Day started out good....then I just had to go to town...

[Quail_Antwerp]

Hmmm....if they claim he did not have permission, does he then get slapped with Grand Theft Auto???

From what I understand, he had permission to drive the car. The insurance company was trying to get out of paying by saying he was not on the insurance policy that goes with the car.

Good news is they did assume full liability, and we now have a 7 passenger rental van that the other guys insurance is paying for. We did have to put down a small deposit that covers any gas if we don't return the rental with the same amount of gas in it as was in it when we picked it up.

We went to get pics of the other guys vehicle. We couldn't get the pics because their car was already towed away by the ins. co.!

 

[PamsPride]

Insurances will try to get out of paying any way they can!!

We just found out yesterday that we have been with out car insurance for more than 30 days!! Evidently while I was in the hospital having the baby the insurance called to say the bill was due and DH FORGOT!!! So, they discontinued it!! Never sent us a letter or any other phone calls...nothing!! DH went to get his windshield fixed yesterday because he had two knicks and did not want the whole windshield to crack so he was going to get it fixed because knicks do not require a detuctable but cracks are $250. Then he found out we had NO insurance!! We have have been with this insurance company for at least the 11 years we have been married and DH had been with them for several years before that!! And because we let the insurance lapse for more than 30 days now we are on high risk insurance....and because I had a knick fixed in my window that cause the insurance to go up....and because DH backed into someone and we paid cash for the accident but the guy called our insurance and tried to make a claim they raised our insurance on account of that too!!!!

 

[Big Daddy]

You should be ok then. Usually if a car is a total loss there is no reason to keep it unless you are a body shop. The car will have a salvage title on it. If it is fixed it will still be worth about 40% less than a car with a clean title. If you are mechanically inclined and have a use fr parts from the totaled car it can be worth keeping. I kept a car that was totaled and swapped the drive train into a 67 Chevy pick up. Your van looks like it is still driveable with a new T/L. If you don't care about the rear doors opening and looking junkie you could keep it and use the money elsewhere. If you have title on your van the insurance company can't take it. Be sure they add in the conversion if it is a conversion van. That adds about 500-1000 to the value. They should provide you with an evaluation showing where they came up with the value. If they just use NADA it should be retail, not trade in or wholesale value. They will also give you tax for the zip code it is registered in. A lot of people do well on total losses. Usually you get more than you could have sold it for without the hassle of selling it. Your rental is usually only good for 3 days after the offer is made. So you should be looking for a replacement vehicle.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Thanks, Big Daddy for the information!

Yes, we have a clear title on the van. DH wants to keep the van if possible incase we manage to find another van or similar vehicle that we can use the parts from this one on.

The investigator came out today and took pics. He even took pics of the interior showing the wood trim, etc. inside the van.

I just hope it's resolved soon.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Insurance adjuster showed up today. Van is a total loss. Kind of expected to hear those words, but once I actually hard them it just seemed I dunno....does it sound silly to say I am sad to have a total loss? :/

Anyway, he said they will be making us an offer on the van in about 2 days.

 

[PamsPride]

I hope they give you a fair price for your van! Have you started looking for another one?

 

[keljonma]

How are you and the family feeling - Any better? When do you go to your doctor?

 

[Big Daddy]

Did you ever get a settlement? Did you retain salvage for parts like you were thinking about? How are the kids? They usually bounce back pretty well. It's the adults that don't bounce back very well, I seem to remember you saying your husband had a prior back problem. Hope everythings ok.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

We all have follow up appointments next week, as our doctors were booked this week. DH has his appt with the neurosurgeon tomorrow, which has been scheduled for 2 months, and they are going to look at the cervical x-ray as well as the lumbar x-rays tomorrow.

They have not contacted us regarding settlement on the van yet. The attorney's office called us today and said that the ins. co had called them to confirm that they could talk to us regarding property damages, so we expected to hear something today. We were advised to call them ourselves tomorrow if we didn't hear from them today, so I will be doing that in the AM.

 

[Big Daddy]

We all have follow up appointments next week, as our doctors were booked this week. DH has his appt with the neurosurgeon tomorrow, which has been scheduled for 2 months, and they are going to look at the cervical x-ray as well as the lumbar x-rays tomorrow.

They have not contacted us regarding settlement on the van yet. The attorney's office called us today and said that the ins. co had called them to confirm that they could talk to us regarding property damages, so we expected to hear something today. We were advised to call them ourselves tomorrow if we didn't hear from them today, so I will be doing that in the AM.

Usually there is a little fudge room for the appraiser to give you a better offer. Hope your family is ok. When our kids were younger their mother got in a fairly minor collision where she rear ended someone. They were in the car and were mildly traumatized. After that whenever we went anywhere as a family, you could hear them saying to each other "It's ok Daddy is driving". Needless to say I always got a kick out of that.