Total Loss with Performance Parts Additional. Not at Fault, at Fault Parties Insurance.

[Caesquer]

Hi, I was involved in a tear end collision at a red light where the other vehicle was found at fault, and police report states that. I sustained quite substantial damage and vehicle was declared a total loss by the other parties insurance. I am dealing with their insurance due to my vehicle only having liability at the time.

I have been on this since Oct. 16th when I got the first call stating it would be a total loss (accident happened 9/14) it was on a Friday and I was driving on a trip where I was proposing to my now fiancé so I told them I could not make the decision at that time, to which the agent responded with they would send all documents for weather I would keep the call or let it go. I just had to sign and send them back. I just said I'll take a look at them when I the following week when I got them. I came back and realizing that even the amount they were stating didn't include as $380 towing bill that they had a copy off already, and I was really not happy that they were giving penny on the dollar for all my additional parts and only for 3 actually parts out of more than 10 and amounting to $166 added on, where the receipts added to more than $10k...

Now I understand I will not get full price on my parts back but c'mon $37 for a $350 upgraded radiator that was only 3 months old is kinda low in my opinion.

Anyway after numerous calls and emails I finally got a call back from the agent saying they were just waiting on me. And I stated that I had been calling them since October 20th as soon as I got back from my trip to discuss it with them. They said there was nothing to discuss that I had already spoken to the Loss Manager myself (which I never had at all) and that is what was discussed and agreed. After me denying that claim she transferred me to the manager who was adamant that he had spoken to me personally "AT LENGTH" about this and he had his notes so didn't get what I was trying to do. I discussed that I never had spoken to him and that my concern is they were valuing a car that was a stock car, which the value they have I have no complaints with. It is the value of the add on parts that I have complete receipts of, that I could not agree on. After explaining and me correcting him on one claim that he had proof, a photo, that I did not have a billet shifter, and me saying he was probably looking at a picture of a shifter knob and only way to see the shifter is to lift the boot, I stated I was taking most of his claims about my parts with a grain of salt really. Due to that fact he lied to me about speaking to me PERSONALLY on all this, he got offended and said "if you are calling me a liar, then that is the offer its not going to change, click..."

I called back and was able to speak to a supervisor who was trying to make it seem like I was misunderstanding his claims to make it seem he did nothing wrong, when I asked bluntly those same things and he claimed the complete opposite. In the end she said the parts that the manager said couldn't be verified if I sent proof then it would be reevaluated, which I already sent and I told her do I need to send actual pictures. And she said do that then.

Now I'm not to confident my claim and documentation will be taking very seriously because of his personal feeling. I will take pictures of what I can verify of course, but there are things like an upgraded camshaft and additional engine parts, and stage 2 transmission upgrades that I can't take pictures without tearing it apart and then it's really not all that apparent. I have full documentation, receipts, and even some pictures of when I got the parts in.

My question is, am I right for trucking to claim more on the parts worth and is my documentation enough? I'm not trying to claim more than is on there, but again car at pre accident was worth more than a stock, plus I had no intentions of ever selling the vehicle so why should I take a "For Sale" price...

Sorry for the huge post but tried to be thorough.

 

[Dweezil]

I'm not an auto insurance agent but I've always been told with aftermarket upgrades you need either specialty coverage to cover the actual value or additional riders to cover the aftermarket parts. I've known people who thought they had "full coverage" and had something happen to a vehicle just to get pennies on the dollar when it was all over because the policy didn't cover what they had done.

I read my policy before lowering my car and "performance" suspension parts are not covered so I made sure to choose springs that are cosmetic to avoid any future issues.

Good luck and read over your policy to see what it covers if anything.

 

[djs]

My suggestion.... if there are over 10K in upgrades, then keep the car and get it repaired. Odds are, if you calculate all that in, then the car isn't a total anyway. A total is based on the valuation of the car.

Now, a bit about valuations.... it has NOTHING to do with the price of the parts you put in. I had a client pay to have his transmission replaced. $2000 later, he leaves the transmission shop and 5 miles later, his car gets totaled. There was a minor adjustment made for the transmission, but as the adjuster said, we assume it has a working transmission to start out with. The fact that it broke and was replaced basically puts it back to where it should be.

In your case, the after market parts are worth $$$ to you, but you have to look at what it does to the resale value of the car. An upgraded radiator does make a car easier to sell, but not by a lot. People expect the radiator to cool the engine.

Couple that with the fact that if the car had $10,000 in upgrades but YOU didn't insure it? You just had liability on the car? There is nothing fundamentally wrong with this, but it indicates that you didn't put $10K of value into the $10K of parts, or the car would have been insured for collision. Right or wrong, adjusters think this way to a degree.

I don't know what kind of car you have (I'm assuming a Mustang), what the value they offered you was or what you feel the car is worth. If you have $10K in parts in it though, if you know someone that runs a car club for that type of car, see if they will write an estimate of what the car was worth prior to the accident. It would have to be validated with knowledge of recent sales of similar cars. Might not help, but it can't hurt.

Dan

 

[Caesquer]

Thank you for the replies guys. First yes the car only had liability, it had full coverage into a couple months ago. Working in the oil field I was subject to the oil field drop. Dropping gas prices isn't good for my line of work, I was lucky enough to stay employed at the cost of a pay cut of 25% and lowered hours to pretty much part time. Now my decision to drop to liability was mine and I accept had I crashed it myself or been at fault, then it would be my loss. But I was not at fault, having been rear ended at a red light by a distracted driver (who had a suspended license according to police report). And I am not asking my insurance to cover my repairs, which is not their responsibility of course since it was only liability (and I did include uninsured motorist coverage just in case to at least protect me in that, and I wouldn't be debating the aftermarket parts if I was dealing with my insurance. Because I understand I wasn't paying for them to cover it.

The other insurance is the one repsponsible to replacing my vehicle to pre-collision state. Even they stated that, weather I had my parts insured on my policy I would think has no bearing on their end?

Now for instance the transmission, it was in perfectly working order at all times, the components inside were upgraded to something more than stock components (where stage 2 comes from), to handle the added power and torque from the engine upgrades (cam shaft and custom dyno tune) now I feel those do add at least some value, no? If you have the exact cars side by side the one with more horse power and upgraded components (not just aftermarket replacements) would have a better value even if the price was the same for both. Now I understand the radiator and intake, I can live with it being a minimal increase.

My car was a 2005 GTO, given it was only produced 3 years, 2 technically since in 2005 they changed the engine, there aren't too many out there for sale, and then finding one with my mileage (60,000) with similar upgrades is harder. They offered $16k but I am looking for $18.5k. I feel that is a reasonable fair asking price, I'm even giving them the price as if I was to sell the car which I never had any intention on doing. Thus doing the work on it. This is why I understand getting money back on the price of the parts is not going to happen, I'm going on the (what I believe) the realistic value they would add to this vehicle given the excellent condition of doing it as well. Even the adjuster was surprised at it and the mileage, he said all the ones he's dealt with are all over the 110k range which is normal for this year.

Thank you again for the inputs!

 

[Josh]

People expect the radiator to cool the engine.

I had that expectation with my first car; it didn't always live up to expectations