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| Why won't the insurance company pay what my car is worth? |
One of the most common questions I hear from my clients and people who call our office about personal injury claims is related to property damage - the value of your car. The other driver is at fault, your car is totaled, and their insurance company offers you a cash settlement is that obviously less than the market value. Or, your own insurance company offers you less than market value for your car. I have had clients who actually found an identical replacement vechile for market value comparisons. Such relevant market information does not seem to persuade the claims adjustors at the insurance companies. The law says you are entitled to market value for your car. The insurance industry counts on the fact that you are not going to go to court to force them to pay market value.
To understand the problem you have to first understand who you are dealing with on the other end of the phone. Claims adjustors are trained to settle claims for as little as possible. They do not consider it bad faith or unethical to pay you less than what your car is actually worth in the real world. They are not there to help you, they are there to make a profit for the insurance company. They know that you are without a car, you don't have enough cash to buy another car, and time is on their side. If you are driving a rental car (paid for by your company because you paid for this protection when you bought the insurance policy) the adjustor will threaten to cut off your rent payments if you do not accept the offer.
The other problem is that most insurance companies use industry-friendly data to support their total loss values. Instead to actually using the standard "Blue Book" or contacting car dealers in your community, they subscribe to database programs from companies that suply the insurance industry with proprietary information. The adjustor is told to use only the approved computer program in making appraisals for your total replacment value. The numbers generated are usually undervalue the market replacment value of your car.
I don't represent cars, I represent injured people. If there is a personal injury involved, my office will give you assistance and advice you on how best to deal with the property damage claim. We do not take any fee for our services on such property claims.
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