If you have been in a car accident in Weston and your vehicle suffered
severe damage, you may need the services of a Weston car
accident lawyer like the
professionals at Martin, Lister & Alvarez. For most people, their car
represents a major investment and if an insurance company wants to “total your
car” they may use tactics to give you less than you are due.
In most states,
the law specifies how an insurance company has to calculate claims for totaled
vehicles. In North Carolina for example, the cost of repairing the vehicle must
exceed 75% of the retail value of your car before they declare it totaled. In
Florida, the method of determining a “totaled” loss is determined by the terms
of the policy. There are no specific laws about how a car is deemed totaled.
However, your replacement
(or repair) claim check must be based on the price of two like-model cars for
sale in your area (in the last 90 days). In addition, the blue book value and
the estimated retail price from a minimum of two car dealers in your area has
to be considered.
At the end of
the day, it’s the adjuster who makes the call. Did he offer a fair deal? How
would you know for certain if he did?
How to Value Your Car When it has Been Totaled in an
Accident
Actually, there
are a number of resources available to you that can offer reasonable estimates
on what your car was worth before it was totaled. Kelly Blue Book (KBB.com) and
Edmunds (Edmunds.com) can both provide values based on your local market. As
detailed as these sites are, they may still not reflect the value of your car.
For example, if
you recently bought a set of new tires, or a new radiator, or had an upgraded
audio system installed, these are items that typically will not be reflected in
a database, yours or the adjuster’s. Gather receipts for all these improvements
and use them to negotiate a bigger check! In Florida, your replacement or
repair check has to include the cost of sales tax as well.
Generally
speaking, the insurance company has the upper hand. They know you need
transportation and if you disagree with the amount they are willing to pay they
can just drag the process out until you agree by necessity.
If you reach
this point, you may want to engage a personal injury attorney who specializes in auto accidents to handle the
negotiations for you. This is particularly true if you were injured in the
accident. In the bigger scheme of things, auto claims are small potatoes for
insurance companies and they do not want to have to use legal resources to
settle a “totaled” claim.
There is another
option as well and that’s having the car repaired and then filing a diminished
value claim. An experienced Weston car accident lawyer can help you decide if that’s a right strategy for
you.
If you have
questions, please do not hesitate to contact the friendly staff at Martin,
Lister & Alverez today.
