I handle personal injury cases in Atlanta, Georgia and throughout our state. Lately I have been writing about how folks who have been involved in a wreck can settle their vehicle damage claim without having to go to the expense of hiring an attorney. Today I'm going to continue talking about how to negotiate the maximum settlement on a totaled vehicle.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
How To Settle Your Georgia Property Damage Claim (Car or Truck Damage) WITHOUT An Attorney - Part Three
What do you do if your vehicle has been totaled in a wreck? In my current series of posts I have been blogging about the ins and outs of how to settle a property damage claim in Georgia. Today I will get into the details of how to research the value of a vehicle that is a total loss.
What I say today has no relevance to you if your vehicle can be repaired. BUT - be mindful of the fact that sometimes a vehicle that an insurance company wants to declare a total loss may be repairable. Under some circumstances you (with the aid of a knowledgeably body shop) can persuade an insurance company to repair a badly damaged vehicle rather than total it. There may be reasons you would prefer to have your car or truck fixed. How to go about persuading an insurance company is a topic for another post - today I am focusing on situations where a vehicle is beyond any hope of repairs.
The insurance company, once it has determined that your vehicle is totaled, will make you an offer. That offer usually includes the fair market value (FMV) of your vehicle (before it was totaled) plus sales tax and tags. Determining FMV is a bit of a guessing game. FMV in this context means what a willing buyer would pay a willing seller for a vehicle like yours (before it was totaled). To determine FMV insurance companies use a variety of methods, most based on research of the used car/truck market in your area. They may gather used car/truck ads for comparable vehicles and average them to arrive at FMV for your vehicle. The databases most insurance companies use to calculate FMV are proprietary (meaning they own the rights to see them and you and I are not generally going to be allowed to).
When the insurance company makes you an offer ask them if you can see the paperwork that supports their determination of FMV. Sometimes they will share this with you. If not, ask a lot of questions about how they reached their number. Focus on whether they have included all your vehicle's options and accessories. If they have failed to include a custom sound system or new tires in their evaluation that can dramatically decrease the FMV calculation.
Once you know how the insurance company has arrived at its number - do your own research. For ballpark values, go to websites like Edmunds, Kelley Blue Book, AutoTrader, and the National Automobile Dealership Association (NADA). These sites will help you research used vehicle values.
More on this topic next time.
What I say today has no relevance to you if your vehicle can be repaired. BUT - be mindful of the fact that sometimes a vehicle that an insurance company wants to declare a total loss may be repairable. Under some circumstances you (with the aid of a knowledgeably body shop) can persuade an insurance company to repair a badly damaged vehicle rather than total it. There may be reasons you would prefer to have your car or truck fixed. How to go about persuading an insurance company is a topic for another post - today I am focusing on situations where a vehicle is beyond any hope of repairs.
The insurance company, once it has determined that your vehicle is totaled, will make you an offer. That offer usually includes the fair market value (FMV) of your vehicle (before it was totaled) plus sales tax and tags. Determining FMV is a bit of a guessing game. FMV in this context means what a willing buyer would pay a willing seller for a vehicle like yours (before it was totaled). To determine FMV insurance companies use a variety of methods, most based on research of the used car/truck market in your area. They may gather used car/truck ads for comparable vehicles and average them to arrive at FMV for your vehicle. The databases most insurance companies use to calculate FMV are proprietary (meaning they own the rights to see them and you and I are not generally going to be allowed to).
When the insurance company makes you an offer ask them if you can see the paperwork that supports their determination of FMV. Sometimes they will share this with you. If not, ask a lot of questions about how they reached their number. Focus on whether they have included all your vehicle's options and accessories. If they have failed to include a custom sound system or new tires in their evaluation that can dramatically decrease the FMV calculation.
Once you know how the insurance company has arrived at its number - do your own research. For ballpark values, go to websites like Edmunds, Kelley Blue Book, AutoTrader, and the National Automobile Dealership Association (NADA). These sites will help you research used vehicle values.
More on this topic next time.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
How To Settle Your Georgia Property Damage Claim (Car or Truck Damage) WITHOUT An Attorney - Part Two
In my last post, How To Settle Your Georgia Property Damage Claim (Car or Truck Damage) WITHOUT An Attorney - Part One, I wrote that if you need to bring a property damage claim you should start the process by making sure you know which set of deep pockets to turn to - by which I meant deciding which of the insurance companies involved is going to give you the best deal on your claim.
Many times you will have a choice - present your damage claim to your own insurance company, under your collision coverage, OR present the claim to the at-fault driver's insurance company (usually referred to as the "Liability Carrier"), under the other driver's liability coverage. Which is going to be best? Well . . . that depends!
Many times you will have a choice - present your damage claim to your own insurance company, under your collision coverage, OR present the claim to the at-fault driver's insurance company (usually referred to as the "Liability Carrier"), under the other driver's liability coverage. Which is going to be best? Well . . . that depends!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
How To Settle Your Georgia Property Damage Claim (Car or Truck Damage) WITHOUT An Attorney - Part One
I handle personal injury cases only. Most of my clients live in or around Atlanta, Georgia. I usually do not take on property damage only claims - but I often counsel my injury clients about how to settle those claims. This series of posts is for everybody, whether you were injured or not, who needs guidance on how to handle a Georgia vehicle damage claim.
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