Any Auto Insurance Adjusters In This Group? Need Advice

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RetiredAndLovingIt

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My son in law got hit from behind yesterday in their 3 week old Kia Caravan by a teenager. Luckily no one was hurt but my 2 year old grand daughter was in the car at the time so that was very scary. The sliding door on the side is definitely out of alignment, it closes but the sensors are staying on and they were hit squarely in the back of the van. Son In Law was stopped, he had a green light but traffic was in the intersection so he couldn't move forward and the kid had a couple of loose dogs in the car so he wasn't paying attentions and hit him. They take it in tomorrow to the shop for an estimate but they're unsure what they're facing, this is a brand new car that now has been in an accident and immediately loses a ton of value. Strangely their insurance company says no police report needed although I'm strongly pushing them to go there and make a report. In our area these days the police rarely show up for traffic accidents unless there are injuries, they're simply too busy with actual crimes. They have Geico and the other party has USAA, we hope he's insured, he did call his mother who came over and provided the information.
Some questions
What if the car is totalled due to frame damage, how does that work with the car payments. Will they get full value that they paid or can they ask that the insurance company makes them good with a new car and transfer the debt to that VIN number. This sounds like it's going to be very nasty and they're just devastated. They don't want to get lawyers involved unless they absolutely have to, they just want to be made whole again. We're talking close to a 50K purchase and even if the car is repaired it's never going to feel the same again. I once had a car repaired by the insurance and the exhaust assembly kept coming apart every year or so after and it never occurred to me that it was probably due to a damaged frame and the car should have been totalled at the time of the accident.
If the kid is not insured what happens then, do they have to pay their deductible? They do have uninsured motorist coverage.
If anyone has been in a similar situation or has any advice on what they should expect, let me know. I do understand that the car may not be written off but what about the instant drop in value that they will be left with even when it's repaired. I suspect this is going to get very messy.
Thank you
 
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Let their agent be their advocate. They are your best friend and can help more than you know. Deal with your own insurer first, under their collision coverage. They'll be out their deductible until their insurer subrogates USAA, when USAA reimburses Geico, Geico will collect their deductible as part of the settlement and pay them. It may take a while but believe me Geico will get them to pay a lot faster than you can get them to on your own. USAA is also responsible for loss of use (rental).

From the damage described it is very unlikely to be totaled. Pick the best shop you can find to fix it. My state allows you to pick your own shop.

In the state I live in Uninsured Motorist only applies to Bodily Injury, your state may be different. Even so, this is why you carry collision coverage. To cover your own vehicle.

If the kid is not insured then yes, they'll have to pay their deductible. Attorney's won't likely be of help since they would charge more than any deductible they may have.

Now is the time you find out how good your insurance company and agent are. Let them work for you. I'd have them go to their Agent's office and explain everything and ask them to help. A good Agent will bend over backwards for their client.

Hopefully their Agent sold them GAP insurance that covers the difference between the loan amount and actual value in case the loan is more. Very possible with a 3 week old car. Some companies offer New Vehicle Replacement coverage on newer vehicles, under a certain age - often a year or two. Hopefully their Agent offered this.

I hope nobody was hurt. Auto accidents are stressful enough.

I work in an auto body shop. Not all insurance companies are what they claim to be on TV. The ones with the silliest ads are the ones to avoid.
 
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Stormy Kromer said:
Let their agent be their advocate. They are your best friend and can help more than you know. Deal with your own insurer first, under their collision coverage. They'll be out their deductible until their insurer subrogates USAA, when USAA reimburses Geico, Geico will collect their deductible as part of the settlement and pay them. It may take a while but believe me Geico will get them to pay a lot faster than you can get them to on your own. USAA is also responsible for loss of use (rental).
Click to expand...
That's what I did when I was hit about ten years ago. I have USAA and I just paid my deductible. It took a while (around six months as I recall), but they eventually got reimbursed from the other insurance company and paid me back my deductible.
 
Stormy Kromer said:
Let their agent be their advocate. They are your best friend and can help more than you know. Deal with your own insurer first, under their collision coverage. They'll be out their deductible until their insurer subrogates USAA, when USAA reimburses Geico, Geico will collect their deductible as part of the settlement and pay them. It may take a while but believe me Geico will get them to pay a lot faster than you can get them to on your own. USAA is also responsible for loss of use (rental).

From the damage described it is very unlikely to be totaled. Pick the best shop you can find to fix it. My state allows you to pick your own shop.

In the state I live in Uninsured Motorist only applies to Bodily Injury, your state may be different. Even so, this is why you carry collision coverage. To cover your own vehicle.

If the kid is not insured then yes, they'll have to pay their deductible. Attorney's won't likely be of help since they would charge more than any deductible they may have.

Now is the time you find out how good your insurance company and agent are. Let them work for you. I'd have them go to their Agent's office and explain everything and ask them to help. A good Agent will bend over backwards for their client.

Hopefully their Agent sold them GAP insurance that covers the difference between the loan amount and actual value in case the loan is more. Very possible with a 3 week old car. Some companies offer New Vehicle Replacement coverage on newer vehicles, under a certain age - often a year or two. Hopefully their Agent offered this.

I hope nobody was hurt. Auto accidents are stressful enough.

I work in an auto body shop. Not all insurance companies are what they claim to be on TV. The ones with the silliest ads are the ones to avoid.
Click to expand...
Sadly no local agent, we both just applied online at the time and it's been years so yes, we'll find out how good Geico with their silly commercials really is. No Gap insurance because they made a very large down payment to get the payments lower with help from both parents but yes that could have been a big problem. Well check the policy for New Vehicle Replacement Coverage but I don't ever remember reading that. No one was hurt which really is the most important thing.
Thanks for your comments.
 
The post from Stormy is on the right track. The settlement on a newer vehicle may be replacement cost less a mileage calculation for the miles on the new vehicle. I would also recommend letting Geico cover the loss under collision coverage. You may get USAA to take over take over before they have to pay the deductible.
They may also be able to submit a diminished value claim for the repaired vehicle.
A "loss of value insurance claim," also known as a "diminished value claim," is a request made to an insurance company to compensate you for the decrease in your vehicle's market value after an accident, even if the car has been repaired, as a reasonable buyer would likely pay less for a car with accident history.

Good luck to them and just be grateful no one was hurt.

VW- retired adjuster and prior collision shop owner.
 
Usually the car claim is separate from the bodily claim. I got rear ended and went to get checked out (small copay at the time). In hindsight it gave me a little negotiation with the body claim portion and I drug it out to negotiate a price for signing away "future liability" which I was pretty sure that I didn't have any damage internally.

By going to get checked out early on, I'm pretty sure it helped me with getting a bit more ($1700 as I recall in 2010-ish). The car had a slight scuff on the back bumper cover and I just buffed it out for $20, gaining another grand. No lawyers involved, just DW being in insurance biz, on worker's comp side.
 
I know from experience if you are hit by an uninsured driver you may not get reimbursed. . . I'm not sure the guy who hit me was even here legally as he spoke little/no English but the insurer eventually notified me it was not able to recover money.
 
I had two awful experiences with Geico and swore off of them. When I was rear ended last year guess who the other driver’s insurance was? They have been pretty awful so far. I got screwed on the property claim but the medical claim is ongoing.

I agree with advice for all passengers to get checked out. I wish I had called atty immediately. I don’t know if it’s possible but I wish I could’ve kept the medical and property claims joined.

Since the car is new they don’t want to total it. The state requires cars to be totaled if the cost of repair is >xx% of ACV so they cannot repair it just to save a few bucks. If it is not totaled you should ask to file a Diminished Value claim. I posted about this. It seems that no one will tell you about DV claims. They will pay an additional amount above the repair cost based on the damage estimate. You have to ask! Good luck. Glad everyone seems ok.
 
DD was hit from behind and totaled their 6-month $54k old SUV that they were leasing. They got hosed financially. The insurance, including gap insurance, was enough to pay off the lease but they lost what they had put down on the lease. Lesson learned. Cost them about $10k as I recall when all was said and done.
 
pb4uski said:
DD was hit from behind and totaled their 6-month $54k old SUV that they were leasing. They got hosed financially. The insurance, including gap insurance, was enough to pay off the lease but they lost what they had put down on the lease. Lesson learned. Cost them about $10k as I recall when all was said and done.
Click to expand...
Help me out here. What’s the lesson? Don’t lease, no down payment, or something else?
 
^^^ Minimize deposit if you are leasing. I don't remember all the details, but let's say you do a 3 year lease on a $54k vehicle and put $10k down.

Six months later, the car is totaled and the FMV is $44k. Your insurance pays off the leasing and gap insurance if there is a gap but you get nothing and are out $10k.

I guess the same thing can happen if you buy a new car for cash too. In both cases if you total the car shortly after buying it new then you get nailed with the spike in depreciation from driving it off the lot.

But if they had put down less then the gap insurer would have borne the loss.
 
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- Have an accident report prepared even if it is necessary to go down to the precinct;

- Make a claim with SIL's carrier;

- You would need to read the policy to determine the extent of his coverage;

- Make a claim with the other driver's carrier (letting them know that SIL also filed under his policy) for the full amount - including loss of value to the vehicle);

- Keep an eye of the statute of limitations in your state.
 
RetiredAndLovingIt said:
My son in law got hit from behind yesterday in their 3 week old Kia Caravan by a teenager. Luckily no one was hurt but my 2 year old grand daughter was in the car at the time so that was very scary. The sliding door on the side is definitely out of alignment, it closes but the sensors are staying on and they were hit squarely in the back of the van. Son In Law was stopped, he had a green light but traffic was in the intersection so he couldn't move forward and the kid had a couple of loose dogs in the car so he wasn't paying attentions and hit him. They take it in tomorrow to the shop for an estimate but they're unsure what they're facing, this is a brand new car that now has been in an accident and immediately loses a ton of value. Strangely their insurance company says no police report needed although I'm strongly pushing them to go there and make a report. In our area these days the police rarely show up for traffic accidents unless there are injuries, they're simply too busy with actual crimes. They have Geico and the other party has USAA, we hope he's insured, he did call his mother who came over and provided the information.
Some questions
What if the car is totalled due to frame damage, how does that work with the car payments. Will they get full value that they paid or can they ask that the insurance company makes them good with a new car and transfer the debt to that VIN number. This sounds like it's going to be very nasty and they're just devastated. They don't want to get lawyers involved unless they absolutely have to, they just want to be made whole again. We're talking close to a 50K purchase and even if the car is repaired it's never going to feel the same again. I once had a car repaired by the insurance and the exhaust assembly kept coming apart every year or so after and it never occurred to me that it was probably due to a damaged frame and the car should have been totalled at the time of the accident.
If the kid is not insured what happens then, do they have to pay their deductible? They do have uninsured motorist coverage.
If anyone has been in a similar situation or has any advice on what they should expect, let me know. I do understand that the car may not be written off but what about the instant drop in value that they will be left with even when it's repaired. I suspect this is going to get very messy.
Thank you
Click to expand...
I was sideswiped when my brand new car was 2 months old. In addition to the cost of the repairs, I was given another $3200 for loss of future value because now there would be an accident on the CARFAX. I paid a service to help me with this claim because there was a lot of paperwork involved and they helped me determine a fair settlement.
 
pb4uski said:
DD was hit from behind and totaled their 6-month $54k old SUV that they were leasing. They got hosed financially. The insurance, including gap insurance, was enough to pay off the lease but they lost what they had put down on the lease. Lesson learned. Cost them about $10k as I recall when all was said and done.
Click to expand...
Can’t the DD sue the owner of the car that hit her for the balance? Or is the hassle factor told great?
 
I guess technically you can sue anybody for anything but as a practical matter, no. Also, driver was a 17 yo kid so no deep pockets.
 
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