A few weeks ago our daughter, who is a very conservative (loaded adjective these days!) driver lost control in the rain and hit a highway divider in Seattle. She's OK, slight concussion and some aches and pains. Car is a total loss. My last experience years ago with an insurance company paying out for a total loss, they tried to go lower than low, like below wholesale, far less than replacement cost. I had to threaten an injury claim to get them to pay up. This time, I could probably buy a nicer car than the totaled one. Is this normal? What's your experience been?

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I've never had a problem, but I've never had a car totalled that was my fault and I always deal directly with the other person's insurance company instead of making a claim with mine.

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C(-)ris
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One thing that may make it appear high is that they also refund the sales tax and maybe registration fees you would pay for a replacement vehicle with the value they calculated for the totaled car. And they do adjustments for mileage, so of your car had below average mileage you might be getting extra money there.

But check all of their calculations, years ago my 16 month old car with 6,000 miles was hit and totaled, but their original calculation had the mileage as 60,000 and they deducted a lot of value.

I think it can depend on the insurance company you are dealing with. A high risk driver hit me once and his insurance didn't want to pay squat even with the accident being 100% his fault. Other insurance companies have been more reasonable.

I've had comprehensive for many years now so I only deal with my own insurance company (Safeco) and they've always been fair to me. It's why I've stuck with them for...over 30 years. Wow.

Glad to hear your daughter is recovering well. I can't help but wonder about the conditions of her tires at the time of accident.

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The payout surprised me because the miles were average for a 14 year old car that was in good condition, not exceptional. Tires were winter tires with good tread, though the situation was classic for bald tires. She hit a sheet of water on the road that was draining across an onramp and she hydroplaned. No one else was involved; no citation issued. They paid about 75% more than I was expecting. And yeah, taxes were part of the payout. We are pleased.

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I have some experience in this. Three cars totaled in recent years. They were all sub-$4000 beaters, so it did not take much to total them out. No injuries. Two the fault of others, with the other insurance paying, one the fault of our driver, our insurance (GEICO) paying.

I have been very satisfied with the payouts. Certainly on the generous side of blue book retail value. There seems to be a "market adjustment" that leans in our favor.

U win some, you lose some.

I hit our Mazda 5... and AAA wouldnt total it. Not a common car, and The adjuster kept focusing in on one that was for listed for $10K, easily $2K more than it was worth -- and saying that was the value, and our repair was whatever precent less than that. It was a decent hit, easily multi thousands.

Gets fixed, and 5 months later, trying to sell it, no one wanted to give us more than $3000 for it, cause the front end had been straightened.

Lose, lose, lose situation.

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Edited 999 time(s). Last edit at 12:08PM by jdc.

Years ago I got rear-ended by an uninsured driver and I had heard stories about adjusters low-balling so I looked up the various values and sent the guy a letter saying this is what it is worth. He ended up giving me 10% more than I was asking because he said it was worth more than I thought. I was pleased, of course.

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davemchine
I think it can depend on the insurance company you are dealing with. A high risk driver hit me once and his insurance didn't want to pay squat even with the accident being 100% his fault. Other insurance companies have been more reasonable.

This happened to us recently. A @#$%& (really, I'm not just saying that because of the wreck; if you'd seen this guy from a mile away you'd go, "Oh yeah--@#$%&.") who wasn't just insured by but also actually worked for USAA caused a four-car chain reaction that included my wife's car. He was on his phone in the rain in Atlanta rush hour. We had to fight USAA tooth and nail to get the repairs done, and they refused to pay for a few items. Made me think their reputation as an insurer is way, way overblown.

USAA protects their clients, no one else.

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Picasso in his studio after the liberation of Paris, taken by my friend and mentor.

I had a car hit and totaled while just parked in front of my house. Woman must have fallen asleep at the wheel or was drugged up (pharmaceuticals), she didn't seem to know what happened.

Her insurance company was also my insurance company, so I had to fight them a bit, although it wasn't too bad. In the end, I got more than I paid for the car. Sounds great, but then I searched for this particular model for a year, and there are literally no other cars I've seen in the two years since that contain the same options. So I definitely lost in that regard.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/12/2020 10:26AM by mrbigstuff.

If your vehicle isn't totaled but suffers significant damage, negotiate diminished value. In many cases, this can be several thousand dollars. Few people talk about this and insurance carriers may squawk but it's a valid loss.

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Will Collier

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davemchine
I think it can depend on the insurance company you are dealing with. A high risk driver hit me once and his insurance didn't want to pay squat even with the accident being 100% his fault. Other insurance companies have been more reasonable.

This happened to us recently. A @#$%& (really, I'm not just saying that because of the wreck; if you'd seen this guy from a mile away you'd go, "Oh yeah--@#$%&.") who wasn't just insured by but also actually worked for USAA caused a four-car chain reaction that included my wife's car. He was on his phone in the rain in Atlanta rush hour. We had to fight USAA tooth and nail to get the repairs done, and they refused to pay for a few items. Made me think their reputation as an insurer is way, way overblown.

USAA is not what it used to be, but we've had extremely good service from them. Of course, we insure through them, so not exactly the same.

I have had several cars "totaled" and my brother just had a car totaled, and all paid a surprising amount. In one instance, my car was totaled, and I was paid the total worth of the car, and I just kept driving it. Very weird. I told the agent I wasn't comfortable with it, and she just giggled and said I didn't have to, but she would if she were me. It seems like they are being generous, and I know they aren't, so I also wonder what the deal is.