And the day was going so well...

[EarlyAdopter]

Have they responded to your appraisal?

If so, and they are sticking to theirs, then your best bet would probably have a lawyer write them a letter and deal with this. Probably a couple of hours of billable time, say $500, that will likely net you at least an additional $5000 over their offer and not require any hassle or headache from you.

And if they really dig in their heals and you need to sue, then you have someone to represent you in court.

But it usually seems to be the case that once you involve a lawyer and the insurance company knows you mean business, they'll settle out of court.

 

[chickensevil]

So because I have never done a DV claim, let me see if I am following you through this, They said your car in it's pre-accident condition would be worth 77k and they are offering you 7% of that value as a loss due to damage, even though the report clearly states that you had frame damage? How in the world does that even remotely make sense... they do realize that frame damage absolutely kills your resale value, right?

So I assume that your appraiser said the car was worth a whole lot more (like 90k) and that the diminished value percent in also larger, thereby netting you the 16k number? I would certainly fight this since frame damage is not going to go over well. You could go to a couple stealerships, act like you want to buy a car and show them your car as the trade in, let them run the numbers and give you an offer. You could use that as further evidence that your car is not worth nearly as much as they are claiming.

 

[Nathan Smith]

Chickensevil,

The actually say car is worth 84K (average number) - but everything else you said about them is spot on. Insurance companies have been known to use a variant of 17c (it refers to a case in GA). Basically, they start off with a fixed percentage for all DV claims. 17c is usually 10% - the one this insurance company was using is 15%. Then they subtract % points for different factors. The one the appraiser used is pretty much the same except done by adding the factors together (where as the most you can get is 15%). It is fundamentally unfair and I have no requirements to accept offers based on it - so I won't.

My appraiser didn't use a formula to come up with the value. The report is 11 FULL pages detailing his credentials, the damage to the car (with photos), and market evaulation.

Otherwise you assessment is right on, and I am already working on your suggestions.

 

[GoBlue88]

So is this USAA trying to screw you over? If so, being a longtime USAA customer, I find that disappointing to hear.

 

[dsm363]

Me too. I always thought USAA was expensive but one of the best to deal with. I hope that is true.

 

[Nathan Smith]

Nope - no problem with USAA, they aren't involved at all at this point.

Please see post #134, I covered why there.

 

[GoBlue88]

Nope - no problem with USAA, they aren't involved at all at this point.

Please see post #134, I covered why there.

Ah, it is the other insurance company that is the issue. That makes much more sense.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[chickensevil]

Just to add some anecdotal evidence, for what it's worth. My old Civic when I wanted to try to sell it, I was getting offered ~2500 for it, when even at the "poor" condition on KBB was saying like 6k for the car. All because at one point, it was reported that I had frame damage to the car. They didn't even really seem to care about any other condition on the car, just that. I was quite displeased.

For the record low end cars tend to hold value better than high end "luxury/performance" cars so I am willing to bet if you go tell someone (or they run a Carfax) that you had frame damage you are going to see a huge hit, likely more than the 15% limit that they want to cap you out on.

 

[Shelly]

View attachment 48534View attachment 48535View attachment 48536

:cursing:

So glad for your sense of humor.

 

[icell]

Lucky