Hey all, my mothers car was involved in a collision a week ago that totaled the vehicle. It was being driven by a mechanic during a test drive after repairs, if that matters. What concerns me, is that both her agent and the other parties agent advised against filing a claim with her insurance. And the other party's insurance is only offering 1500 for the vehicle. It seems odd to me that her agent would also advise her not to file a claim, when the jdpower value of the vehicle is double what she is being offered? My immediate reaction would be to ignore her agent and file a claim, but I'm hoping for some insight into why that might not be the right move for her. This happened in ohio
Agent telling customer not to file claim?
byu/AttitudeMiserable828 inInsurance
Posted by AttitudeMiserable828
10 Comments
The reason it might not be a good idea is that it will be a claim on *her* insurance record, and that will cost her much more in increased premiums than the amount she’d receive from the claim.
Additionally, the offer for the totaled vehicle likely won’t change going with her insurance over the other party’s. Pretty much all insurers use the same third party companies to determine car values, and you likely would get the same 1500 valuation again.
And even if the amount did increase a little bit, it won’t be to the JD Power or KBB numbers, which are inaccurate for insurance purposes. And it almost certainly wouldn’t be big enough to (1) offset the deductible she’d have taken out of the payout for going through her coverage instead of the other party’s or (2) Be enough to change anything about what I said in my first paragraph.
if you think you will get more then file with her company. The issue is they will lower the payout by her deductible amount. Then they will go after the at fault party to get deductible back but that can take a year to get back. I would make sure current offer has correct vehicle info. The insurance companies use the same companies to value the vehicle so you will probably get same offer minus your deductible.
JDPower value means nothing.
You are already working through the at fault parties insurance there is no reason to then put a claim on your mothers insurance. It won’t do anything besides have her own company give her the same valuation. Almost all the insurance companies use the same software to determine the value of total losses.
Your best bet if you think it’s worth more is to find similar year, make, model, mileage sales in your general area and provide those to the other parties insurance for price comps
Or get them up to fair value and skate away.
File a claim through the third-party carrier to mitigate impact of a claim on her insurance record and to forego paying any deductible. Third-party claims filed with the other carrier, which is what she’s already doing, do not go on her CLUE report.
I would expect her agent to be looking out for her interest here. He probably knows the carrier she is insured with and knows how it will affect her moving forward. If the other insurance is offering $1500 for the vehicle, why do you want to file it with your mother’s carrier? Do you think the car is worth more? Is the $1500 the actual cash value that the other insurance carrier has determined? Have you looked at the evaluation report of the vehicle to see where they came up with the $1500? Unless there is something I’m not understanding, the other carrier, should be offering up the value of the vehicle, based upon it’s condition, mileage etc. I don’t know if you’ll see a better outcome from another carrier, and might have some wiggle room with the adjuster that is offering the $1,500.
Ask the insurance company to show you the local market info that gives them the idea that the car is worth that. You’re supposed to be able to buy a theoretical exact copy of the destroyed car in your area using the money paid in the settlement.
The agent works for the insurance company, not the person who bought the policy- here your mother.
File the claim, The carrier will make payment according to the terms of the policy and then subrogate against the at-fault party. Your mother’s premium and record won’t be affected.
I dealt with this first hand about 3 years ago and I am in the business.
File a claim on her policy as her insurance works for her. Not sure why an agent would advise against this. That’s a first notice of loss and the agent is obligated by regs to file a claim.
It’s strange that the agents are advising against filing a claim, especially if the offered amount is much lower than the car’s value. I’d suggest ignoring their advice and filing the claim anyway.