Proposed settlement is to low

[Rjb23]

What is the name of your state? Kentucky

My wife was in an accident and the other driver was at fault. So I filed a claim through his insurance for the damage to the car. His insurance is totaling the car and has sent us a settlement proposal which is for half of the replacement value of the car. We got a loan from a bank to get the car a year ago and they valued the car at $4200 the ins company is offering $2200. I have listings from classified and autotrader that show that the car sells for $4000 and up. What do I need to do to get them to come up on the value of the car, they say they do not pay replacement value they only pay acv.

 

[2Mistakes]

What year, make and model is the car? Milage? Options?

 

[2Mistakes]

Also, (and please be honest or I can't help you), was there any prior damage? What condition was the car in?

 

[ecmst12]

They are not liable for the replacement cost, only the actual value. It's clearly worth less then it was a year ago, of course. If you have local sales records (ads don't necessarily prove value, though you can try, if they're local) that show a higher value for your specific year/make/model/mileage/condition, submit them to the insurance company and see if they can come up.

 

[Rjb23]

It is a 96 Volvo/160k. The only prior damage the car had was about a quarter size dent in the rear by one of the tail lights. Other than that the car was in excellent condition, blue book, nada, and edmonds all have the car being higher than what they are offering. It has 2 options, alloy wheels, auto trans, and spoiler.

Of course the car will depreciate over a year but not $2000 dollars worth.

 

[lwpat]

This is typical of the insurance companies. They know it will probably cost you 2000 to retain an attorney so they offer you a lowball amount. Your best option is to sue the other driver in small claims court. Contact your local magistrate for the forms. If you have full coverage you can file a claim with your own insurance carrier.

 

[2Mistakes]

What is the model?

I am an auto claims adjuster. I was going to see what our system comes up with, but I need the model.

 

[Rjb23]

Sorry it is an 850.

 

[2Mistakes]

Well crap, my CCC system is down, which is what we use to calculate ACV.

And without seeing the car, I can only make assumptions.

It may have been worth $4,200 a year aog. Knock about $1,000 off that for depr.

Now you're down to $3,200. Without seeing the dent, but based upon your description, it would probably cost about $500-$700 to fix it.

Then we get into the condition of the car. I know you said it's excellent, and I'm not calling you a liar, but very few cars are actually in excellent condition. In order for a car to be in the highest-value category, it needs to be almost like new, near mint condition. That's very rare. Everyone wants to believe that their car is in excellent condition, but very few actually are. Most are in fair to good condition.

 

[ecmst12]

Blue Book, NADA, and Edmonds are all pretty inflated over what CCC comes up with. CCC is a service that compiles records of actual sales of similar vehicles in your area to come up with the value, it's what most insurance companies use. You can ask them to send you a copy of the valuation report, so you can see exactly where the number came from.

Did you buy the car new or used? If you bought it used, there's a chance that the vehicle could have a salvage title on it already, which lowers the value considerably. I've run across this more often then I would have expected to.