69dodgecharger

Hi, well my car go thit on saturday and finally the other drivers insurance accepted liability today. Now here is the part that pisses me off. He only has $5,000 in coverage The "estimate" to get the car repaired is $5,500. And there is still the fact that that the car is going to be worth less money now that it has been repaired. I was going to go after them for the repaires and the loss of value, about $3,000. However now I dont know exactly what I should do. My insurence will cover the repairs at no cost to me, but they will not cover the loss of value to the car.

Anyone have any ideas as to what I should do. I really want to make his insurance pay up since he is the idiot that hit me, but $5,000 isnt exactly going to cut it.
Thanks in advance.

steveblonde

how does he only have $5000 most policies are for 1mill or more for other peoples damage meaning if you hit someone or something you are covered, i have never heard of $5000 worth of coverage

Groucho

We in NYS don't even have the option of the loss of value..

Find out your options about using your own as secondary?

Good Luck

Bill Dearborn

Not sure why his liability insurance doesn't cover the cost of such a low cost repair I don't know of any insurance companies that have that low of a liability coverage anymore. Maybe 40 years ago. However, at $5K it looks like the damage to your car is not too severe (a torn front fascia from hitting a paint bucket costs more than $1500 to repair). Sounds to me like they are telling you that is all they want to pay. If you can't get anywhere with them I would recommend you get your insurance company involved in negotiating with them. I have found my insurance company is on my side in these types of cases. If the car is in storage at a yard or repair site the storage charges will cost the guy's insurance company more money if you do not settle quickly. At $75 to $100 per day they can add up quick.

It may also mean the repair can be done for $5000. In my area State Farm usually estimates the price of a repair themselves and the local shops have agreed to do repairs per State Farm's estimate unless they find some hidden damage.

As for loss of value I doubt that will be an issue. There are plenty of repaired vehicles on the road and as long as they are repaired correctly there should be no reduced value. The car will still be able to provide the same service as a vehicle that wasn't damaged in an accident. Sometimes they are actually better after an accident than before.
Bill

69dodgecharger

the guys insurance has $5,000 for property damage, I have contacted his insurance (farmers) and mine (21st) and they both said that $5,000 is all that farmers has to pay. I have to take him to court for the rest

jrose7004

I guess that you could sue the other driver in Civil Court!

wamara

Does your state require a minimum amount of liability coverage? For example, I believe IL requires you to carry a minimum of $25,000. Even that it is a pittance in my estimation, but I can't begin to fathom CA only requiring $5k worth of coverage. You should be able to find this out easily enough. There is no way a company would write an insurance policy for less than the legally required minimum $ amount of coverage.
Second, do you have underinsured motorist's coverage? If so, your company is liable to you for the shortfall difference, and they are then entitled to go after the at-fault motorist for the difference in court (what is called subrogation). Assuming CA allows a loss of value claim, does your insurer (and the policy language) specifically exclude you from making a loss of value claim against it in this scenario? If not, then you will need to decide how badly you want to go after your own insurance company.
Third, you can simply sue the motorist (what is the maximum $ amount you can sue for in your small claims court?), end up collecting from his insurance the (I'll assume for the sake of discussion here) $5k, and get a judgment for the balance. Whether you will ever be able to realistically collect that balance is a whole 'nother issue.
Sorry for your loss and aggravation, and good luck.

gpotski

The other option...do you have "underinsured motorist" coverage? That could pick up some extra cash, but for the few dollars involved, it's probably not worth the bother.
Good luck.

Nukmeister1

Liability insurance is usually 3 parts
1. bodily injury which has minimum coverage which here in NY its $25K/50K per person/per accident.-
2. Property damage which in NY is minimum $10K
and
3. uninsured/underinsured - which is what the liability coverage is - that only covers if you are hit by someone who does not have enough insurance or no insurance for your bodily injury.
4. If its a no fault state then your insurance company pays your medical bills.

His insurance will not take the slack for part of the damage - either he goes with his or he settles for the $5K and goes to small claims court for the rest.
Maybe California is different in the way they cover but underinsured is for bodily injury only. That is why they have options for you to purchase collision and comprehensive insurance coverage. If he has collision on the vehicle his insurance will pay for the repair minus the deductible and then privately go after the other guys insurance for the monies paid out which is subrogation.

Go thru your own policy if you have collision coverage and have your car fixed the right way. As for the loss of value - if the car is done right and there is no visable damage after it is fixed or the frame is not bent or something major like that you will not lose value on the car.

I'm a paralegal in personal injury and I deal with this everyday.

My vette just had the nose cracked by a moron and I'm getting the nose replaced vs fixing the crack and I was told that I would not devalue the car by replacing the nose.

Good luck

Vetteman Jack

Take him to court for the rest.

69dodgecharger

Thanks for the advice.

69dodgecharger

Wel I think I am just going to collect the 5 grand from the insurence (if possable) and have my buddy who is a master painter repair the car on the side. I have a GM discount on the parts they come out to $1,100 for the door, quarter panel, and rocker panel. and he said 900 to paint and install so 3K in my pocket isnt so bad. That'll cover my ccw's

waupachino

If you have full coverage insurance, I would put the claim in against your own insurance and make them go after the other for the loss.

69dodgecharger

Thats my second option if the one above doesnt work out.

MY03Vette

You will be best to just go through your own insurance company and have them get the $5000 from the other company. Your insurance should cover your damages over his limits. California is only $5000 minimum coverage.


CVC:
16056. (a) No policy or bond shall be effective under Section 16054 unless issued by an insurance company or surety company admitted to do business in this state by the Insurance Commissioner, except as provided in subdivision (b) of this section, nor unless the policy or bond is subject, if the accident has resulted in bodily injury or death, to a limit, exclusive of interest and costs, of not less than fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) because of bodily injury to or death of one person in any one accident and, subject to that limit for one person, to a limit of not less than thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) because of bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in any one accident, and, if the accident has resulted in injury to, or destruction of property, to a limit of not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000) because of injury to or destruction of property of others in any one accident.

jsdanehy

the statutory minimum limits for property damage in California is $5,000.

Underinsured coverage does not apply to property damage claims it only applies to bodily injuries.

What to do ? Accept the $5,000 and when you do you sign a release which prevents any further action by you or your insurer against the at fault party. If you sue him he will turn it over to his insurer and they will defend him and again offer you $5,000 and you will end up paying your attorney a portion of the $5,000. Oh you could win but you should check to see if he has collectible assets before you start down that road.

You could have your insurance company repair your car and you would only be out your deductible.

So is your deductibe more than the difference between the repairs and $5,000. Pretty simple calculation.

One thing. When you pick up the $5,000 make sure the payee is only you and you can insist on it. But that only works with the at fault insurer issuing the check. Your company will put the repair shop on the check.

69dodgecharger

my insurence will repair my car and waive my deductible and my rates will not increase (so they say). I just dont want my company to pay and let the a$$hole who hit me get off scott free. I think I am going to take the 5 grand and have my buddy do the repair for me, and put 3 grand in my pocket. Seems like the best thing to do. Car would get fixed better than most shops would be able to do and I would get 3K in my bank account. Hopfully it all works out.

diyguy

Unless the insurance carrier (the guy that hit you) agreed to a cash settlement, what you have said is just teetering on a very fine line of insurance fraud. Be very cautious of what you put in writing!

And, in a lot a cases, they will make the check payable to the shop (and you - which you sign off on actually before the repairs get going) and sometimes the bank if it is financed.

SultansDiamond

Okay, I'll respond one more time, but solely under the condition you begin spelling the word "insurance" correctly - butcher anything else, enough is enough with this one.... lol

The California State Statutory Minimum Limits are - 15/30/5:

$15K Bodily Injury per person
$30K Bodily Injury per accident
$5K Property Damage per accident

You have just witnessed the problem with such low required min's....

You should have a coverage on your policy called uninsured, or under-insured motorist. That (for the second time) will pick up the difference lacking in the primary auto liability policy and it will respond to DV (do you remember what that stands for?).

To the person that said NY doesn't recognize DV claims, I say baloney. Read my lips... ALL states recognize third party DV claims, very few recognize first party (ain't going through that one again).

Your claim is third party and there is plenty of court precedence for payment of DV through your uninsured motorist section. Again, don't expect a lay down from either carrier.

Have you contacted and spoken with the attorney and adjuster I referenced to you? They will not only keep answering your same questions, they will help you recover your DV claim, to the extent it's possible.

SultansDiamond

Actually that is not a problem and very wise grasshopper.

Yes, you can agree to settle with his liability carrier for the $5K and have the repairs done for less. Walk in with large estimates then pick the shop you want to have actually do them. That's perfectly okay. They may want to see the car after the repairs, but probably not. Since this is a third party liability issue his carriers obligation is to pay you their $5K policy limits even if you just pocket the money and drive sideways on down the road. It is not fraud! Your damages are excess of their policy limits so what is their interest in you actually getting the repairs etc.

If you approach your carrier under underinsured motorist coverage (assuming you purchased this optional coverage) they will most likely want you to have the repairs done first as there are two types of DV claims:

1. Loss of value due to faulty repairs (not an issue here and never will be, but in their minds it is the only issue)
2. Loss of value due to potentially having a traceable accident history and that affecting resale value. This is your claim. They will state they never got your messages and ignore you as long as possible. They will argue there is no such thing as and "intrensic" value loss - bunk. They will argue you haven't sold the car so you haven't "realized the loss" - again bunk. You will contact Heater, and they will eventually pay. This type of claim isn't for whimps. You will have to be willing to be strong and persistent in your conviction to see this through. Expect lots of barrels to be rolled at you and lots of smoke screen, it is winable, but only for people who are willing to take on the system. If your really smart let the blood sucking Heather & Gang their 30% and save a lot of time and aggravation. I'm guessing here, but I believe their game is to make you litigate before they pull their heads outta their butts.

It's common to confuse first party claims and the rules governing third party claims. First party claims have policy terms and conditions, third party claims have no rules - just what a judge would determine.

I strongly suggest you make the final selection on who does the repairs and tell them this is not an insurance claim - their costs drop dramatically. Now you've got a little extra dough for those mods you've been saving up for.