars need some clean up and work first (mine included).

If you don't like what the other guys company is offering - turn the claim into your company (if you have collision). They may be able to offer you a better number. And if they do - you can settle with them and they will go back against the other guys ins co to be paid back. They will ask for your deductible and when the other company pays them - your insurance company will forward your deductible onto you.

Give up on Kelly Blue Book - you ain't getting that.

Answer 3

Hiya:

Sooooo.....your question is what do you do if you disagree?

You get documentation to SUPPORT your position and present it to the adjuster.

Hopefully, you've gathered from some of the other responses that you are not going to get a Kelly Blue Book price.

There IS no book that is going to tell you what your car is worth. In most states...insurance regulations state how the value of a totaled vehicle is to be determined.

Insurance companies don't make the numbers up. They do THEIR research.

You can do yours by understanding what makes a difference in the value of your vehicle.

Check the insurance regulations of your state and document the condition & options of your vehicle. It IS possible that the adjuster missed something that will make a difference in the value of your car. Did you have AC and they rated your vehicle without AC? Did you have an automatic transmission and they rated your vehicle with a manual transmission? Ask. That is the only way you are going to find out. Those are the kinds of things that are going to make a difference in your favor.

Fancy paint jobs and racing tires won't make a difference in your favor.

Goodluck to you.

~jifr!

Answer 4

Well, they DON'T offer KBB value. They don't offer RETAIL value. That's the problem!

You need to sit down with your AGENT, and let them explain how the adjuster got the number. Generally, you get private party resale value, adjusted for your area (zip code) and the condition of the car. So if you go to www.kbb.com, and look for the PRIVATE PARTY SALE value, that's a GUIDELINE. My guess is, the offer will be within $1000 or $1500, if you accurately report the prior to the accident condition.

Then, you subtract out your deductible.

Your policy has a mediation clause in it, in case you and your insurance company disagree. But YOU have to pay the mediator fee, and if the mediator agrees with the insurance company, you get even less - less, by the mediator fee.

So be SURE you understand WHY you disagree, and have real ammo to discuss the offer with the adjuster - like private party newspaper ads from YOUR area, for similar milage vehicles. You can't use dealer/retail pricing. You can't use loan payoff. You're not entitled to EITHER of those.

Answer 5

You can say you are not happy with the settlement.

Usually the insurance company would like to know why you disagree and they may ask you to support your argument for example copies of sales of other cars similar to yours what are they going for, service records etc.,

What does not happen is if you insure your vehicle at a value of say, £10,000 and it is written off 15 months later for example this does not mean you get £10,000 the value is a guideline and the devaluation of a vehicle is also taken into consideration when a claim is made

Answer 6

You have a tough battle on your hands unless you can document a number of cases that show your car was worth more. Kelly Blue Book is only one source of car prices. Try looking it up on http://www.nadaguides.com also. Look for other cars like yours for sale and record the prices etc. If you car was in exceptional condition, point that out.

Answer 7

Of course that don't Kelly blue is retail pricing, the insurance co. will only give you the industry wholesale price. It will sate that in your policy.