Property damage settlement for total loss, power of attorney to transfer ownership

[Comcommittal]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New Hampshire

I was involved in a car accident. I filed a claim with the other driver's insurance company and they offered me a settlement placing 80% of the fault on their driver and paying 80% of my damages. My car was declared a total loss and the insurance company valued it at $3200, which I accepted. So they are paying me 80% of that, $2560. The insurance company has sent me documents to finalize the settlement, including a combined Bill of Sale / Power of Attorney.

The Bill of Sale part of the document states:

{Owner}

Hereby transfer(s) to {Insurance Company}, the following:

{Car Description}
VIN #: {VIN #}

in consideration of actual cash value of 3200.00

Should the Bill of Sale say $3200 although I'm only getting 80% of that, $2560?


The Power of Attorney part reads:

POWER OF ATTORNEY

I hereby make, constitute and appoint {Insurance Company}, and any of its agents, as my lawful Attorney-in-any matter pertaining to the transferring the motor vehicle described above, and for said purpose(s) to sign my name and do all things necessary to this appointment.

Is this a normal assignment to make in this situation? Is there any hidden danger to signing this document that I might not understand from reading it? Does it do anything other than facilitate transfer of the title / ownership of the vehicle to the insurance company, or expose me to any kind of financial or other liability?

[ecmst12]

I'm not sure about the bill of sale, the states I work with are all Contributory Negligence states, which means if we're not offering 100%, we're offering nothing. So you're going to have to ask the adjuster.

But the POA is totally normal. It's to allow the insurance company to handle the title transfer so it can be sold for salvage. Since you are basically selling them your vehicle, there is nothing wrong with signing it.

[Comcommittal]

Yes, New Hampshire is comparative negligence, and the 80 / 20 thing is a crock. I'm accepting that because they had me in a spot (no collision coverage on my policy, car undriveable for more than 30 days by the time I received the offer) and I'm trying to cut my losses.

I don't know what, if any, consequence there would be to the bill of sale saying the full value they came up with for the vehicle as opposed to the 80% I'm actually getting, but it seems strange to me that the bill of sale would say anything other than the actual amount of money that's changing hands. It implies that I'm getting that full value when I'm only getting 80% of that. I'm wondering if the insurance company is doing something sneaky, that's why I'd like to get some independent opinions about it.

Regarding the POA, thanks for your feedback. I just want to make sure that's not doing anything beyond transferring ownership of the car to the insurance company. I'm not really sure why that's necessary since it seems like signing the bill of sale and signing the title over would accomplish transfer of ownership and then they could do whatever they want with the car.

[ecmst12]

It's safer and easier then signing over the title. You don't have to actually sign it, as long as you sign the POA.

[Comcommittal]

Well they also want me to complete an "assignment of title" document (I believe this is an offical state of NH document) and fill in the back of the title certificate to sign it over to them. Is there some danger to doing that or some reason I shouldn't or wouldn't want to do those things?

[racer72]

Is there some danger to doing that or some reason I shouldn't or wouldn't want to do those things?

Yep, you don't get the money if you don't.

[Comcommittal]

ecmst12 said that signing the POA is "safer" than signing over the title and I'm not sure what he means -- if there is some danger to signing over the title itself or the "assignment of title" document.

The fact that "you don't get the money if you don't" is the reason I should / would want to complete the documents, I just want to make sure there's not some reason I shouldn't / wouldn't.

[seniorjudge]

Your choices:

1. Sign the docs and get the dough

OR

B. Don't sign the docs and get nothing.



Your choice.

This is the way stuff is handled; it's not a big deal.

[Comcommittal]

Originally Posted by seniorjudge

This is the way stuff is handled; it's not a big deal.

Thank you for your feedback. Please understand that I am unfamiliar with this process and the way this stuff is handled, that's why I ask the questions that I do. I've never had to sign a power of attorney before for anything and have never heard of it being done in the private sale of a vehicle. So I'm totally unfamiliar with that and want to make sure I understand its significance.

Does anyone have a comment about the value on the bill of sale? I asked the insurance company rep about it and she stated that it is for the benefit of the salvage yard, to indicate the full value determined for the car. Sound right?

Also, the rep instructed me to just sign and print my name on the assignment of title and title itself. She instructed me to not fill in the mileage. She said that if I were to fill in the mileage and then the actual odometer reading was even 1 mile over when they deal with the car at the salvage yard, they would have to get a new title and it would take a month. She insisted that there will be no problem and they will correctly fill in the mileage at the salvage yard. Does this sound kosher?