Auto accident and dealing with insurance companies

You can appeal the amount. We did this with our DIL when her car was totaled. We had to provide 3 listings within a certain radius of DS's house that showed the same car selling for more. They did pay her more.

Good luck that is never fun. I am just glad you were not injured.

This is exactly what I did several years ago. I asked the insurance co. to show me where I can replace the car for the amount they were offering and I was told to find a few in my area that was equal to what was lost. I received more than they were offering.

I am not impressed with Insurance Co's that don't do some work either. During my dd's last accident we ended up doing most everything. I was not happy. Even though it wasn't your fault, keep EVERYTHING. The police report, the insurance report, everything for several yrs. My oldest dd was in an accident where a fed ex truck passed them on the wrong side of the road and hit them. The county attorney even went after them for crimminal chrgs, and a yr AFTER the settlement we had a lawyer contacting us from fed ex's insurance co asking for compensation. It was seriously a WTH? moment. Luckily I had saved EVERYTHING. We produced the police report, the attorney's reports, and they quickly backed out. They should have been happy we didn't sue them.

I think it depends on what kind of coverage you have on your vehicle.  This just happened last weekend to my boyfriend.  A jackhole made a left turn in front of him at an intersection (said jackhole never even checked to see if anyone was coming) and BF plowed into him, totaling both cars.  But BF was driving a 2001 Saturn with 150k miles on it.  He didn't have collision coverage and thus, his insurance company told him to deal with the jackhole's insurance directly.  If he had collision, his insurance company would have paid out and they would have went after the jackhole's insurance company for reimbursement.

I totally agree that it is YOUR insurance company's responsibility to deal with the other insurance company.  That's why you pay premiums.  I would call them again and INSIST they be the go between you and the other insurance company.  It's their duty to represent you in this matter.

ETA -- and don't sign anything or take their first offer especially relating to any potential injuries.  Make sure you don't have any injuries that may cause issues down the line.  This is the advice my DH always gives right away to anyone in an accident.  He's an attorney for an insurance company working with large commercial claims so he is well aware that an insurance company will try to get you to settle and sign-off on a claim right away before you have too much time to think.

When I am a claimant, I always go directly to the other person's insurance. I don't call my insurance unless I am having issues with the other person's insurance. I want their insurance to deal with everything because they will have to put me in a rental car and pay the claim on my car at the repair shop of my choice. If you are trying to only deal with your insurance and if you don't have rental car coverage, then you will have to pay for your own rental car and hope to get reimbursed. Also, you will have to pay your deductible and again, hope to get reimbursed. As a claimant, you have more pull than you do as the insured when you deal with their company. The insurance adjuster will want to settle with you as quickly as they can and hope to avoid a lawsuit. This does not mean they are trying to screw you over either. Again, remember, as a claimant, you have the pull.........That said, insurance works differently in some states and I don't know where you are or if it is different in your state.

When I totaled a car years ago, I was told to look in the newspaper for my year car with my car's features and see how much people were asking. I was told that I could expect about that amount. I did this and found 3 cars very close in features to mine that were the same year. My offer was exactly the average of those 3 cars so I considered it a very fair offer. I would have no problem replacing my car with a like car. If you have a loan on your car, the balance of your loan has nothing to do with the value of your car. If you are upside down on your loan, insurance still only pays the value of your car. There is gap insurance and things like that today that can cover that difference but I don't think most people have that coverage.

I had to do this a couple of times last fall and the very best way to get the most value out of your car is to locate a comparable model/year for the highest price you can find. 

I had to expand my search from local to national since no one was selling a 1994 Ford Ranger with 70,000 original miles on it - nothing comparable at all. I found four or five different ones that were similar (within two years either way) miles for no less than $4,000.00.  My insurance company originally offered me $1,400 for my truck...lol! I got $4,800.00 for it and gave them the comparables to show the other insurance company so they could collect their money back from them.

Same thing with my '92 Suburban...it was a speciality model and my DD had wrecked it so, that one was on us. Insurance came back with a shit offer $1,200.00...I found several comparables (again, looking nationally) and they gave me $4,400.00.

Never settle for their first offer. Find other comparable used car listings that are high value. Submit those to your insurance agent.

BTW, your agent told you to call the other insurance co?  My agent handled the whole thing for us...we still have a couple of pending issues (reimbursements, time lost from work, etc) but in regards to vehicle replacement, our agent was a champ.

First I'm sorry about your accident and I hope you're OK.

My aunt recently had to have her car totaled due to an accident (also not her fault) and the other insurance company tried to give her a low price. Her son found three comparable used cars that were the same make and model, and within two years of hers that were currently for sale in the same state. Apparently the insurance company was using a national average, but she lives in a high cost area. She kept arguing and the insurance ended up writing her a check for the average of the comps her son provided which ended up being $3000 higher than they were originally going to give her.

my son's car was totaled just after I put $2000 in repairs in it. I showed that to the insurance company (car was totaled) and we got more money.