Rear Ended, Not My Fault, Olathe, Kansas

[spdblondie]

What is the name of your state? Kansas

My vehicle was stopped at a light when it rear-ended by an insured motorist. I have insurance as well. My insurance company totalled my car. I paid $500 deductible and found out that the car was valued at $4900, BUT they say a past claim on the vehicle, which was not owned by me at the time , had been reported for hail damage and so they cut a check for $1400 and could not give any more. Ok, now what do you do with $1400 when you had a $4900 car with no payments? What do you do to correct this wrong? Is there any action? It just doesn't seem right that I had no prior knowledge of the car having past claims on it and I suffer from that, not to mention the wreck now leaves me with no car and only $1400. HELP! I am open to all suggestions.

Thanks!

[seniorjudge]

Okay, clarify a few things.

Are you saying you bought a hail-damaged car that had not been repaired?

How do you know the car was worth $4900?

[moburkes]

Originally Posted by spdblondie

What is the name of your state? Kansas

My vehicle was stopped at a light when it rear-ended by an insured motorist. I have insurance as well. My insurance company totalled my car. I paid $500 deductible and found out that the car was valued at $4900, BUT they say a past claim on the vehicle, which was not owned by me at the time , had been reported for hail damage and so they cut a check for $1400 and could not give any more. Ok, now what do you do with $1400 when you had a $4900 car with no payments? What do you do to correct this wrong? Is there any action? It just doesn't seem right that I had no prior knowledge of the car having past claims on it and I suffer from that, not to mention the wreck now leaves me with no car and only $1400. HELP! I am open to all suggestions.

Thanks!

I don't understand when you say that there was hail DAMAGE (which would be visible to you), but you didn't know there was damage to the vehicle.

[MandyD]

Take your $1400 and buy a used car. I'm almost 50 and have never spent more than $1000 for a car and we drive them for years and as long as my husband hasn't totalled it, we sell it again.

[spdblondie]

The car had hail damage in the past, but we did not know that - it was repaired by the previous owner before selling it to us. They filed the claim and had it fixed. We never knew it was damaged as the car looked great. So we own the car for a few years, this wreck occurs and they originally tell us (the insurance company tells us) the value is $4900, but because they found the past claim on the VIN, the only gave us $1400.

Does this clarify?

[moburkes]

Okay. So, they are saying that the actual cash value of your vehicle is $1400. The fact that you didn't know about the damage isn't really a good defense. You need to prove to the company that your vehicle is worth more than $1400. Where did you get the $4900 value from (as you were previously asked)?

You have an additional problem. They've already cut you a check which means that you've signed off on the $1400.

[spdblondie]

The insurance company was the one that said it was valued at $4900, and after the amount of damage was inspected by the claims adjustor, they considered it totalled. Then they came back and said they found the hail damage claim (prior to us even owning the vehicle or ever knowing it had occurred) and they paid the $1400.

[moburkes]

Did you sign paperwork when you received the $1400 check?

[spdblondie]

I received the check in the mail, no paperwork to sign.

[Zigner]

Originally Posted by spdblondie

I received the check in the mail, no paperwork to sign.

Ok, words minced...
Now, did you CASH the check?

[ecmst12]

I bet the car had been totalled previously and had a salvage title. That will SERIOUSLY reduce a car's value.

[moburkes]

Originally Posted by spdblondie

I received the check in the mail, no paperwork to sign.

What does the back of the check say?