Have you recently been involved in an automobile accident? If so, your vehicle may have been damaged to the point that your insurance company considers it to be "totaled," but what if you don’t agree with this assessment or if you want to keep your car? Are there any steps you can take to help improve your financial standing after you are involved in an accident? The reality is that you do have rights that you may not be aware of having, but you have to decide whether or not it is worthwhile for you to take advantage of these rights.
What Makes My Car "Totaled?"
Put simply, your vehicle will be considered totaled if repairing the damage to the vehicle will cost more than replacing the value. For example, if the insurance company deems that your vehicle was worth $12,000 before the accident, but estimates that it will cost $13,000 to repair it, the company will pay out the $12,000 rather than the $13,000 and will take the vehicle in exchange. Essentially, the insurance company chooses to purchase the vehicle rather than pay to repair it, as repairing the vehicle is not a sound investment. The insurance company will then sell the vehicle in an attempt to recoup some of the expenses. In many cases, this involves selling the vehicle to a salvage shop where it will be sold off for its parts.
Debating the Insurance Company’s Decision
In some cases, you may feel as if the car should be valued at a greater price than what the insurance company is willing to pay. In this case, you may want to negotiate a higher price with the company. In order to accomplish this, however, you will need to demonstrate that the vehicle was more valuable than the insurance company is claiming. Therefore, it is a good idea for you to take photos of your vehicles on a regular basis and to keep any receipts that can be used to show the money you have invested into the vehicle. You may also need to hire your own independent appraiser to determine the pre-accident value of the vehicle. Of course, this will require some investment on your part, which means you need to consider this cost as well as the amount of extra money you anticipate getting in order to decide if this is a good step for you to take.
If you are interested in keeping the vehicle after the insurance company has deemed it totaled, you may be able to negotiate that as well. Whether or not this is possible depends upon the laws in your state. If you are able to keep the vehicle, however, be prepared to receive a smaller payout from the insurance company because you will have to reimburse the insurance company for the money it could have received from the salvage yard.
