Insurance Dispute help?

[masterh]

So I got hit by a chick in South LA with a shitty insurance company called KEMPER. She had $5k limit on property damage.

Here are the numbers.

Actual Cash Value: $8,397
Salvage value: $1,436
Cost of Repair: $5,083

California uses Total Loss Formula (TLF) : Cost of Repair + Salvage Value > Actual Cash Value

ACV $8,397 is higher than cost of repair and salvage value combined. ($6,519)

They are going to issue a check of $5,000 and will report to the DMV to revoke the title. (I will have to reregister as rebuilt title)

I've been telling them it doesnt make sense but they keep saying it is their policy.

Is there anything I can do with this shitty insurance company?

[CamasM3e93]

Yeah, you turn the repair over to your insurance as an underinsured driver. Your policy should have coverage for uninsured/underinsured- it is its own line item. You should end up with more money but looks like the title is a loss (going to be salvage), assuming you make the repairs.

Interesting that your state allows that product to even be sold as car insurance.

[DETRoadster]

Yep, what he said ^^^.

This is precisely why YOU have insurance. To insure yourself against shitty drivers with shitty policies and their shitty mistakes. Sorry you got hit and have to deal with this.

[HondaRC51]

The nice part is, if you do get your insurance involved because she is under insured, your rates will not go up and your insurance company will go after her company for the extra $$$ not payed out. Same exact thing happened to a buddy who got hit on his motorcycle. He found the actual value of his bike by printing ads up for the same bike with similar mileage and insurance agreed it was worth a lot more than what the other drivers insurance was willing to provide. You just have to do the leg work and find your make/model/mileage for them to compare prices too.
Plus if you just had any work done in the last 30 day, they will refund you the money for it as long as you have paperwork to prove it.

[Run Silent]

Originally Posted by DETRoadster

Yep, what he said ^^^.

This is precisely why YOU have insurance. To insure yourself against shitty drivers with shitty policies and their shitty mistakes. Sorry you got hit and have to deal with this.

Yup. I had this same thing happen at a greater magnitude to me in December. Someone ran a red light and hit me and my family while we were driving the Bronco. Ripped the front end off our Bronco. Damage estimate was $43K, so they totaled our car.

The at fault party insurance limit for property damage was $50,000, but the value assessed by the insurance company for our Bronco was $57,500.

So instead, we just went through our insurance agency for underinsured motorist and received the $57,500 plus taxes and tag fees we paid. Our insurance rates did not go up, since the other party was deemed 100% at fault.

Picture of our Bronco below.

[RickFLM4]

I think this depends on state. Pretty sure uninsured motorist coverage does not cover property damage in FL. Here, we'd put through a collision claim through our insurance company, who would then then subrogate the claim to the at-fault party's insurance.

As I have learned, even if your insurance does not go up directly as a result of an accident that is not your fault, claims (whether through your own insurance or someone else's) can affect your "insurance score" that then affects your rates. I had one claim for a not-at-fault accident and a windshield comprehensive claim a year later (so 2 claims within 5 years) and my rates went up. The explanation I got was that even if I am not at fault, I have a higher risk of claim than someone with no claims, which I think is BS because they were actually 2 claims in 20+ years.

[masterh]

I had Liability only and I removed Underinsured since I never had an issue for over 15 years

I just want to get $5k as a repair bill (I fixed it with junkyard parts by myself. Car is good to go)

I just spoke to the supervisor and he is telling me completely different story.
The adjustor has been telling me they had to total it since the repair bill plus salvage value is greater than the threshold.

I pointed out the math isn't correct and the supervisor told me they decided to total it because of Constructive Total Loss.
I explained to him there is no frame damage and car is fine to drive.
(on repair estimate, they recommended to replace a strut, control arm, knuckle and hub assembly but I fixed it by replacing only a strut and control arm)

At this point, I will have to wait to hear from a total loss specialist.

[Tyga11]

Kemper is used by people because they are one of the few who offer SR-22.

Was she breathalyzed at the scene of the accident?

[MJBO]

I don't understand the situation, how can the other persons insurance party take your vehicle or declare it written off if you haven't accepted anything from them?

[DETRoadster]

Originally Posted by Run Silent

Yup. I had this same thing happen at a greater magnitude to me in December. Someone ran a red light and hit me and my family while we were driving the Bronco. Ripped the front end off our Bronco. Damage estimate was $43K, so they totaled our car.

The at fault party insurance limit for property damage was $50,000, but the value assessed by the insurance company for our Bronco was $57,500.

So instead, we just went through our insurance agency for underinsured motorist and received the $57,500 plus taxes and tag fees we paid. Our insurance rates did not go up, since the other party was deemed 100% at fault.

Picture of our Bronco below.

Noooooo!!!! Hoping you and the family walked away OK. Thank goodness you were in this little tank and not one of your other sportier vehicles. Not sure how the Alfa would have held up.

[DETRoadster]

Originally Posted by masterh

I had Liability only and I removed Underinsured since I never had an issue for over 15 years

That's like riding your motorcycle without a helmet because you haven't gone down in 15 years.

When you're young, insurance is just a crappy bill you have to pay and you do everything you can to make that bill as cheap as possible. As you get older you realize that insurance is there to protect you from people like your younger self.

I hope this all works out for you and I hope you find a way to carve out a little more cash for that extra coverage that will protect you from events like this in the future.

[________]

Originally Posted by DETRoadster

That's like riding your motorcycle without a helmet because you haven't gone down in 15 years.

When you're young, insurance is just a crappy bill you have to pay and you do everything you can to make that bill as cheap as possible. As you get older you realize that insurance is there to protect you from people like your younger self.

I hope this all works out for you and I hope you find a way to carve out a little more cash for that extra coverage that will protect you from events like this in the future.

DET is always a well of wisdom.

[Chihuahua]

Originally Posted by masterh

So I got hit by a chick in South LA with a shitty insurance company called KEMPER. She had $5k limit on property damage.

Here are the numbers.

Actual Cash Value: $8,397
Salvage value: $1,436
Cost of Repair: $5,083

California uses Total Loss Formula (TLF) : Cost of Repair + Salvage Value > Actual Cash Value

ACV $8,397 is higher than cost of repair and salvage value combined. ($6,519)

They are going to issue a check of $5,000 and will report to the DMV to revoke the title. (I will have to reregister as rebuilt title)

I've been telling them it doesnt make sense but they keep saying it is their policy.

Is there anything I can do with this shitty insurance company?

Contact your insurance company, settle the claim with them, have them make a subrogation demand against Kemper. Your insurer should reimburse your deductible back to you once they're able to successfully collect PD limits from Kemper. They'll go after the at fault party for the remainder. Work in the biz. Good luck.

EDIT: Just saw that you don't carry collision coverage on your policy. I don't ever recommend people do that unless you can push your car off of a cliff and not care one iota. Your options are pretty limited at this point.

[Run Silent]

Originally Posted by DETRoadster

Noooooo!!!! Hoping you and the family walked away OK. Thank goodness you were in this little tank and not one of your other sportier vehicles. Not sure how the Alfa would have held up.

Yeah - wife and I had that conversation - The Bronco held up great and none of us was injured other than a small cut on my wife's head. Damage and injury probably would have been worse in the Alfa or i8, but we would have been able to stop quicker too. I saw him running the red light just before the crash and slammed on my brakes, hence him only hitting the front of the Bronco. Could I have stopped faster and missed getting hit at all in a more performance oriented car? Who knows.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by MJBO

I don't understand the situation, how can the other persons insurance party take your vehicle or declare it written off if you haven't accepted anything from them?

And who has only $5,000 of property damage coverage? Why bother?

[Maynard]

Insurance minimums are a political football/sales gimmic, not a realistic amount of protection. back when I lived in OH they would let you skip insurance altogether if you posted a $10k bond. State minimum limits will hardly cover the ride to the hospital and the ED (not even a down payment if anyone needs life flight or a surgery). I have a big umbrella policy for this reason.

[DETRoadster]

Originally Posted by Run Silent

Yeah - wife and I had that conversation - The Bronco held up great and none of us was injured other than a small cut on my wife's head. Damage and injury probably would have been worse in the Alfa or i8, but we would have been able to stop quicker too. I saw him running the red light just before the crash and slammed on my brakes, hence him only hitting the front of the Bronco. Could I have stopped faster and missed getting hit at all in a more performance oriented car? Who knows.

Fair points. Better accident avoidance in the sports car but more damage/risk if you’re hit. It’s the classic big and heavy vs. light and nimble debate. In any case, glad to see you’re OK. Bummer about the Bronco; I dream of replacing the FJ Cruiser with one of those someday.

[Run Silent]

Originally Posted by DETRoadster

Fair points. Better accident avoidance in the sports car but more damage/risk if you’re hit. It’s the classic big and heavy vs. light and nimble debate. In any case, glad to see you’re OK. Bummer about the Bronco; I dream of replacing the FJ Cruiser with one of those someday.

I bought five of them last year, lol. Bronco arbitrage.

Got some more coming in 2023. Let me know if you want one.

[DETRoadster]

Originally Posted by Run Silent

I bought five of them last year, lol. Bronco arbitrage.

Got some more coming in 2023. Let me know if you want one.

I read that Ford was offering people $2500 you cancel their Bronco order due to supply chain shortages. You could clean up if you have some on order.

Would love to pick one up but all funds are going to the house build right now. It's really nice not having a car payment.

[Tommy-G]

Originally Posted by MJBO

I don't understand the situation, how can the other persons insurance party take your vehicle or declare it written off if you haven't accepted anything from them?

That’s America baby!