Can you argue with the car insurance adjustor's decisions?

[leebee]

I drive a 2015 Kia Soul. No rust, excellent condition, 80K miles. This morning I slid on ice while pulling into a parking space and hit the building I was parking in front of. The front end plastic grill work is cracked, but the car is 100% driveable. However, we had to have it towed as the air bags deployed and seatbelts locked. Heck, the tow truck driver drove it out of the parking space and onto the flatbed of the truck! DH just spoke with the insurance adjustor and he said because of the age of the car and that the airbags deployed, they will probably just total the vehicle! SAY WHAT??? What are my options here? If we refuse to let them total it, will they still pay for the repairs, or are we on our own? If we don't let them total it, will I be able to get car insurance again- and will it be affordable? There is no way this car should be totaled.. there is some cracked plastic on the front end that I could fix with packing tape (see attached photo), for crying out loud! I was planning on driving this car another 80K miles! Do I have any options here, or are we screwed?

 

[Praying Colonel]

I drive a 2015 Kia Soul. No rust, excellent condition, 80K miles. This morning I slid on ice while pulling into a parking space and hit the building I was parking in front of. The front end plastic grill work is cracked, but the car is 100% driveable. However, we had to have it towed as the air bags deployed and seatbelts locked. Heck, the tow truck driver drove it out of the parking space and onto the flatbed of the truck! DH just spoke with the insurance adjustor and he said because of the age of the car and that the airbags deployed, they will probably just total the vehicle! SAY WHAT??? What are my options here? If we refuse to let them total it, will they still pay for the repairs, or are we on our own? If we don't let them total it, will I be able to get car insurance again- and will it be affordable? There is no way this car should be totaled.. there is some cracked plastic on the front end that I could fix with packing tape (see attached photo), for crying out loud! I was planning on driving this car another 80K miles! Do I have any options here, or are we screwed?

Different states have different rules on what constitutes a total loss. At a minimum, I recommend reviewing the terms of your policy so you know what the coverage terms are in this situation, researching the applicable law in your state, asking the adjuster how he/she arrived at that determination and what your options are if you want to keep the vehicle.

 

[mjkacmom]

Our insurance looked at photos of my minivan after an accident and quoted $5000. The body shop gave us an estimate of $13,000. Adjuster came out and agreed to the $13,000 it was going to cost.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

You typically can't go against the insurance adjustor's decision on total loss or not. Driveable does not have much to due with total loss which takes into consideration depreciation, availability of parts and costs to that and more. Hail damage for example is something that can cause a car to be totaled out despite no mechanical issues.

What you can do is keep the car as a salvage, they will reduce the amount they give you, you repair the car yourself and you would need to check with your state's laws regarding salvage titles which your insurance company may issue. Holding a salvage title also may make the car ineligible for insurance coverage. The insurance company I worked for would insure salvage titles so long as the car was inspected and repaired and considered road worthy.

Negotiation when it comes to insurance adjustors typically is when you disagree with the amount they are going to provide you, another one is what body shop you may use another one is how long you can keep a rental car should you be using your auto insurance for that. But typically once a carrier has deemed a vehicle a total loss that's that.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

Tell them that you are planning on keeping the vehicle and you will pay for the repairs yourself. They cannot force you to give up your vehicle. The insurance company "should" pay you the car's fair market value minus the salvage value and any deductible. You'll receive the remaining amount and keep the car.

 

[sam_gordon]

Did you get a copy of the quote for the repairs? I think that's where to start. Then maybe you can make an offer to the insurance company where you accept a portion of the repair amount and get to keep the vehicle?

Just a thought.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Different states have different rules on what constitutes a total loss. At a minimum, I recommend reviewing the terms of your policy so you know what the coverage terms are in this situation, researching the applicable law in your state, asking the adjuster how he/she arrived at that determination and what your options are if you want to keep the vehicle.

It's really not a state by state insurance law part. It's the insurance carrier and the conditions at the time. Even as minute as your metro area can determine a total or not. The availability of parts is a big one, OEM parts and other things like that also, mechanic shops and the like. Obviously more specialized cars can make a difference as well. During the height of covid trying to get parts from overseas would have been particularly difficult when whole cars on ships were held up at port for months at a time. Chip shortages was also a big factor. Then you have manufacturing plants that are closed down, etc. It's a lot of little details that the adjustors are looking at but a 2015 is fairly old in truth.

For sure the OP would want to check their policy back (the paperwork that tells the conditions of their policy).

 

[Praying Colonel]

It's really not a state by state insurance law part. It's the insurance carrier and the conditions at the time. Even as minute as your metro area can determine a total or not. The availability of parts is a big one, OEM parts and other things like that also, mechanic shops and the like. Obviously more specialized cars can make a difference as well. During the height of covid trying to get parts from overseas would have been particularly difficult when whole cars on ships were held up at port for months at a time. Chip shortages was also a big factor. Then you have manufacturing plants that are closed down, etc. It's a lot of little details that the adjustors are looking at but a 2015 is fairly old in truth.

For sure the OP would want to check their policy back (the paperwork that tells the conditions of their policy).

I'd love to see what happened to an insurer who wrote a policy that didn't comply with applicable state law. That's what's going to apply.

 

[Mommb]

You may be able to tell the insurance company you will pay for the repairs yourself and keep the car. Then it would be as if you didn't involve the insurance company at all.

I doubt that you can have the company pay for repairs, let you keep the car, and let you keep the insurance, because the company wouldn't want to be responsible for paying for repairs again if anything else happens to the car. The point of declaring the car totaled and paying you for it is that it will cost more to repair than the car is worth in the eyes of the insurance company.

Did the insurance adjustor actually look at the car or speak to the repair shop? If they talked to your husband before the car was inspected, it's possible they will change their mind if the damage is easier to repair than they expected.

The only way to know your options for sure is to talk to the insurance company.

 

[AgentMama]

An almost 10 year old car with airbags deployed is definitely totalled. As others have said, your only option is going to be to buy back the salvage title and do repairs yourself. Not sure it's worth it. The resale value of Kias is already low given the known engine issues. I would do a cost analysis of what you'll have into it to put it back on the road versus what the amount they're giving you will give you in a new or new to you vehicle. You will pretty much have no resale value of the car as there isn't really an aftermarket for R title Kias.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I'd love to see what happened to an insurer who wrote a policy that didn't comply with applicable state law. That's what's going to apply.

You're talking about something different. Each insurance company is filed with each state's Department of Insurance (DOI) and must abide by how they are filed in that state. That's called compliance. I'm aware of what you speak to considering I had to abide by compliance every day.

You told the OP totaling out depends on state to state; I spoke to that.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

An almost 10 year old car with airbags deployed is definitely totalled. As others have said, your only option is going to be to buy back the salvage title and do repairs yourself. Not sure it's worth it. The resale value of Kias is already low given the known engine issues. I would do a cost analysis of what you'll have into it to put it back on the road versus what the amount they're giving you will give you in a new or new to you vehicle. You will pretty much have no resale value of the car as there isn't really an aftermarket for R title Kias.

Agreed but on the upside it's possible they may get more cash now if the insurance company does total their car out than they may have anticipated. I believe the used car market is still upside down but not as much as it was even last year. Late last summer my husband's 2010 Mazda was in a minor fender bender (no airbags deployed, no real damage to the other car just hit the other car in the perfect spots) and it was totaled out. The initial discussion was "we think it may be totaled but we'll see it could be possible to repair" and then asked us if we wanted to have it repaired it if could (which at the time we did). The car was looked at and before opening the hood (which was bent) the estimation was about $5,000 in damage and a guess it would be more once they started really getting into it. They ended up totaling it and gave us $6,000 for it, or about twice as much as it probably would have been had the market been completely normal.

Obviously that's just giving our experience but it's still a possibility, seems that posters have been saying that used cars in their area are still closer in price to new cars than they used to be.

 

[indimom]

It may be state by state, but when that happened with our daughter's car... they totaled the car, but we kept the car and were able to fix it (for slightly less than what they gave us), and our daughter drove the car for another 3 years.

 

[Peaseblossom36]

A lot of insurance companies won’t even cover older Kias at this point, and with all the theft people don’t want to buy them so that wouldn’t be helping your value either. My friend traded her older Soul in for around that much with no damage.

 

[disneychrista]

I drive a 2015 Kia Soul. No rust, excellent condition, 80K miles. This morning I slid on ice while pulling into a parking space and hit the building I was parking in front of. The front end plastic grill work is cracked, but the car is 100% driveable. However, we had to have it towed as the air bags deployed and seatbelts locked. Heck, the tow truck driver drove it out of the parking space and onto the flatbed of the truck! DH just spoke with the insurance adjustor and he said because of the age of the car and that the airbags deployed, they will probably just total the vehicle! SAY WHAT??? What are my options here? If we refuse to let them total it, will they still pay for the repairs, or are we on our own? If we don't let them total it, will I be able to get car insurance again- and will it be affordable? There is no way this car should be totaled.. there is some cracked plastic on the front end that I could fix with packing tape (see attached photo), for crying out loud! I was planning on driving this car another 80K miles! Do I have any options here, or are we screwed?

But it isn't just some cracked plastic. The air bags deployed.

You could get a quote for how much the repairs would be and what your insurance is willing to pay for the vehicle as a total loss. See if it is worth it to pay for the repairs yourself and have a salvage title.

 

[GAN]

I drive a 2015 Kia Soul. No rust, excellent condition, 80K miles. This morning I slid on ice while pulling into a parking space and hit the building I was parking in front of. The front end plastic grill work is cracked, but the car is 100% driveable. However, we had to have it towed as the air bags deployed and seatbelts locked. Heck, the tow truck driver drove it out of the parking space and onto the flatbed of the truck! DH just spoke with the insurance adjustor and he said because of the age of the car and that the airbags deployed, they will probably just total the vehicle! SAY WHAT??? What are my options here? If we refuse to let them total it, will they still pay for the repairs, or are we on our own? If we don't let them total it, will I be able to get car insurance again- and will it be affordable? There is no way this car should be totaled.. there is some cracked plastic on the front end that I could fix with packing tape (see attached photo), for crying out loud! I was planning on driving this car another 80K miles! Do I have any options here, or are we screwed?

Sorry to hear that! I just had a 2016 with 125,000 get rear-ended and the repair bill is going to be over $10,000. I’ll be honest, it’s probably worth maybe $12-14,000 but worth much more to me since it’s mint condition(or was). Driver was uninsured and come to find out his car wasn’t even a valid registration …the officer at the scene didn’t even give him a ticket -in fact let him drive away! I was still able to drive mine and took it straight to a body shop and let them deal with my insurance …and I think that’s the difference. When I told them it was already at the shop the agent said “oh well, we don’t guarantee to pay -we only pay what our adjusters calculate.” So clearly, they want to control whether it gets totaled or not …it’s another way for them to make money. Hand you a few grand, then they repair it for cheap money and sell for it what it was actually worth to you. If you know an attorney I’d run it by them -not sure how that would work in your situation but it can’t hurt. Definitely doesn’t sound right if you ask me. Hope things get better for you ….

 

[kymom99]

Sorry to hear that! I just had a 2016 with 125,000 get rear-ended and the repair bill is going to be over $10,000. I’ll be honest, it’s probably worth maybe $12-14,000 but worth much more to me since it’s mint condition(or was). Driver was uninsured and come to find out his car wasn’t even a valid registration …the officer at the scene didn’t even give him a ticket -in fact let him drive away! I was still able to drive mine and took it straight to a body shop and let them deal with my insurance …and I think that’s the difference. When I told them it was already at the shop the agent said “oh well, we don’t guarantee to pay -we only pay what our adjusters calculate.” So clearly, they want to control whether it gets totaled or not …it’s another way for them to make money. Hand you a few grand, then they repair it for cheap money and sell for it what it was actually worth to you. If you know an attorney I’d run it by them -not sure how that would work in your situation but it can’t hurt. Definitely doesn’t sound right if you ask me. Hope things get better for you ….

I don’t think the insurance company keeps the car. My sons car was picked up by a salvage company.

In our state at least, if the cost of repair is 75% of the value of the vehicle, it is totaled. We got almost as much as we paid for the car 5 years prior.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Airbag deployment almost always equates to a total loss. I had a 2002 Dodge Durango with about 65k miles. I got into a wreck in 2008 where my airbags deployed. It was considered totaled even though the rest of the damage wasn’t bad. We have never found there was any room for negotiation with a total loss declaration. While not an airbag matter, DH pushed our insurance and collision center for an explanation and reconsideration when they totaled his 2 year old pick up truck this past spring. It was hit by a tree, so it wasn’t insignificant damage, but it was so new with low mileage. They had all kinds of logic and wouldn’t budge. Same thing happened with my first 2012 Pathfinder. Granted it was in a really bad wreck. It did not look bad, but they found frame damage which is also automatically s total loss. Of course, you can still choose to keep the vehicle and pay the repairs out of pocket but insuring it will be nearly impossible and it’s unlikely you’d be able to do more than sell it to an auction house for parts when you are ready to move to a new ride.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

I don’t think the insurance company keeps the car. My sons car was picked up by a salvage company.

In our state at least, if the cost of repair is 75% of the value of the vehicle, it is totaled. We got almost as much as we paid for the car 5 years prior.

Yeah…DHs truck went to a collision center this past spring. We popped in to clean it out after agreeing to the total loss declaration and they were already taking it apart for salvage.

 

[GAN]

I don’t think the insurance company keeps the car. My sons car was picked up by a salvage company.

In our state at least, if the cost of repair is 75% of the value of the vehicle, it is totaled. We got almost as much as we paid for the car 5 years prior.

Yeah ..I think it can go either way and how they figure, who knows. But whatever it is, it’s falling in their favor 90% of the time. Any reputable auto body shop knows how the racket works -insurance adjusters can’t fool them like the general public.