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Car was totaled by a semi this week; what is a fair settlement amount in return?
milk ducks
High Mucky MuckBig Tits TownRegistered User regular
High Mucky MuckBig Tits TownRegistered User regular
Hey everyone. On my way into work Wednesday, I was involved in a pretty serious accident; a school bus in the oncoming lane put its lights on / sign out, so I stopped and waited for the kids to board. A few seconds later, a semi smashed into the back of my SUV and destroyed it.
I think I'm okay; went to the ER, and the x-rays came back indicating no broken bones or fractures, my neck seemed okay, etc. I'm still finding myself a little confused / dizzy / disoriented at times, but generally speaking I think I'm alright.
The driver had commercial insurance and they already spoke to me on the phone and said they were accepting liability for the accident. They said they'd get in contact with me next week with an offer to cover repairs (which, I mean, I assume the vehicle is beyond repair -- it was completely fucked), lost wages from missing work, and emotional damages.
I guess my question is, how do I know if the offer they make is fair? And what do I do if I think it isn't?
I can figure out lost wages from missed from work because of the accident, but everything seems difficult. My vehicle was a 2010 Mercury Mariner with 170k miles on it. I had always intended to drive it until it stopped working, and it was fine. But I'm guessing it wouldn't trade in for anything more than about a grand. But that's obviously not enough to buy a used car replacement, lol.
Any idea what I should be looking for with that?
And in terms of emotional damages or whatever, I honestly have no idea what the going rate is for being smashed by a semi while stopped for a school bus lol.
Anyway, any advice you might have would be greatly appreciated. I'm not looking to fuck the insurance company over or anything; I just have no idea what a fair offer would look like, or how to go about contesting if it I felt like they were low-balling me.
I think I'm okay; went to the ER, and the x-rays came back indicating no broken bones or fractures, my neck seemed okay, etc. I'm still finding myself a little confused / dizzy / disoriented at times, but generally speaking I think I'm alright.
The driver had commercial insurance and they already spoke to me on the phone and said they were accepting liability for the accident. They said they'd get in contact with me next week with an offer to cover repairs (which, I mean, I assume the vehicle is beyond repair -- it was completely fucked), lost wages from missing work, and emotional damages.
I guess my question is, how do I know if the offer they make is fair? And what do I do if I think it isn't?
I can figure out lost wages from missed from work because of the accident, but everything seems difficult. My vehicle was a 2010 Mercury Mariner with 170k miles on it. I had always intended to drive it until it stopped working, and it was fine. But I'm guessing it wouldn't trade in for anything more than about a grand. But that's obviously not enough to buy a used car replacement, lol.
Any idea what I should be looking for with that?
And in terms of emotional damages or whatever, I honestly have no idea what the going rate is for being smashed by a semi while stopped for a school bus lol.
Anyway, any advice you might have would be greatly appreciated. I'm not looking to fuck the insurance company over or anything; I just have no idea what a fair offer would look like, or how to go about contesting if it I felt like they were low-balling me.
milk ducks on
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As the other company is accepting fault, you and your insurance co's interests line up.
Was the trucker ticketed for ignoring the bus? You lose your license for 3 months here plus fine.
Edit: So call up your company and tell them you were in an accident. Write down the details if it helps. Have copies of your medical bills as the trucker should pay for that as well.
Also glad you're ok! Can't speak to emotional damage, that would likely be a court thing.
they may be trying to weasel a settlement out of you, talk to your agent, and potentially talk to a lawyer, because your case sounds pretty good
IANAL, but they are almost definitely trying to weasel out an undervalued settlement from you. Just trying to get you to say "yeah, X money will cover the losses" on a recorded call before you can realize that this accident has fucked you in a half dozen subtle ways that will become increasingly apparent over time. At least, that was the situation when my mom was hit in a bad accident. Got a lot of really anxious calls from the other persons insurance looking for a solid number, likely counting on most people accepting anything that sounds like a big payout without considering what they've actually lost. In my moms case, she was forced to retire from her job as a nurse due to damage to her hands/wrists, turns out you can't be a baby nurse if you can't safely hold a baby. The value of the lost years of work, retirement contributions, benefits...
The fact that they've already accepted liability for the accident means they know their driver fucked up. Having totaled your car while stopped for a school bus... damn.
I mean, I hate to say it because it sounds like trying to minimize the situation, but this could have been so much worse.
Anyway, it's been said, contact your insurance people (if you haven't done so already), and keep in contact with them regarding any calls from the trucking company reps.
All the more reason for your insurance to handle this. They shouldn't mind one iota helping you out with anything you need once it's clear the other party's claimed fault. But at the very least, the value for the car isn't going to be the scrap value; it should be, bare minimum, about what it costs you to buy an equivalent car today. I got rear ended a few years ago resulting in a total loss of my old car, and the check I got was well over blue book value.
Having said that, I went ahead and contacted a personal injury attorney that specializes in truck driving accidents. They seemed to think I had a case (and I mean, how could I not? I took a direct rear-end hit from a semi while stopped for a school bus), and they're going to represent me. They said that the other insurance company contacting me as quickly as they did and saying they'd context me next week with an offer, is a good indication that they know they're fucked and they want to try and lowball a settlement before I lawyer up.
Thanks for the advise, everyone! I appreciate it!
Call the claims number for the company on your car's insurance card. Tell them you got into an accident. Pretty sure there's someone who will talk to you...
Yeah WTF?
That's literally what insurance companies are for.
Next would be too blast it out on social media but that could hurt any lawsuits if iit comes to that.
Do what Inquisitor77 said above first. If still nothing, tweet their official account and just ask to get in touch with an agent.
Now... I'll just add if you don't have insurance, costs should be at minimum replacement value of vehicle, plus medical bills for X time.
although your insurance carrier will in theory help you in this situation, most car insurance companies have their own arbitration system and you'll probably not see anything near what you'd get out of a lawyer, because at the end of the day they're all buddies... they'll do just enough for you to keep your business
given the nature of your case I imagine your lawyer is working it and only getting paid if you get paid (thats pretty much how most injury attorneys work, especially if they are falling out of their chair to represent you)... if so, good, that's how it should be...
make sure the terms are good but you should be sorted out...
Ideally a good agent works with the claims department and is your liaison to your insurance company.
Though admittedly that has rapidly become more and more rare over the last couple of decades.
They called you first because they want you to agree to a settlement without doing your due diligence.
My previous car was hit not once, not twice, but three separate occasions while legally and safely parked at three different locations. Each time the offenders insurance company (Geico, Allstate, and Geico again) called me directly saying they had accepted liability and to bring my car to one of their approved shops for repair.
Each time I told them to speak to my insurance company (State Farm).
Each time, after that, they dragged their feet on paying so I just paid my deductible to get my car repaired faster through State Farm and each time I got a much bigger check once my insurance company was satisfied.
I am very glad you are safe and healthy and if there is one silver lining to this you likely saved the lives of more than a few children by being in the very wrong place at the right time.
So, call your insurance claims and let them have your lawyers information and let them deal with it. You shouldn't have to pay the lawyer much up front cause they're going to get a huge check later on.
In the short term see if your insurance policy covers rental cars in the case of a total loss like this.
EDIT: I reread the OP and you mention disorientation and confusion, which are hallmark signs of a concussion. Make sure you make your follow up appointments with your primary care and do you have someone who can stay with you for a few days to make sure you're safe?
A mediocre agent should have still been able to liaise between OP and claims. Definitely time to shop for a new agent when this is done. They don’t deserve their commission.
So find advertisements for 2010 Mercury Mariners with ~170k miles. That’s how much you will get for your car. Add or deduct money based on miles. You can ask the adjuster how they arrived at their calculation.
Medical, lost wages, pain and suffering are more nuanced and difficult to quantify.
Now for the insurance bit, if you have liability and your insurance company sucks, they probably won’t do anything for you. They don’t have to. The only thing they are concerned with is we’re you at fault. An insurance agent/broker just sells insurance. Nothing else.
If you have collision and various other coverages. Your insurance company will probably have an adjuster represent you. Especially if you are with a good company.
But shitty companies are shitty companies and the car insurance market is littered with them. A good company will always have someone who can represent your interests. Your state may have an Ombudsman who can help you, if your insurance company is dog shit.
Lawyers are expensive. The advice get a lawyer is fine. But understand the other insurance company will not be on the hook for your legal fees if they are acting in good faith.
But if the insurance company offers to settle a claim for 35k and a lawyer gets them to 45k, but takes 15k as their contingency, that doesn’t help. I have a coworker who paid 30k in lawyers fees and he was awarded the original settlement offer the insurance company had given him pre lawyer. He was very upset by that, but the cost to appeal was going to be more than the amount of money he got.
Not really? They mostly get in the way. Most large insurance companies split claims based on nature/complexity and have them handled by vastly different ops (sometimes even entirely automated), often in vastly different geographic areas and distributed by algorithms based on current workloads.
These departments roll up to operations leads and are accountable for customer experience and costs.
Sales agents generally work for themselves or an agency and have contacts in the sales organization who have no access or influence on the claims process (unless you're a major company).
If an agent sends a concern note to an adjuster, they'll likely get a polite form letter and the note will go in the claims file. That's about the extent of it in most cases.
Get your insurance to actually do its job?