Insurance claaim

[Ron01864]

You may LOL, but there is an aspect to your (not your car's) body's repairs. In an insurance fight, they may look into your history for what led to all your "rebuilds". They may try to associate your pain with those; IOW that maybe you feel pain all day everyday in spite of this accident. And so on.[/Q

I have not and never had any intention to file a medical claim. I'm all set with getting the car back to as normal as possible and follow up on the DV.

Spoke to my insurance agent today and he said i absolutely have a DV case against the other party's insurance. Just need to back my claim up with supporting evidence for the best possible dollar amount that i can be happy with.

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[wag4513]

My daughter was t-boned by a woman who ran a stop sign. She had a new Honda Fit. It cost over $17,000 to repair. The air bags deployed and the car har to be re wired.

 

[Ron01864]

Update

I contacted a Diminished value appraiser and paid the 200.00 for a report of the lost value. After looking at my estimate, they told me that one of the line items the insurance is paying for is for frame machine use. They are putting in a claim for 12-13,000.00. My question is, because it was on a frame machine does it automatically mean there was frame damage, or could it have been put on for diagnostic only?

 

[goldengooner]

I've never been in situation like this. Can't they just write it off as a loss and get you a new car? Even if the repairs are good it will never be 100%. I see it's a 50th and may have sentimental value but if it were me I'd rather have a new car. You can always get take off wheels etc.

I had my S197 smashed by a speeding driver, done the 2 front wings, hood, was 8thousand pounds of damage, was not written off because the chassis was not bent. took the opporunity to get a better hood
and the body shop which is one of the best in the UK, had the car looking better then ever. Since then have driven all over Europe. If the bodyshop are good, you wont even know its been in a crash
But with my insurance, they allowed me to take to who i wanted and just gave me a lump sum of nearly 8th in my bank, and let me get the job done how i wanted. And it was my 1st year with that insurance
this dimished value, we dont have it in the UK, only if a car gets written off is it recorded

 

[MSMStannyl]

I'm going through a DV claim here in VA atm. The person who did my report is very well known here and he sent the Insurance a 6 page report and a $12,000 estimate for my DV. Thing is, the insurance can lowball me all they want, but if I plan to take it to court I'm 99% sure I'll win immediately because the driver that hit me was texting. My lawyer said I shouldn't even worry about it.

Not sure what the person texting has to do with you winning a DV claim in court. A DV claim has absolutely nothing to do with the accident, or what the person that hit you was doing at the time. It's strictly about the loss of value on your car from before the accident to after the accident. I'm going through a DV claim myself at the moment. I did get lowballed by the insurance and already have a court date set for June.

I contacted a Diminished value appraiser and paid the 200.00 for a report of the lost value. After looking at my estimate, they told me that one of the line items the insurance is paying for is for frame machine use. They are putting in a claim for 12-13,000.00. My question is, because it was on a frame machine does it automatically mean there was frame damage, or could it have been put on for diagnostic only?

Yes, you have frame damage. It's a unibody car so basically all of the panels form the "frame". My accident from last year "appeared" to be 99% less devastating than yours (I have a thread about it) however, it still turned out to be just over $10k in damages (not including the rental). They had to cut and re-weld a small piece of sheet metal under the tail light so technically I too had frame damage although on a much smaller scale. You're car being put on a frame pulling machine is pretty serious. They're basically going to pull/stretch your car/frame back into shape.

 

[andrew.k]

Metal can be replaced, I hope you sure you are okay.

 

[MSMStannyl]

So as I mentioned above, I have a bit of experience with DV as I'm dealing with this myself. I won't get into a ton of detail about my accident as I believe I have it pretty well documented in another thread. The main points are that I bought my 2015 GT Premium in February of 2015. A few months later, in July 2015, a lady "bumped" into me when she thought I was turning right on red (I have a manual and I let off the brake to get ready to go but there was a car coming so I didn't actually move. She thought I went and hit the gas to move up and hit me in the drivers side rear bumper area).

Visibly the damage looked very minor (pics on my thread about it). Initial estimate from Geico (her insurance AND my insurance!) was about $1500 which is pretty much what I would've guessed. What I did not see coming was the supplement. Once they took the bumper off, the body shop issued a supplement for another $8500 or so bringing the total to just over $10k! (btw, just 1 of the tail light assemblies is $900!)

Anyway, once the car was repaired, which took just about a month (they did a great job btw), I moved forward with a DV claim. I'm in Maryland so I'm not sure how the laws differ. I went straight after her/her insurance (which as I mentioned, is unfortunately my insurance as well but that doesn't really mean anything in this case). I hired a well known estimator recommended to me by a friend at another body shop. He estimated the DV at around $8000. With it being that high, he also recommended a lawyer get involved.

The process has taken a looooooong time. Much longer than I would have liked or expected.

- The estimate was sent to Geico by my lawyer.
- Geico set up a time to come out a see the car and its repairs and to take pics.
- Several weeks later they came back with a settlement offer of around $3500 which my lawyer and I agreed was too low.
- As of February/March of this year, court paperwork has been filed to sue. Technically, we are suing the woman that hit me although it will obviously end up going through her insurance (Geico).
- Last I heard, a process server was hunting for her to serve the paperwork. I assume this has happened by now. Court case is scheduled for June.

So that's my story so far. We'll see how this goes. Technically, we could settle before the trial if Geico comes up on their offer. We'll see what happens.

Lastly, I'll leave you with this. It's something that my DV estimator said to me which made a lot of sense. He was explaining how so many people don't know about DV. Basically, the insurance company will pay to bring your car back to pre-accident condition but a DV claim makes sure that they pay to bring it back to pre-accident VALUE.

As minor as my accident seemed, when someone sees a $10k+ repair on Carfax, you can bet I won't get market price for my car when I do get rid of it.

 

[pockama]

The insurance may total the car. Best solution for you. Plus they will pay you rental car and loss of wages, insurance premium you paid, registration you paid, gas you have in the car, massages etc.

 

[Martman GT]

So as I mentioned above, I have a bit of experience with DV as I'm dealing with this myself. I won't get into a ton of detail about my accident as I believe I have it pretty well documented in another thread. The main points are that I bought my 2015 GT Premium in February of 2015. A few months later, in July 2015, a lady "bumped" into me when she thought I was turning right on red (I have a manual and I let off the brake to get ready to go but there was a car coming so I didn't actually move. She thought I went and hit the gas to move up and hit me in the drivers side rear bumper area).

Visibly the damage looked very minor (pics on my thread about it). Initial estimate from Geico (her insurance AND my insurance!) was about $1500 which is pretty much what I would've guessed. What I did not see coming was the supplement. Once they took the bumper off, the body shop issued a supplement for another $8500 or so bringing the total to just over $10k! (btw, just 1 of the tail light assemblies is $900!)

Anyway, once the car was repaired, which took just about a month (they did a great job btw), I moved forward with a DV claim. I'm in Maryland so I'm not sure how the laws differ. I went straight after her/her insurance (which as I mentioned, is unfortunately my insurance as well but that doesn't really mean anything in this case). I hired a well known estimator recommended to me by a friend at another body shop. He estimated the DV at around $8000. With it being that high, he also recommended a lawyer get involved.

The process has taken a looooooong time. Much longer than I would have liked or expected.

- The estimate was sent to Geico by my lawyer.
- Geico set up a time to come out a see the car and its repairs and to take pics.
- Several weeks later they came back with a settlement offer of around $3500 which my lawyer and I agreed was too low.
- As of February/March of this year, court paperwork has been filed to sue. Technically, we are suing the woman that hit me although it will obviously end up going through her insurance (Geico).
- Last I heard, a process server was hunting for her to serve the paperwork. I assume this has happened by now. Court case is scheduled for June.

So that's my story so far. We'll see how this goes. Technically, we could settle before the trial if Geico comes up on their offer. We'll see what happens.

Lastly, I'll leave you with this. It's something that my DV estimator said to me which made a lot of sense. He was explaining how so many people don't know about DV. Basically, the insurance company will pay to bring your car back to pre-accident condition but a DV claim makes sure that they pay to bring it back to pre-accident VALUE.

As minor as my accident seemed, when someone sees a $10k+ repair on Carfax, you can bet I won't get market price for my car when I do get rid of it.

So how much have you spent in attorney fees? In my experience, when ever an attorney is involved, they are the only ones that really come out ahead.

 

[MSMStannyl]

So how much have you spent in attorney fees? In my experience, when ever an attorney is involved, they are the only ones that really come out ahead.

Zero.

As with most lawsuits involving attorneys, they will get 33% of the settlement but there is no cost up front on my end. As a matter of fact, because I went with an attorney, I also did not have to pay the few hundred bucks for the actual DV estimator as he will get paid out of the settlement as well. If this actually goes to court, I believe he'll be brought in to testify/be an expert witness kinda thing.

I definitely bounced back and forth about getting an attorney involved. Can't speak for other states, but from what I was told, in MD, if your lawsuit is above $5k, that takes it out of small claims court. Apparently you have to have a lawyer in that case? I dunno. Regardless, I will say that it's been nice to not really have to get involved other than asking for updates here and there. Considering I almost didn't bother with DV (just didn't know much about it), I'm ok with whatever comes my way.

I should state that I absolutely HATE frivolous lawsuits. Hearing about some of the ridiculous lawsuits in this country drives me crazy. DV, however, is not frivolous. It's a real thing and it's a price all of us will have to pay one day when we decide to sell our cars (well those of us that have been involved in accidents obviously).

 

[GDP]

Zero.

As with most lawsuits involving attorneys, they will get 33% of the settlement but there is no cost up front on my end. As a matter of fact, because I went with an attorney, I also did not have to pay the few hundred bucks for the actual DV estimator as he will get paid out of the settlement as well. If this actually goes to court, I believe he'll be brought in to testify/be an expert witness kinda thing.

I definitely bounced back and forth about getting an attorney involved. Can't speak for other states, but from what I was told, in MD, if your lawsuit is above $5k, that takes it out of small claims court. Apparently you have to have a lawyer in that case? I dunno. Regardless, I will say that it's been nice to not really have to get involved other than asking for updates here and there. Considering I almost didn't bother with DV (just didn't know much about it), I'm ok with whatever comes my way.

I should state that I absolutely HATE frivolous lawsuits. Hearing about some of the ridiculous lawsuits in this country drives me crazy. DV, however, is not frivolous. It's a real thing and it's a price all of us will have to pay one day when we decide to sell our cars (well those of us that have been involved in accidents obviously).

Not only that someone that stupid should not be driving anyway. Hopefully the lady who hit you will learn a good leasson from the higher insurance costs. You have to be pretty stupid to not see someone is still stopped even without brake lights.

 

[MSMStannyl]

Not only that someone that stupid should not be driving anyway. Hopefully the lady who hit you will learn a good leasson from the higher insurance costs. You have to be pretty stupid to not see someone is still stopped even without brake lights.

Especially when it's a bright yellow Mustang!

I'm pretty sure her insurance rate is probably pretty high already. Let's just say it was pretty obvious from the dings, dents and scrapes on her Volvo XC90 that I wasn't her first accident. God knows how many cars she's hit in a parking lot and never reported (admittedly speculation on my part). She also had a little kid in the car. Unfortunately, it wasn't one of the new Volvo's that would have stopped itself before hitting me! Ironically, I was driving my dad around that day while shopping for a new car. We were literally within site of the Volvo dealership, where he ended up purchasing a new XC90 that would have avoided this exact accident completely!

 

[Ron01864]

Here is my update on my DV case, dont remember if i posted it here yet. Contacted Geico with, to me, an over inflated dv claim of 13,000.00 on my 15 GT premium. They took pictures and offered me five. I declined the offer, but didnt want a lawyer sucking up my judgement so i countered with splitting the 13 in half. They agreed, and i received 6,600.00 shortly thereafter.

 

[mocella]

Pain from my 2013 heart attack with double bypass or pain from the spinal fusion with screws and rods in my back? Or both? LOL

I've had some extensive injuries and repairs to my back and pelvis, and this scenario is one of my worst fears. It's bad enough dealing with the DFW "winter/rainy season", I can't imagine what another impact would do to me.

How is your back doing after all this? Oh and best of luck with the car's repairs, hope it gets done to your satisfaction.

 

[ghig302]

Get it fixed and trade it in....then, maybe go after the driver if you get less on the trade in than you though you should.

Dave

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