Insurance adjuster?

Isn't someone on here one?

My family and I were in an accident, (thankfully all fine, even the kiddos) and when talking to my insurance company I got the impression my Jeep would be total loss. I've never had an accident where something may be considered a total loss. So, how do they determine that? Cost of repair vs value? Does resale value play any role in that determination? I also assume mileage plays some factor, cause they asked about the mileage twice, is that a consideration?

Vehicle is a 2002, Jeep Wrangler, Sahara trim, 4.0 liter, 5spd, 4x4, hardtop, toe package, and otherwise stock. Mileage is 147k and change.

Damage is to the front bumper, hood, passenger fender flare, passenger fender, passenger side cowl, lower passenger trim piece, and the tub on the passenger side is also damaged.

Thanks

Who was at fault, and do you have comprehensive (assume you do since you are talking to your insurance company.

In any case she is totaled. They basically take some value (NADA or something) and depeding on the state if repairs equal some percentage (could be 70% or higher) of the value they total the car and will negotiate to pay you what they percieve the value of the Jeep to be. Good luck with that since Wranglers value isn't really seen in the guides vs what you can actually buy them for.

You typically have the option to buy it back, sometimes its a good value, other times the value they can get at a salvage auction is not worth it to rebuy.

Good luck

My son's Jetta got totaled with a light hit to the front; hood, grill and one headlight. $9500 value but $5000 to fix; mostly labor. (50% value is the cut off)

There are independent adjustors, they pay right up front and then take the insurance company to court for the difference. Is "No-Fault" type of insurance a state by state thing?

Dan

I've heard that 50% of value is the decision point. With all the new cars coming with multiple airbags and pre-tensioning devices on the seatbelts that are one-time-use, it doesn't take much to get there.

The value is a combination of things. In my state the look at "comps". These are the value of the same vehicle with the same mileage.

To get an idea of this look at dealer pricing on eBay for by it now and craigs list prices from dealers. Make a list of the cars you find and then toss the high and the low and take the average and that will get you close to what you can expect to get less any deductibles. Also be sure to ask for tax title and registration fees.

If you get a number that you think is to low ask to see there comps.

Remember they ate not in the business to hand out money. They only make money by keeping payouts as low as possible. Also don't expect any kind of windfall either to them you are just another claim on a bashed up car. Nothing more nothing less.

One thing to be careful on is the rental. I had a big drawn out battle with the insurance carrier about insurance coverage on the rental. Check with your carrier if your coverage carries over to the rental. My coverage did not and I had to go legal on them about it. As the did not want to pay for it on the rental. I won but it was an added stress to the situation that I did not need.

Last bit of advise is to try and communicate by email and save all of the emails untill the matter is closed. It is ultimately what made my battle with them easy to win as I had it in writing that I would get full insurance coverage as part of the rental. This was worth about $800 in my case.

So far insurance has been fine. I don't have rentals on my coverage but have an extra car and motorcycle so no need for a rental.

That was another question and thanks for answering, I wasn't sure if it was just parts or labor included.

Dealer prices on Jeeps like mine are all over. CL is crazy too. KBB and Nada are similar but lower than what I see Jeeps go for on CL.

I haven't had a wreck in many years and never one where the vehicle may be totaled, so this is all a foreign land to me.

When my '11 Fiesta got totaled, the insurance company said they checked the sale of several similar models.

I got more than I anticipated.

Damage appeared slight, side airbags, no front and damage to the door post area seemed to be the factor.

Note: The side curtains/airbags kept the broken window off me.

Hi! Spells girlfriend here...

A lot is going to depend on what state you live in, and what their rules are.

Here in VA, is the vehicle is 9 years or newer, the vehicle is considered a total loss if the repairs exceed 75% of the car's worth. However if the vehicle is 10 years or older, repairs can be done all the way up to 100%.

I am not an insurance adjuster, however I have run many total loss evaluations for several insurance companies. They take into consideration what should be the typical mileage per year, interior (seats stained / ripped, headliner, carpets and dash), glass condition, mechanical condition (leaks, worn belts, greasy), exterior (dents, rust, paint scratches, missing or damaged trim) and the tread depth of all tires (minus the spare). All of these components are then rated on a fair - very good scale (even BRAND new vehicles are not considered "very good" unless they are "show room" condition). The cost of rental (varies by state) during the length of possible repairs, a perceived supplement (additional damage) amount based on the area and extent of damage, and a calculated salvage bid are all thrown together in one equation to determine whether the possible amount of repairs is at your state's percentage or over.

KBB values are extremely inaccurate as they do not take into consideration mileage or possible options. NADA is much more reliable. I would do some local price searching for similar vehicles so you can have an idea on where you should land settlement wise.

If it was not your fault you may be able to get the other driver's insurance to pay for it. Call your adjuster and ask. They may tell you to rent and then submit charges for reimbursement. We just went through this when my wife's car was in the shop after being rear ended.

I am hoping Klayfish sees this as he is in the business and has always been helpful with thing like this.

In TN

I was found to be at fault, and will not argue it. Guy in front of me swerved to miss hitting two cars that stopped abruptly in front of him. He didn't swerve fast enough, and I didn't brake fast enough. My Jeep struck his rear bumper, and then he hit the car in front of him.

E36 M3...typed a long response and something went wrong when I hit "Add Post". grrrr....

Anyway, sorry to hear about the accident. Let me summarize my long post.

To consider it a total loss, the formula goes basically like this:
(Repair costs) > (Cash value - salvage value) = total loss

NADA and KBB are somewhat decent at giving you a rough ballpark on value, but frankly they suck at coming up with a true cash value. Most companies use a third party company (CCC is the big boy in that business) to come up with the cash value. Wrangler values are all over the board, depending on condition and such, so don't get all upset if it's not what you think it should be. Simply be prepared with documentation and evidence to show them if you think it's wrong. Value is based on options, condition rating, mileage, etc...

I've looked at thousands upon thousands of wrecked cars and trucks, and the Wrangler is one of the strangest cars in how it shows damages. It takes really hard hits and is still drivable, and often doesn't visibly display a ton of damage like other cars do.

I don't have my cheat sheet in front of me, but IIRC since your Jeep is more than 10 years old you wouldn't need to convert the title to salvage if you wanted to keep it.

Thanks Klayfish.

Not to sound like a dummy, but when you say salvage value, are you talking like what the scrap metal guys would pay? Like the drag it in for $200 guys?

I was curious about buyback since some Jeep parts have crazy values attached, but I'm not sure I really want to hassle with parting an entire car.

In reply to octavious:

Salvage value is what the insurance company expects it to sell for at auction (IAAI, COPART, etc). Remember the insurance company is looking to minimize what it pays out so like Klayfish said, if the repair cost (parts/labor) is more than they would expect to have to pay you for the car (and then auction it) then they will buy it out vs repairing it.

The problem with Wranglers is they typically have relatively high salvage values. Also depending on the hit, I'd also expect to have some front diff damage in the frame area.

eebasist is correct. Salvage value is what the insurance company will get when they sell it at Copart or IAA. They can look up past sales of similar vehicles to get a fairly accurate value. For your Jeep, probably a couple grand, depending on the hit.

Well the insurance company is towing it to Copart (I remember them saying that name) on Tuesday for the adjuster to look at it.

The tow truck driver that dropped it off at the house told me the adjusters out there look at 50 cars a day.

If they're taking it to Copart, then it's totaled.

Larger insurance companies have adjusters who are stationed at Copart to do nothing but look at total loss cars that come in. Since the car is totaled, it's easy for the adjuster, so 50 a day could be possible. Field adjusters...6 or 7 a day would be a lot.

These are ones at that lot

http://www.copart.com/us/Lot/28194636?searchId=1771129748

Mine looks very similar to this except passenger side, and my tub is dented.

http://www.copart.com/us/Lot/28688666?searchId=1562928553

This one is 3 years newer than mine, less damage, and half the miles.

Just be sure to know that you do not have to accept their value of your car and their offer. If it seems off, tell them so and give them some (legitimate) comps and they will probably work with you.

A lot of people just accept what the insurance company says because they don't know they can say no.

I used to have an FC Turbo2 that got rear ended. The lady's insurance company totaled it and comped with NAs. They tried to give me a super low value. Thank you to AAA (my insurance co at the time) for telling me I did not have to accept it after I told them it seemed low. I ended up owning the car for 2 weeks and making my money back plus tax and title... First time I've ever come out on top with a car. Haha

When my wrangler was totaled, I fot credit for the aftermarket parts like bumpers, wheels/rires, etc. I was very peasantly surprised at how much the insurance paid out.

The real question, is what do you want?

In any case, how many miles are on it and you need to prepare a realistic case for what retail value is for the Jeep so that you can either be comfortable with the number the insurance company gives you for the Jeep (its almost a foregone conclusion that its totaled at this point since they towed it from your house to Copart already and the age). Do you have any actual pictures of the damage?

That said, if you want this to be a toy in the future and you don't mind a salvage title (depends on the state as some will allow it to stay clean), it all depends on what the buy back is from the insurance company vs what they are offering. If this is going to be an offroader, this can be a huge bonus as most damage on jeeps can be decently fixed at home.

Any update on the Jeep?

Eebasist- sorry missed this.

I heard from the appraiser on Friday and he said the Jeep was right on the fence for total. He asked what I wanted to do and I said I didn't know, but I had concerns with the debt to the tub and the safety of it after repair. It caught me off guard that he asked, cause I didn't think they could do that. When I said I didn't know he said he'd crunch the numbers and see.

Bless him, he called back after 9 on Friday night and told me it was a total. It was the last appraial write up he had to do, and he didn't want to leave me hanging over the weekend. When he called we talked and he brought up some stuff I hadn't thought about, like trying to sell a car with reported and repaired front end damage, etc. He was going to submit the report and then I'd hear about value and payout. I hope to hear by tomorrow or Tuesday. But I'm so thankful he called me back because I would have been curious of the outcome all weekend.

In reply to octavious:

Do you have a number in mind?
If not start shopping to find the same vehicle of same equipment, year and wear. What you would have to pay to buy that should be your number.

If the numbers the appraiser talked about are correct we will be fine.

Depending on where you look (I look mostly on CL cause I'm GRM) but my Jeep body style 97-03, manual, and Sahara trim package sell between $7-13k. I paid $10k for mine 4 years ago.