Does anyone have advice about settling a property damage (auto) claim with ins. company?

Insurance claim: car was hit by other driver: probable frame/suspension damage, heavy damage to rear quarter panel and trunk


6 year old car


advice on dealing with insurance company


if totaled?


if not totaled, how will it affect resell value?


what to insist for in settlement?Does anyone have advice about settling a property damage (auto) claim with ins. company?
If you are going third party(against the other driver), you may be entitled to the Diminished Value, if the vehicle is not totaled. However, you have to do the leg work. The insurance company will not attempt to prove the DV for you.





If the vehicle is totaled, you will receive the Actual Cash Value(replacement minus depriciation). The insurance company does not use any book. They use sources like CCC.





Make sure the claims rep has all of the options, the correct mileage and find out what condition they ran it through as, Excellent, Good, Fair or Poor.





Edit - contrary to what the other posted suggested, you cannot sue the insurance company. You would file suit against the driver/owner of the other vehicle. However, you will probably not have to sue anybody. The insurance company will offer you the ACV which is a fair and reasonable settlement.Does anyone have advice about settling a property damage (auto) claim with ins. company?
In response to ';my avitar is hot, but I'm not'; - Just because the frame is damaged, does not mean that the car is a total loss. Frames are easily repaired now a days. Most unibody vehicles have frame components that are serviced seperate from other body panels. On full frame vehicles, the frames can be completely replaced. Most frame damage can be repaired with proper pulling techniques. If a frame is damaged beyond repair, the cost of replacement may exceed the value of the vehicle. R%26amp;R a frame on a 3-5 year old truck that's still worth 25k and you're not even close to a total loss.
repost this in law and ethics and you'll get a lot more responses.. :)





The insurance company already knows exactly what they will pay for the value of the car. There is no ';insist'; on your side, they're just going to tell you to sue them, which they know you won't do, because it's more expensive than the difference.





If it has frame damage, it's totaled, cost more to fix it than it's worth. They'll give you low blue book wholesale as the first number, ask for high bluebook retail as your counter, and see what they come back at, that's your settlement.