ZastikZack

Hello.

I was involved in an accident a little over 3 months now, at first the other person did not have valid insurance but her mother did so I filed a claim with her insurance. They were non-cooperative and kept denying it was there fault but she admitted in the police report it was her fault but later changed her statement to insurance company, either way she was found at fault.

Long story short, the insurance want to give me a check for 10K to fix car, I can get a mediocre job done for 6K, but my car happens to be a lease.

Should I walk away and pocket $4K or go after her and try to sue for more money? Ive been carpooling everywhere for the past 3 months, and paying for things like tows out of my pocket.

Help and your opinions would be greatly valued!

Thanks,

Zack

daobn24

You are getting jerk around by both the insurance companies and the responsible party. Get a lawyer involve immediately. 3 months?!? seriously? you're too kind/naive sir.

ZastikZack

My worry is taking an additional month or two to get all this situated in court, also price of a lawyer may be a little hefty for me.

Not knowing what to do in this situation represents my inaction.

4WDrift

File a small claims suit on her.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

you should be entitled to rental car fees that the other insurance company has to pay for

gmanusmc

Don't think small claims would help in this case - he needs big boy court and legal help.

I'm concerned that someone not responsible enough to have proper insurance would be responsible enough to honor a court judgment.

NYKnick101

I just dealt with a situation like this and I wouldn't settle for mediocre job because you may end up paying more in the end. When my sister got into an accident at the other persons fault, the Insurance did my appraisal, for way less than what the damage was actually for. I had to ask for a supplement because most insurance appraiser's doesn't usually take into account the damage underneath, its more or less external estimate only which they pay out at first.

If you really want the extra 4k then by all means go for it but you might as well get it done right the first time. What I would do is get an estimate from a body shop for replacement with OEM parts and then submit that to your insurance company, they can possibly pay out more than the 10k original appraisal and save here and there by using aftermarket parts. My uncle did that with his 4Runner that got into an accident. he really only made out with like a few hundred on top but it was more of a hassle getting it fixed and was without a car longer than anticipated

IS1911

Do they HAVE any money that you can sue for? If not pocket the 4K and walk. The main reason motorists are uninsured is because they are poor. Many years ago my mother was hit by an uninsured drunk driver. Not only did he total her Camry but she broke several ribs and shattered a couple of vertebrae. She had back problems the rest of her life and eventually had to undergo spinal fusion surgery that cost $120K (fancy New York City hospital and doctor - her insurance paid for most of it). She sued and was awarded a large sum but never collected a dime because the dirtbag who hit her had nothing to his name. The bottom line is that you can't collect what they don't have.

ZastikZack

So talked to a lawyer today and he said take the 10K, it would be nearly impossible to collect from them, they could just file for bankruptcy and I would just be losing my money paying a lawyer.

I'm getting OEM parts for 30% off at the dealer, and just going to try and buff out most of scratches and blend the paint as best as possible. Only spending about $1800 in labor, a bodyshop quoted me at 16K, nearly cried walking out lol

Ill post pics as soon as car gets going.

ZastikZack

Currently, also spent $360 mounting new michelin super sports today and fixing rims.

gmanusmc

Maybe you can clear up some confusion here - whose insurance are you dealing with? Theirs or yours? Or maybe both? Won't your insurance cover the difference?

If you don't buy this lease out, you may be in line for a serious excess damage assessment to turn this car in at the end of the lease.

I feel for you - this is a crappy situation - the person who caused you this loss should be responsible to bring the car's condition back to what it was before the accident. Your insurance company should be assisting you in this.

ojn949

Most attorneys won't even get involved for property damage claims... reason being is that the money is in bodily injury claims, not property damage.

Supplements are common, very few times is the original estimate the final estimate, so it's not that an insurance company is low balling you, they can only initially write an estimate for what they see. Once the vehicle is torn down, additional damage is seen and therefore a supplement is needed.

Someone recommended having your insurance do OEM parts, a lot of policies won't even pay for OEM, just got to look at your policy and see what you have.

Yes, the person who caused this loss or at fault insurance carrier should be responsible for restoring you back to preloss condition, but it is your choice to either handle thru your own insurance company of the other company, one or the other, not both.

Source: I'm an auto claims adjuster

rparkzy

You're 100% right here, it's a lose lose situation for you. Really bad luck considering it's a lease...and the damage looks pretty bad

Good luck with this

NYKnick101

GET PHYSICAL QUOTE FROM THEM AND SUBMIT THAT TO YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY

they will supplement the cost and use the 10k to fix the car right and pocket the next 6k. WIN-WIN. Chances are you are gonna need the extra cash at lease return for diminished value

just dont tel OJN949 if he is a claims adjuster for your policy lol

CashGap

Your insurance would have handled this and subrogated against hers.