How to hit the insurance company for loss of value?
#1
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Hey guys, I am hoping some one here has had to deal with this or works for an insurance company.
I got rear ended in my 2010 camaro and the damage is bad but I do not think it is bad enough to total it.
My car was a pre production preorder. I have all the documentation GM was sending us early pre order guys and at some point my car would have been worth some money. Now that is all out the window.
I have 11,000 miles on it.
I know I should get a settlement check for loss of value
How do I handle this? And how do I determain what is fair?
Also how do I handle making sure the car is repaired properly and not with **** parts.
This happen two days before Christmas so I have not even been able to get a police report or get the insurance to get started. It is getting fustrating. I waited 8 months for this car so some one else could tear it up.
Dave
![](http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/2936/photokp.jpg)
I got rear ended in my 2010 camaro and the damage is bad but I do not think it is bad enough to total it.
My car was a pre production preorder. I have all the documentation GM was sending us early pre order guys and at some point my car would have been worth some money. Now that is all out the window.
I have 11,000 miles on it.
I know I should get a settlement check for loss of value
How do I handle this? And how do I determain what is fair?
Also how do I handle making sure the car is repaired properly and not with **** parts.
This happen two days before Christmas so I have not even been able to get a police report or get the insurance to get started. It is getting fustrating. I waited 8 months for this car so some one else could tear it up.
Dave
![](http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/2936/photokp.jpg)
![](http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/8331/wreckedss4.jpg)
Last edited by Nitro Dave's Nitrous Outlet; 12-28-2009 at 09:49 PM.
#3
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Sorry to see that. I was mad when my truck was hit and it had little/no potential at all for collector value. I can only imagine how frustrated you must be.
I am going through this on my truck. I believe insurance calls it "Diminished Value". I am no expert, but there are firms out there who handle it. In your case, having a firm that specializes in this will be your best bet. I doubt insurance will offer you a reasonable diminished value for it. If you do some internet research, you should be able to find some good reading and turn up some firms who might be of help.
I am going through this on my truck. I believe insurance calls it "Diminished Value". I am no expert, but there are firms out there who handle it. In your case, having a firm that specializes in this will be your best bet. I doubt insurance will offer you a reasonable diminished value for it. If you do some internet research, you should be able to find some good reading and turn up some firms who might be of help.
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Sad to see..
As far as getting it repaired, in Texas you are allowed to select who and how your car is repaired. Dont let the insurance company tell you where to take your car and make sure you are on-site when the adjuster comes out. They are supposed to ask you if you want to repair with oem or refurbished/aftermarket parts. Given the oppurtunity the Ins. company will cut corners on everything.... It is there business to pay to repair your car to the condition it was before the wreck. Keep on them if they give you ****, and dont let them have control of anything or you might get shafted .
As far as getting it repaired, in Texas you are allowed to select who and how your car is repaired. Dont let the insurance company tell you where to take your car and make sure you are on-site when the adjuster comes out. They are supposed to ask you if you want to repair with oem or refurbished/aftermarket parts. Given the oppurtunity the Ins. company will cut corners on everything.... It is there business to pay to repair your car to the condition it was before the wreck. Keep on them if they give you ****, and dont let them have control of anything or you might get shafted .
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Sad to see..
As far as getting it repaired, in Texas you are allowed to select who and how your car is repaired. Dont let the insurance company tell you where to take your car and make sure you are on-site when the adjuster comes out. They are supposed to ask you if you want to repair with oem or refurbished/aftermarket parts. Given the oppurtunity the Ins. company will cut corners on everything.... It is there business to pay to repair your car to the condition it was before the wreck. Keep on them if they give you ****, and dont let them have control of anything or you might get shafted .
As far as getting it repaired, in Texas you are allowed to select who and how your car is repaired. Dont let the insurance company tell you where to take your car and make sure you are on-site when the adjuster comes out. They are supposed to ask you if you want to repair with oem or refurbished/aftermarket parts. Given the oppurtunity the Ins. company will cut corners on everything.... It is there business to pay to repair your car to the condition it was before the wreck. Keep on them if they give you ****, and dont let them have control of anything or you might get shafted .
#7
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Ofcourse there is no way I would have payed that but it shows the value of the car is higher than what ever blue book is going to state. Then add the rare fact its a preproduction pre order with documentation.
I feel I should be payed for that.
Dave
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#8
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i work at a body shop, and there's is alot more damage to the camaro than you can see. from those pics anyway. there's probably floor/sub frame damage. i dont think the camaro's have been out long enought for you to have to worry about crap aftermarket parts being put on if it is repaired. but as far as insurance companies go, idk what to tell you man. they are ALL the same. shitty, cheap and only out to make money. and whatever collector value your car may have had probably isnt there anymore with this much damage. sorry for your loss
#9
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Well in a perfect world the car would be totaled. Unfortintly I do not think the damage is enough to total it. Even if it were totaled I feel the car being a early pre order before production started it is worth more than a standard off the lot car. Many lots are still charging 5,000 over MSRP on these cars and when my car came in after waiting 8 months from the day I placed my order car lots were taking orders and selling them at 10,000 over MSRP.
Ofcourse there is no way I would have payed that but it shows the value of the car is higher than what ever blue book is going to state. Then add the rare fact its a preproduction pre order with documentation.
I feel I should be payed for that.
Dave
Ofcourse there is no way I would have payed that but it shows the value of the car is higher than what ever blue book is going to state. Then add the rare fact its a preproduction pre order with documentation.
I feel I should be payed for that.
Dave
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Dave, sucks to see those pics. I'd be furious if it were my car. Anyways, I hope they total the car. 2010 Camaro body panels and parts are not easy to come by, some take several months to receive. Those quarter panels on the Camaro are 1-piece and go all the way up to the windshield A-pillar. That is a lot of body panel labor. I'd force them to replace the trunk pan if it is bent too, not just hammer it out. That pan probably isn't available new. If the suspension got tweaked, ask to have it fully removed and inspected for cracks or signs of damage, that will add to the repair costs.
As for diminished value, you should speak to your own insurance co about that. They will go to bat for you, since this was not your fault. I figure another $5K on top of what it costs to repair the car would probably be a fair amount of cash to have, in case you sell it later. You can't ask/get the same money for a previously wrecked car with unoriginal body panels.
The value of the car being an early VIN doesn't matter. There is no guarantee the cars will be worth something in 20 years, so they won't pay you for that. In fact, I don't see these Camaros being worth anything in 20 years simply because they are going to sell 100,000 of them the first year. I think they are in the 80-90K built range already. Not collectible at all. If the Z28 comes out, our SS's won't be worth ****
As for diminished value, you should speak to your own insurance co about that. They will go to bat for you, since this was not your fault. I figure another $5K on top of what it costs to repair the car would probably be a fair amount of cash to have, in case you sell it later. You can't ask/get the same money for a previously wrecked car with unoriginal body panels.
The value of the car being an early VIN doesn't matter. There is no guarantee the cars will be worth something in 20 years, so they won't pay you for that. In fact, I don't see these Camaros being worth anything in 20 years simply because they are going to sell 100,000 of them the first year. I think they are in the 80-90K built range already. Not collectible at all. If the Z28 comes out, our SS's won't be worth ****
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dealers are still charging over sticker?!?!?!? Hell we have been doing GM Supplier and GMS on them for months now hahaha....."fools and there money are soon parted"
That sucks about the wreck, what happened, drunk driver? U cant miss a bright orange camaro!
That sucks about the wreck, what happened, drunk driver? U cant miss a bright orange camaro!
#13
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Like said above you will need to have a diminished value evaluation done on the car once repairs have been completed. The car is too new for used or aftermarket parts. They might try to write for a recon bumper but doubt there is one available. Sorry bout your ride.
#14
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Usually the price to fix will have to be 2/3rds of what the car is worth to be considered totaled. Rental car, diminishing value and everything helps to add the bill up. I knew someone that had a front end collishing around a month ago in he '10 and parts were back ordered around a month or more. They ended up considering hes was totaled.
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Dave,
I work at a personal injury law firm. Specifically, I handle property damage claims since most of our clients are too injured to handle it themselves.
Doubt it's gonna be totaled unless you take it to an extremely high dollar body shop.
For diminished value you need to have an appraisal done. There are several ways to do this. Ther is diminishedvalue.com or someone local to you that likely will do this. My firm uses a guy out of Dallas. He travels to you and does about a 20-30 pg report for $350. You submit that to the ins. company and we have not had many problems getting paid. There was a Hummer that had to have a new frame. The cost to fix was 20k and then we got them ~15k diminished value. Anyway, it was a pretty odd example, but I thought I'd mention it since both the hummer and your car were practically new and both cost around 40K.
Edit: I'm currently going through a diminished value claim on my CTS-V that was rearended. Sucks when it rains a lot doesn't it?
You can PM me any questions you have and I'd be happy to answer them or even talk you through it over the phone. Not sure if you remember who I am, but I'm a friend of Charles Hornsby's from way back in the day.
Good luck with whichever route you choose. If it wasn't for the way insurance companies lowballed the **** outta folks, I wouldn't have a job.
I work at a personal injury law firm. Specifically, I handle property damage claims since most of our clients are too injured to handle it themselves.
Doubt it's gonna be totaled unless you take it to an extremely high dollar body shop.
For diminished value you need to have an appraisal done. There are several ways to do this. Ther is diminishedvalue.com or someone local to you that likely will do this. My firm uses a guy out of Dallas. He travels to you and does about a 20-30 pg report for $350. You submit that to the ins. company and we have not had many problems getting paid. There was a Hummer that had to have a new frame. The cost to fix was 20k and then we got them ~15k diminished value. Anyway, it was a pretty odd example, but I thought I'd mention it since both the hummer and your car were practically new and both cost around 40K.
Edit: I'm currently going through a diminished value claim on my CTS-V that was rearended. Sucks when it rains a lot doesn't it?
You can PM me any questions you have and I'd be happy to answer them or even talk you through it over the phone. Not sure if you remember who I am, but I'm a friend of Charles Hornsby's from way back in the day.
Good luck with whichever route you choose. If it wasn't for the way insurance companies lowballed the **** outta folks, I wouldn't have a job.
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Last edited by TexVette; 12-29-2009 at 04:48 PM. Reason: Added Info.
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Thanks guys for all the advice.
Tony,
I am going to be very picky on what is used and how they fix the car. Thank you for some tips on what to look out for. I understand where you are comming from as far as rarety. You never really know though. If these cars keep getting smashed up like they are maybe they will be.lol.
TexVette-
Thanks for the info. I still talk to Charlie from time to time. Shoot me a pm on who you are..
TXMaro-Here is what sucks.. Her insurance is the same company as mine. Farmers..
Tony,
I am going to be very picky on what is used and how they fix the car. Thank you for some tips on what to look out for. I understand where you are comming from as far as rarety. You never really know though. If these cars keep getting smashed up like they are maybe they will be.lol.
TexVette-
Thanks for the info. I still talk to Charlie from time to time. Shoot me a pm on who you are..
TXMaro-Here is what sucks.. Her insurance is the same company as mine. Farmers..
#18
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That does suck when both parties use the same insurance co. Ugh!
Be sure to hit them up for a rental car ASAP, let it rack up their costs. Also, pick an expensive body shop that does good work. YOU get to pick the body shop, nobody can force you to get 2nd quotes or go somewhere else.
Be sure to hit them up for a rental car ASAP, let it rack up their costs. Also, pick an expensive body shop that does good work. YOU get to pick the body shop, nobody can force you to get 2nd quotes or go somewhere else.
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Since you both have the same insurance companies I feel bad for you. It is going to be a pain in the *** dealing with this.
Am I the only one that noticed how little tread is left on those tires after only 11k miles![Winky](https://ls1tech.com/forums/images/smilies/LS1Tech/gr_wink.gif)
I'm just now replacing the tires on my blown G8 that has 36k miles on it lol.
Am I the only one that noticed how little tread is left on those tires after only 11k miles
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I'm just now replacing the tires on my blown G8 that has 36k miles on it lol.