Can I demand other parties insurance repair my vehicle?

[hacksalot]

What is the name of your state? California
My parked vehicle was hit and damaged at work by another party. It's 7 years old with 190K miles. It's been a great, reliable vehicle in great condition, and intended to keep it for a long time. I didn't want to buy another vehicle and get back into car payments and higher insurance at this point in my life. Unfortunately, because of age and miles, it's only worth about $3500 according to Blue Book. Insurance says it's about 10K to fix and only want to total it and pay me the value of the vehicle. Can I demand other parties insurance pay for repairs, or do I have to accept their offer to total the car and give me it's Blue Book value?

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state? California
My parked vehicle was hit and damaged at work by another party. It's 7 years old with 190K miles. It's been a great, reliable vehicle in great condition, and intended to keep it for a long time. I didn't want to buy another vehicle and get back into car payments and higher insurance at this point in my life. Unfortunately, because of age and miles, it's only worth about $3500 according to Blue Book. Insurance says it's about 10K to fix and only want to total it and pay me the value of the vehicle. Can I demand other parties insurance pay for repairs, or do I have to accept their offer to total the car and give me it's Blue Book value?

I am sorry but they do have the legal right to choose to total the car and give you it's value. Now, you can try to fight to get the value raised based on the condition of the car, but the number of miles on it could make that difficult.

 

[adjusterjack]

Can I demand other parties insurance pay for repairs, or do I have to accept their offer to total the car and give me it's Blue Book value?

You can "demand" anything you want but it isn't going to happen.

You are free to spend $10,000 to repair your car, send them the bill, but you will only be entitled to the $3500 ACV (Actual Cash Value) of the car less the salvage value that the insurance company loses by you keeping the car so you will actually get much less than the $3500.

 

[zddoodah]

Can I demand other parties insurance pay for repairs, or do I have to accept their offer to total the car and give me it's Blue Book value?

You can demand anything you like. However, you're legally entitled to the lesser of the fair market value of the item that was damaged or the cost of repair.

 

[BensonBingham]

What is the name of your state? California
My parked vehicle was hit and damaged at work by another party. It's 7 years old with 190K miles. It's been a great, reliable vehicle in great condition, and intended to keep it for a long time. I didn't want to buy another vehicle and get back into car payments and higher insurance at this point in my life. Unfortunately, because of age and miles, it's only worth about $3500 according to Blue Book. Insurance says it's about 10K to fix and only want to total it and pay me the value of the vehicle. Can I demand other parties insurance pay for repairs, or do I have to accept their offer to total the car and give me it's Blue Book value?

You can certainly negotiate with the insurance company if you believe the repair costs are justified and prefer to keep your vehicle. Start by providing detailed documentation of the repair estimates and the condition of your car. Sometimes, insurance companies are open to negotiating if you can demonstrate that the repair is reasonable and that you have a strong interest in retaining your vehicle. If negotiations don’t resolve the issue, you might consider seeking advice from a lawyer who specializes in insurance claims to explore your options.

 

[Zigner]

You can certainly negotiate with the insurance company if you believe the repair costs are justified and prefer to keep your vehicle. Start by providing detailed documentation of the repair estimates and the condition of your car. Sometimes, insurance companies are open to negotiating if you can demonstrate that the repair is reasonable and that you have a strong interest in retaining your vehicle. If negotiations don’t resolve the issue, you might consider seeking advice from a lawyer who specializes in insurance claims to explore your options.

Negotiating $10k in repairs for a $3,500 vehicle. C'mon

 

[Litigator22]

What is the name of your state? California
My parked vehicle was hit and damaged at work by another party. It's 7 years old with 190K miles. It's been a great, reliable vehicle in great condition, and intended to keep it for a long time. I didn't want to buy another vehicle and get back into car payments and higher insurance at this point in my life. Unfortunately, because of age and miles, it's only worth about $3500 according to Blue Book. Insurance says it's about 10K to fix and only want to total it and pay me the value of the vehicle. Can I demand other parties' insurance pay for repairs, or do I have to accept their offer to total the car and give me it's Blue Book value?

Currently you are in no position to demand anything of the other driver's liability insurance carrier. Why so?

Because all such liability insurance policies are written as indemnification or hold harmless agreements. If you'd like a legal explanation and the reason for the word "currently", ask.

 

[Zigner]

Currently you are in no position to demand anything of the other driver's liability insurance carrier. Why so?

Because all such liability insurance policies are written as indemnification or hold harmless agreements. If you'd like a legal explanation and the reason for the word "currently", ask.

For the benefit of the OP, what Litigator22 is trying to point out is that you would make demands of the person who caused the damage, not their insurance. If you are not satisfied with what you are offered, then you would sue the person who caused the damage, not the insurance company. If your suit is successful, then the other party's insurance would be contractually obligated to cover the amount you are awarded.

In other words, your beef is with the person who caused the damage. The other party's insurance is obligated by the contract between them and the other party to defend the other party and pay any court-ordered damages.

 

[Taxing Matters]

What is the name of your state? California
Can I demand other parties insurance pay for repairs, or do I have to accept their offer to total the car and give me it's Blue Book value?

The other party's insurance has no obligation to you; it's obligation is to it's insured — the other driver. It's only obligations are to pay out for damages covered by the insurance contract. Auto policies pay the lesser of the cost to repair the car back to condition it was before the accident or the value of the car right before the accident. If the payment is the value of the car, then the payment will be lower if you elect to keep the car because you are depriving the insurance from getting the salvage value out of it.

It's the other driver who has the obligation to pay for your loss. You can demand whatever you want, but the driver isn't going to pay any more than the insurance company will pay because if you sued the driver the rule for the damages the court awards you are essentially the same as what the insurance is offering to pay: the lesser of the cost to repair back to the condition it was in before the wreck or the actual value of the car at the time of the accident. If the car was only worth $3,500 before being hit, that's the very best you'd get from the court. You won't get anything close to $10,000. If you want to keep the car and spend the $10k to repair it, you'll have to pay the difference between what the car was worth and what it's costing you to repair it.

The idea here is the other driver should not have to pay you more than you'd get if you had sold the car before the accident. Anything more than that would be a windfall to you.

 

[Litigator22]

For the benefit of the OP, what Litigator22 is trying to point out is that you would make demands of the person who caused the damage, not their insurance. If you are not satisfied with what you are offered, then you would sue the person who caused the damage, not the insurance company. If your suit is successful, then the other party's insurance would be contractually obligated to cover the amount you are awarded.

In other words, your beef is with the person who caused the damage. The other party's insurance is obligated by the contract between them and the other party to defend the other party and pay any court-ordered damages.

Absent a some-times crucial exception, reasonably said.

 

[Zigner]

Absent a some-times crucial exception, reasonably said.

While I am intrigued to hear the exception, I'd rather not bog down this thread with something that likely doesn't apply to the OP's situation. If it does apply, then we're all "all ears."

 

[Litigator22]

While I am intrigued to hear the exception, I'd rather not bog down this thread with something that likely doesn't apply to the OP's situation. If it does apply, then we're all "all ears."

How about we leave it as "rare beef"?

 

[adjusterjack]

The exception is a bad faith claim brought against an insurance company by a third-party claimant. Many states (if not all - I haven't checked) now impose statutory duties of good faith and fair dealing with third party claimants. Egregious violations could result in a bad faith lawsuit by the claimant.

This type of lawsuit is complex and expensive and, indeed, a "rare beef."

 

[Litigator22]

The exception is a bad faith claim brought against an insurance company by a third-party claimant. Many states (if not all - I haven't checked) now impose statutory duties of good faith and fair dealing with third party claimants. Egregious violations could result in a bad faith lawsuit by the claimant.

This type of lawsuit is complex and expensive (?) and, indeed, a "rare beef."

I don't agree that it would be a complex lawsuit. Nor in need of egregious violations of statutory law. Either there was coverage in place, which the insurer refuses to honor, or there wasn't. Ought to be ripe for a Rule 56 Motion.

 

[Zigner]

The exception is a bad faith claim brought against an insurance company by a third-party claimant. Many states (if not all - I haven't checked) now impose statutory duties of good faith and fair dealing with third party claimants. Egregious violations could result in a bad faith lawsuit by the claimant.

This type of lawsuit is complex and expensive and, indeed, a "rare beef."

I thought that's what he might be referring to...but this is a California matter.