No fault Car accident - loss of use

[solo2013]

My father got into car accident. it was not at fault accident. They determined that the car is totaled. We went through the at fault drivers insurance which is Nationwide. We filed claim day after the accident. However we didnt received any calls for two weeks.

Anyway, nationwide is offering us only $3300 including tax and title fee. I looked on local listing from cars.com, autotrader have cars with similar mileage listed for over $4500. Its 2006 sonata GLS model with 129k miles on it. since last year we spent over $1500 to replace parts on the vehicle.

I was on the phone with the adjuster Today. I asked about the loss of use compensation. they said nationwide does not compensate loss of use vehicle and its state law. they have not contacted us for more than 14 days. Now they are telling us to rent a car for 10 days only.

I am still waiting for revised CCC report to come back. I want to know if my father is entitled to loss of use.
he lives in pa. He is using my secondary car at the moment.

 

[adjusterjack]

Your father is entitled to be compensated for his actual loss. If he had rented a car from the date of the accident until Nationwide made the offer (which is typically the cut off) he would have received compensation for the rental.

Since he is authorized to rent a car for 10 days now that Nationwide is revising the total loss value, I suggest he do so. If he doesn't, he doesn't get the money.

As for the replacement parts, that's maintenance. If the car wasn't maintained it would be evaluated as poor or fair condition instead of good or excellent condition.

 

[solo2013]

thank you for respond.
But, i thought insurance company still owes us loss of use" damages for every day you do not have a vehicle due to the damage. i heard Insurance companies typically pay $25-30 per day for loss of use. I don't need authorization from insurance. i am demanding it.

Am i missing something here.?

 

[solo2013]

thank you for respond.
But, i thought insurance company still owes us loss of use" damages for every day you do not have a vehicle due to the damage. i heard Insurance companies typically pay $25-30 per day for loss of use. I don't need authorization from insurance. i am demanding it.

Am i missing something here.?

it has been over 19 days since the accident. They didnt contacted us until last week. they want my father to rental car from enterprise.

 

[Allen Trent]

Isn't Pennsylvania a no-fault state, meaning your insurance company covers the damage to your vehicle under Collision coverage & loss of use under an optional rental reimbursement?

or was the car parked at the time & part of the Property Damage coverage.

Keep in mind, the cars you see for sale on Cars.com & autotrader are what a dealership would charge for a car after paying costs to detail the vehicle, overhead, taxes & sales commissions. He wont generally receive that amount as you don't have those overhead costs that a dealership has.

 

[VolAgent]

Isn't Pennsylvania a no-fault state, meaning your insurance company covers the damage to your vehicle under Collision coverage & loss of use under an optional rental reimbursement?

or was the car parked at the time & part of the Property Damage coverage.

Keep in mind, the cars you see for sale on Cars.com & autotrader are what a dealership would charge for a car after paying costs to detail the vehicle, overhead, taxes & sales commissions. He wont generally receive that amount as you don't have those overhead costs that a dealership has.

While I am not familiar with Pennsylvania laws for insurance, the last part is right and wrong.

A person is entitled to Actual Cash Value (ACV), which for a vehicle is Fair Market Value (FMV). Basically, what it would cost to buy the same make, model and year in similar condition and with similar mileage. And that will include tax, title and license as those fees would be required to buy a similar vehicle. For older and/or rarer vehicles, this can be more difficult to establish, which is where the adjuster gets to work for his pay.

Now, fair market value is what vehicles actually sell for, not what they are listed for. So even though the exact same car may be listed on Cars.com for $5000, when reviewing transactions it actually sells for more like $4500. Then FMV would be $4500 plus tax, title and license.

So yes, you won't get what vehicles are listed for on the sites, they also can't deduct for dealer profit, overhead, taxes, commissions, etc. The idea of insurance is to indemnify, which means after it is all said and done, after the accident I should be as close as possible to where I was before. Obviously you've been through an accident and had had to deal with it, but the company should try to get you back as close to normal as they can.

 

[djs]

Similar year and mileage is only part of the evaluation. Condition prior to the accident also applies. For instance, if the tires were worn out, then they deduct for this. If there was pre-existing damage, they deduct for this. If the interior was in rough shape, they deduct for this. At the same time, if it is better than normal, they will add for the same thing.

Loss of use is usually only covered if you use it. So if you don't rent a car, then you don't have an expense to be compensated for. If you rent a car, then you do. This may vary based on the state laws though, I can't speak for PA specifically.

I'm sure the delay in contacting you had to do with a delay in the insured (other driver) talking to them. Its doubtful the insurance company delayed on their own.

Dan

 

[InsCommentary]

If he has been using one of your vehicles, then he may be entitled to reimbursement IF you charge him. The delay on the carrier's part seems excessive.

 

[adjusterjack]

Two points.

1 - No fault has to do with injuries, not property damage. Though you do have the option of making the collision claim under your own policy, if you have collision coverage.

2 - When you are dealing with a liability claim against another driver, his insurance company is not your insurance company and owes you nothing until a court of law says so and says how much. If you don't like what the other insurance company is offering you can either sue the driver and prove your damages in court (including loss of use) or you can use your collision coverage and see if you get better results from your own insurance company. If you bought loss of use coverage you could get that daily stipend whether you rent the car or not.

 

[Allen Trent]

Two points.

1 - No fault has to do with injuries, not property damage. Though you do have the option of making the collision claim under your own policy, if you have collision coverage..

Michigan's no fault does have embedded mandatory Property damage coverage for Property damage caused in Michigan. So, physical property or a parked car would be covered under Property Damage from the at fault party. Michigan no fault also doesn't have any coverage on the at fault parties policy to pay for damages to the other parties damaged vehicle when both are involved in an accident where they were being operated as vehicles.

Michigan limits the non at fault party to a maximum recovery of $1,000 of "mini-tort" losses they can recover in small claims court or from the at fault parties insurer if the at fault party carried optional mini-tort coverage. So, I am confused in that regard about Pennsylvania. they must have some other variation of no fault that still allows the at fault driver to be responsible for the tort of the non at fault parties vehicle.