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My brother's pregnant wife was hit by a distracted driver running a red light...
Car was t-boned or hit broadside right at the drivers side door and she was on bedrest for the duration.
Originally, insurance wanted to repair the car and he refused...
Also, things were complicated by the pregnancy.
They talked to a lawyer that would have taken 40%.
My brother who is not a lawyer paid the lawyer $200 to file a lawsuit.
Insurance company called back and wanted to talk... brother said he was told they had made their best and final offer so he will see them in court.
On the trial date... insurance company settled in the hall outside the court...
He's a very smart guy... not a lawyer.
Sometimes the last resort is a suit...
Oh... the 1 year old wrecked new car was replaced with a brand new car identical except it was one year newer.
What can be scary is the minimum coverage in California are 15 / 30 / 10, so $15,000 medical for a single person, and $30,000 for 2 or more, and $10,000 property damage. That medical can get eaten up without even spending the night, and the property damage wouldn't cover most new cars today. I'm surprised our law makers haven't addressed this. I have more than double here in Nevada just for peace of mind.
What can be scary is the minimum coverage in California are 15 / 30 / 10, so $15,000 medical for a single person, and $30,000 for 2 or more, and $10,000 property damage. That medical can get eaten up without even spending the night, and the property damage wouldn't cover most new cars today. I'm surprised our law makers haven't addressed this. I have more than double here in Nevada just for peace of mind.
I have a high value rider... hope to never need it.
If you are working or own property... it is something to consider.
I don't have much insurance dealings.
Those that I have reinforce insurance companies don't look out for either party... only themselves.
Off topic... managed a building where a scavenger tripped collecting aluminum cans from the trash... she tripped at 1 in the morning on the public city sidewalk... city passed a law making adjacent property owners responsible... insurance paid out 2k to settle... unbelievable.
I was told they could win... problem is it would cost more than 2k to win
It has 70,000 miles now. I don't recall what it had when we bought it but we did take several long trips in it. I am starting to suspect that we may have somewhat over paid for the car, even though we looked at blue book prices, etc. My husband was very, very specific in what he was looking for (must be a coupe, must be under so many miles, only certain brands, preferably red) that he spent weeks in our large city trying to find the right car.
With those guidelines, I could see why you could've overpaid for the car.
But even the value that the insurance company gave the car sounds kind of low.
When I bought my Tucson, vehicle price was $24k and I put $9k down. I was going to say no to the GAP insurance option anyway but the finance guy said with the equity I'd have in the vehicle, GAP insurance would've been a waste of money anyway.
I have first hand experience.
My car was 2003 model with 60,000 miles when totaled couple of years back. Simply put my experience " DO NOT ACCEPT THEIR OFFER". What I did:
1. Looked for my car in the surrounding 250 miles ( usually the perimeter the insurance company looks for ). NADA none matching the criteria. Did further look in near by states where I found the car. Called them and offered to buy. Asked for the quotes to be FAXED or emailed. Then I came up with my own COMPS. The insurance company COMPS were not even close. I have escalated to the head of the division. I have calculated my reasonable price with the quotes I got and they finally matched.
Of course, the down side is
-loss of my valuable time and stress. But at the end I had a valuable experience on how to fight big Insurance. Believe its worth my time.
I was able to learn that I did have GAP insurance. I haven't heard back from my insurance company but I think that I'm on the right track, for everthing.
I hope everything works out for you. Do not let the GAP company keep putting you off. Most companies have a certain time frame that a claim needs to be filed. Most of the time it is 60 days from the accident. I have seen people having to have sent the papers to the company via fedex so they are signed for. But, like I said, continue to make your payments so the GAP company gives you the maximum payout. I know it sounds crazy, that you keep paying "lessening" the amount you owe. But I personally have seen where a payout was two months less of paying it off because the person quit paying on the loan. I think this is wrong, but it is the way they work.
What can be scary is the minimum coverage in California are 15 / 30 / 10, so $15,000 medical for a single person, and $30,000 for 2 or more, and $10,000 property damage. That medical can get eaten up without even spending the night, and the property damage wouldn't cover most new cars today. I'm surprised our law makers haven't addressed this. I have more than double here in Nevada just for peace of mind.
This is an enormous problem. Liability insurance coverage is very controversial because additional mandatory insurance will result in an increase in insurance rates. Don't expect much out of the legislature in California or elsewhere.
What you can do to protect yourself is to make certain that you purchase adequate underinsured motorist coverage. This is available with most companies at far cheaper rates than many imagine. I carry $1.4 million in underinsured motorist coverage because I'm very concerned about being in a bad accident with a driver who chooses to purchase the minimum coverage the state will let him have.
You will have to purchase additional liability coverage in order to get high limits of underinsured coverage. However, the additional cost to me is less than my satellite t.v. bill.
Maybe you shouldn't have to do this, but its probably your best solution.
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