bret97gsx

iTrader: (22)

So I was involved in a hit and run accident which resulted in totalling my SS. A mexican hit me, fled in his car, and I didn't let him get away. I chased him for about two miles before he gave up. He jumped out of his car, took off running on foot into the woods. Lucky he had insurance, but he was drunk so thats the reason he ran.

My problem is that his insurance company is only offering me 7k and I get to keep my car. The car has full BMR suspension, moser 12, and made 490hp, 590tq. Ive got well over 19k in the car. Does anyone from experience know how to reason with the insurance company without having to get a lawyer.

I work for everything I earn, and I dont want to sue and get rich. I just want enough money to put me back on my feet and have the same car I had before. And 7k isnt going to cut it.

Heres the pictures:

It bent the frame pretty badly

Tainted

iTrader: (9)

threaten to sue and dont let them push you around. make themgive you what you wat, and nothing less.

BTW that car is fixable...

bret97gsx

iTrader: (22)

Yeah I know its fixable, but the only "right way" to fix it would be to chop the back half off and weld a clean one on. And I wont have a peice of mind with that, and Im not going to fix a totalled car to have NO resale value.

mnypitZ

iTrader: (19)

You gotta do what you gotta do. I think I would bring up the fact that their driver fled the scene and you have a pretty good case if you gotta sue. I would also think that your insurance could get involved and sue on your behalf. Nobody says you have to sue to get rich, but law suits of this nature, where you just want what you had to begin with is perfectly acceptable and is actually what the law should be used for instead of meaningless crap.

patriotformula

iTrader: (28)

They're gonna low ball ya in the beginning. You gotta keep on them, and if you have any receipts or whatever that'll help.

Dskeet6

iTrader: (20)

yea dont do that

i would try and get at least 20.... and keep the car kinda deal. OR get your receipts out and a kbb value and show them who is boss. He fucked you pretty bad...... and his insurance company is throwing a low amount at you because he probably had a terrible insurance plan. He fucked you..... if anything you should be making money of this situation because of the time and aggravation it has costed. I would at least talk to a lawyer but not jump into paying fees unless you feel it would be worth it. Threaten to take them to court. It was their decision to insure this guy.... so they should pay for his mistake and give you what you deserve..... thats the whole point of insurance


btw if you get to keep the car can i have your headlights(im dieing to do the whistler mod!)????

1999Transamman

iTrader: (18)

Dont let the insurance company do that to you. Fact is they will get off as cheap as they can. The fact is the mexican was drunk, sue his ***, sue his insurance company. Do what it takes to make what he fucked up right again. Get your insurance company involved, be aggressive and dont take a dime less than you should get to fix this. I hate to seem like an ******* guys, dont take me for one, but I have seen insurance companies collect money, and not pay up like they should. You pay for them to cover you "in case **** happens", well **** has happened, time to pay up.

mbm88

The same thing happend to me with two Mexicans in Sterling Va. Luckily, I stopped them before they could get away. The girl, Amanda Cruz, had her head up her *** and rearended me at a light. They were going pretty fast, and they messed up my Cobra when I had that. They bent my axle, destroyed my rear bumper, ruined my catback, and hurt my neck. Since she lacked insurance, she somehow weasled her way out of it. I think she gave me a total of 800 for everything, which was bullshit. Make sure you fight the insurance company as much as you can, and sue on top of that. I had back problems to begin with, and that made it worse. Get your neck checked out too, because mine got worse (may not be an issue with you). Sue that piece of **** for all he's worth. I'm glad he didn't kill you.
Good luck man.

2002 SS #476

iTrader: (2)

Both quarter panels are bent, correct way to fix them is cut them off the car and put new ones on (those are welded on to the car, lot of work). I think a 1999 SS is worth more than $7k. Plus if you ever try and sell the car, I doubt someone is going to want to pay what the value could be if it wasn’t wrecked (it’s not just a little bumper damage). So it’s not only the cost of repairs, but the loss of value if you fix it. They should give you more and let you keep the car so you can transfer all your mods. over to a new SS. That’s pretty bad when both quarter panels are bent up that bad, plus it might be tuff to get everything aligned back up. Not sure how your insurance company deals with modified cars, but if that were my car I’d just want the value of the car plus some for the mods. and they could have the car (I’d push them hard if that happened to me). Looked like a clean car.

SparkyJJO

iTrader: (11)

Ouch man that sucks

Like the others said, don't let up. Don't accept anything less than what the car is worth.

BTW you were fortunate that it didn't screw up your car bad enough to keep you from chasing him. Glad for that.

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

Let me explain from someone who just got a check from an insurance company and also someone who had a lawyer. They low balled me on my car and i contested. my lawyer, who is a big one here in town, told me there wasn't much they can do about it. period. the insurance company pretty much states the price and its not negotiable. try, but dont get your hopes up. its not worth as much to them as it is to you unfortunately, i hate it that its that way.

Tainted

iTrader: (9)

^^ bullshit

sue and sue some more if they want to be that way. he was a drunk *** mexican, sue him for pain, time to deal with it, money for the hassel, money for a rental car, and then for all the equilla the scringy ****** could ever buy in his life

The Black Mamba

I could have told you he would have ran...

JL8Jeff

iTrader: (14)

The mods you do actually hurt the book value compared to a stock car. So an insurance company will come in under the book value knowing you have not recourse. You could have tried to get the car appraised before the accident and had a "stated value" policy but it's too late now. The $7K offer is probably as realistic as you will get. I bet 90% of our cars are way underinsured because of the modifications people do. I hope you can get more out of them, but don't get pissy with them, try to work with the appraiser to raise the value as much as you can even if it's $100 at a time. You'll probably have to take the money and car and part it out.

SchultzLT1

iTrader: (5)

are you ******* kidding me?

if a drunk driver hit me, totaled my car, ran, then I lost many thousands in value because of him, I would sue the **** out of him or his insurance company.

just the fact that he was driving drunk and ran gives you a HUGE advantage. its not a normal accident.

If you take him to court I am quite sure you would kick his ***.

I wouldn't stop until you got the complete value for your car + the mods. Or all the mods + the car and then some $$ for what you cant part.

bret97gsx

iTrader: (22)

This isnt true, because I had my insurance company come look at the car, and they told me the cash value of my car was 9400 at one hundred percent stock. And with the modifications i had done, it brought the cash value at over 12k.

00silverGTP

iTrader: (3)

well, let me give me input since I work for "the insurance company". I am a claims adjuster and this is what I do. let me first say we use the NADA retail value of a car. that is very fair, we don't use the lowest value we can find. it my experience nada is usually higher. my advise to you:

1. find as many cars in your area with the milage that closest resemble your. use autotrader, dealerships, whatever. its called a market survey. we owe for what the veh would sell for retail. also see what the value is on all the books (kbb, nada, black book, ect) you can use the highest.

2. provide all the docs neede to prove the purchase or value of the mods. your not going to get al your money out of it. the ins will pay for what the mods increase the value of te car. for example. they will take all you mods and call around to dealerships and ask them how much they would increase the value. your best bet would be to keep salvage and part it out.

3. don't waste your money on a lawyer, unless your inj.

4. report to your ins they may be more willing to work with you ad get a better value since you are thier ins. they will pay for everything and go after his ins to obtain the money. this ill not hurt your rates.

good luck and if I can be of any assistane let me know.

09CPTN

iTrader: (5)

I gotta say, we need more people like the OP in today's world. I tapped some lady in a a parking lot at about 3-5 mph. At first, they just wanted the car fixed (she was in a rental). I was certainly willing to stand up for my mistake and have that done by my ins. Then a few days later I get a call informing me my case has been transferred to a different agent cause she's seeking injuries. Some people just suck. The OP is doing the right thing, but he shouldn't get screwed by the ins company. They should give him enough money to get a car and have it be the same as his is. Also, not trying to thread hijack here, but to the insurance guy: If the ins company totals your car and gives you the book value, what happens if it's in your possession and you strip the mods off it before the tow truck comes to take it to the scrapyard? Like, if I took the manifold and headers off my car if it were totalled, can they do anything about it, since I bought them?

CULATR

iTrader: (96)

hope everything works out man.......nothing else get a lawyer dont let the insurance company dick you around ..........

00silverGTP

iTrader: (3)

hmm.....not sure about that. if you replaced it I would say no. but the scrap yard pays for the car. say it has a $500 savlage value, if it has no manifold and no headers that might hurt that value. salvage value is never very much. and I am not so sure they even care or pay attention to what they get. they just auction them off......