My dream just died

[Rocket Man]

You won’t get an insurance company to increase the value they assign your vehicle by finding comparable vehicles, you need to pay for an appraisal from a licensed appraiser which usually cost around $500 but in most cases if your appraisal ends up being considerably higher than what they were offering, they have to pay the appraisal fee plus the difference. I built a Harley that I had $50k into plus my labor and an uninsured driver totaled it. My insurance wanted to pay me for a stock bike, about $23k. I paid for an appraisal , he valued it at 53k. I had every receipt so it helped my case. They hired their own appraiser- 47k. They compromised at $50k plus my insurance paid the fee. IMO it’s not worth it unless you’re talking at least 5k because it drags it out months and you might not end up with more money.

 

[Sparksalot]

View attachment 391593View attachment 391594View attachment 391595

I JUST noticed the street signs. That was the closest light to my house for 7 years.

 

[Electrician]

@Electrician Glad to hear you're ok and no one was hurt. Sucks about the truck. You'll find a replacement though that you can still use your parts on! If you do end up going that route just think of it as a clean slate and a "blank canvas" to redo everything in an even better way than you did the first time!

I'm having a hard time understanding all these comments about waiting for the driver to "admit fault" to their insurance company in order to move forward with a claim on their insurance?

When there's an auto accident out on public roads one of the drivers gets a citation; Marked Lanes, Failure to Yield to the Right Away, Left to Center, Traffic Signal, the list goes on. The driver who receives the citation is the one at fault because their action caused the accident; Hence the traffic citation.

What am I missing?

Nobody got a ticket. Officer said he wasn't there to witness it happen.

 

[TollKeeper]

You won’t get an insurance company to increase the value they assign your vehicle by finding comparable vehicles, you need to pay for an appraisal from a licensed appraiser which usually cost around $500 but in most cases if your appraisal ends up being considerably higher than what they were offering, they have to pay the appraisal fee plus the difference. I built a Harley that I had $50k into plus my labor and an uninsured driver totaled it. My insurance wanted to pay me for a stock bike, about $23k. I paid for an appraisal , he valued it at 53k. I had every receipt so it helped my case. They hired their own appraiser- 47k. They compromised at $50k plus my insurance paid the fee. IMO it’s not worth it unless you’re talking at least 5k because it drags it out months and you might not end up with more money.

I did.. Maybe it depends on the insurance company..

 

[Rocket Man]

I did.. Maybe it depends on the insurance company..

How much of a difference did they pay you?

 

[TollKeeper]

How much of a difference did they pay you?

As said above.. They offered $800. Showed them comparibles, and got $5500. Not a small difference.

 

[Rocket Man]

As said above.. They offered $800. Showed them comparibles, and got $5500. Not a small difference.

Sorry to muddy up your thread here @Electrician. So @TollKeeper what was blue book for your vehicle because that’s what insurance companies go by. I am having a hard time understanding how you got $5500 out of a vehicle that had an $800 blue book value without an appraisal. They don’t just come up with a value out of thin air, and that’s quite a difference to say the least. I’ve had a few totaled vehicles in my 50 years of driving and the custom bike was the first time I felt they were far off the value, they just tried to go blue book value which would have been fair for a stock bike.

 

[ScottyBoy]

Nobody got a ticket. Officer said he wasn't there to witness it happen.

If NOBODY got a ticket, and she refuses to admit fault to her insurance company, then you may be in for a fight so be prepared. Start getting comparable vehicle values, of similarly optioned Tahoes with about the same mileage and condition as yours, and if you can't find the same year, look for a year or two older/younger but probably no more than that. I hope you had a dashcam, if so that will greatly help your claim. I have one in my wife's car, but I need to quit procrastinating and put one in both of my shitboxes.
Regardless, they WILL total our your Tahoe so be ready for that. But don't let them take it from you, tell them you want to keep it for parts. They will deduct about $1000 or less from what they pay you. Depending on how bad that frame is bent, that looks like it can probably be repaired.

 

[TollKeeper]

Sorry to muddy up your thread here @Electrician. So @TollKeeper what was blue book for your vehicle because that’s what insurance companies go by. I am having a hard time understanding how you got $5500 out of a vehicle that had an $800 blue book value without an appraisal. They don’t just come up with a value out of thin air, and that’s quite a difference to say the least. I’ve had a few totaled vehicles in my 50 years of driving and the custom bike was the first time I felt they were far off the value, they just tried to go blue book value which would have been fair for a stock bike.

I cant answer to why they, State Farm, did it, I just know they did it. Its the 3rd time I have done it. 1st time they did require a Appraisal (McLaren). But not the last 2 (Aztek and Skylark), they just wanted the web links to the comparibles that I had found, and around 2 weeks later, they called, and issued a direct deposit.

 

[CMoore711]

Nobody got a ticket. Officer said he wasn't there to witness it happen.

That’s bull$hit…

Officers issue citations based on their assumptions and based on what the scene looks at the time of their arrival all the time. Neither of which are based on what they actually “witness”.

That officer fücked you big time.