Two weeks ago my little S10 pickup was struck, while parked, by a U-Haul
truck. My pickup is 15 years old, but only has 98,000 miles on the clock (I
don't get out much). U-Haul referred me to their insurance carrier and,
after proof of ownership and a witness list changed hands, they promised to
send over an adjuster today between 1:00 and 4:00.

It's 8:00pm and he's still not here.

Anyway, I figure it will cost about $900 to fix the truck, but for that
amount I'll bet the insurance company will total the thing and offer me five
hundred bucks to just go away.

Frankly, the truck is worth MUCH more than that to me.

So I compute my best plan of action is to decline U-Haul's offer, whatever
piddly amount it turns out to be, and march against them in small claims
court. Counting the damage, replacement vehicle rental, and loss of
consortium, I should file for about, oh, $3000. I further estimate that
U-Haul will likewise compute that it would cost them more to defend the suit
than to just cut me a checky-poo for the three grand.

Your experiences along these lines, observations, and advice would be much
appreciated.

Small claims court typically does not allow an attorney to appear so a UHaul
manager will appear and defend at minimal cost to the company. They should
offer you actual repair costs, loss of use while repaired. Good luck on the
loss of consortium. If you are not satisfied, the judge will decide.


"HeyBub" wrote in message
...
Two weeks ago my little S10 pickup was struck, while parked, by a U-Haul
truck. My pickup is 15 years old, but only has 98,000 miles on the clock
(I don't get out much). U-Haul referred me to their insurance carrier and,
after proof of ownership and a witness list changed hands, they promised
to send over an adjuster today between 1:00 and 4:00.

It's 8:00pm and he's still not here.

Anyway, I figure it will cost about $900 to fix the truck, but for that
amount I'll bet the insurance company will total the thing and offer me
five hundred bucks to just go away.

Frankly, the truck is worth MUCH more than that to me.

So I compute my best plan of action is to decline U-Haul's offer, whatever
piddly amount it turns out to be, and march against them in small claims
court. Counting the damage, replacement vehicle rental, and loss of
consortium, I should file for about, oh, $3000. I further estimate that
U-Haul will likewise compute that it would cost them more to defend the
suit than to just cut me a checky-poo for the three grand.

Your experiences along these lines, observations, and advice would be much
appreciated.

On 3/4/2013 9:15 PM, HeyBub wrote:
Two weeks ago my little S10 pickup was struck, while parked, by a U-Haul
truck. My pickup is 15 years old, but only has 98,000 miles on the clock (I
don't get out much). U-Haul referred me to their insurance carrier and,
after proof of ownership and a witness list changed hands, they promised to
send over an adjuster today between 1:00 and 4:00.

It's 8:00pm and he's still not here.

Anyway, I figure it will cost about $900 to fix the truck, but for that
amount I'll bet the insurance company will total the thing and offer me five
hundred bucks to just go away.

Frankly, the truck is worth MUCH more than that to me.

So I compute my best plan of action is to decline U-Haul's offer, whatever
piddly amount it turns out to be, and march against them in small claims
court. Counting the damage, replacement vehicle rental, and loss of
consortium, I should file for about, oh, $3000. I further estimate that
U-Haul will likewise compute that it would cost them more to defend the suit
than to just cut me a checky-poo for the three grand.

Your experiences along these lines, observations, and advice would be much
appreciated.


My experience with insurance companies is that they attempt to be fair.
If your vehicle has a fair market value of $500, I think that they'd
offer you that plus whatever rentals etc that are usually considered. I
don't think you can intimidate them via a law suit. They certainly don't
want to set any precedent of paying six times the value of a claim just
to avoid a law suit. If anything they may counter sue for an amount too
large to handle in small claims, which would require you to have to hire
a lawyer of your own.

On Mon, 4 Mar 2013 20:15:08 -0600, "HeyBub"
wrote:




So I compute my best plan of action is to decline U-Haul's offer, whatever
piddly amount it turns out to be, and march against them in small claims
court. Counting the damage, replacement vehicle rental, and loss of
consortium, I should file for about, oh, $3000. I further estimate that
U-Haul will likewise compute that it would cost them more to defend the suit
than to just cut me a checky-poo for the three grand.

Your experiences along these lines, observations, and advice would be much
appreciated.


Not going to happen. Most they will give you is book value. Maybe a
good adjuster will kick in a few bucks more just to get you to sign
immediately, but they won't be intimidated at all by your threat of a
lawsuit.

What you should have in hand already is an estimate from a repair
shop. That may give you a bit of leverage. You had two weeks to
prepare for this.

Watch a couple of episodes of Judge Judy. She uses the book for value
and that is the max she ever paid out.

On Mon, 4 Mar 2013 20:15:08 -0600, "HeyBub"
wrote:

Two weeks ago my little S10 pickup was struck, while parked, by a U-Haul
truck. My pickup is 15 years old, but only has 98,000 miles on the clock (I
don't get out much). U-Haul referred me to their insurance carrier and,
after proof of ownership and a witness list changed hands, they promised to
send over an adjuster today between 1:00 and 4:00.

It's 8:00pm and he's still not here.

Anyway, I figure it will cost about $900 to fix the truck, but for that
amount I'll bet the insurance company will total the thing and offer me five
hundred bucks to just go away.

Frankly, the truck is worth MUCH more than that to me.

So I compute my best plan of action is to decline U-Haul's offer, whatever
piddly amount it turns out to be, and march against them in small claims
court. Counting the damage, replacement vehicle rental, and loss of
consortium, I should file for about, oh, $3000. I further estimate that
U-Haul will likewise compute that it would cost them more to defend the suit
than to just cut me a checky-poo for the three grand.

Your experiences along these lines, observations, and advice would be much
appreciated.

If the truck is spotless and rust free it's a $2500 truck. What
damage was done? Box side? door and fender??

Go for a buy-out They say thnere is 1500 damage so they want to write
it off, you say give me 1500 and the truck - and fix it yourself???

On Mar 4, 6:15*pm, "HeyBub" wrote:
Two weeks ago my little S10 pickup was struck, while parked, by a U-Haul
truck. My pickup is 15 years old, but only has 98,000 miles on the clock (I
don't get out much). U-Haul referred me to their insurance carrier and,
after proof of ownership and a witness list changed hands, they promised to
send over an adjuster today between 1:00 and 4:00.

It's 8:00pm and he's still not here.

Anyway, I figure it will cost about $900 to fix the truck, but for that
amount I'll bet the insurance company will total the thing and offer me five
hundred bucks to just go away.

Frankly, the truck is worth MUCH more than that to me.

So I compute my best plan of action is to decline U-Haul's offer, whatever
piddly amount it turns out to be, and march against them in small claims
court. Counting the damage, replacement vehicle rental, and loss of
consortium, I should file for about, oh, $3000. I further estimate that
U-Haul will likewise compute that it would cost them more to defend the suit
than to just cut me a checky-poo for the three grand.

Your experiences along these lines, observations, and advice would be much
appreciated.

HB-

You will the opportunity to influence the decision to total your
truck.

I've been through (vicariously) the "total" process a few times.
BIL is an insurance agent... to many stories to tell
But here is a website that provides information that correlates well
with my knowledge.
If gives good info plus some negotiating tactics.

http://www.edmunds.com/auto-insurance/a-total-loss.html

They even have a "value appraisal" calculator.

My guess if you're correct on the repair estimate & the repairs can be
done quickly ..you'll be getting a check.

If they try to add rental car costs to the repair costs.... tell them
you're gonna need a rental car too while you shop around for you car,
new or used.

If they think you'll be good at standing up for yourself...they'll
toss a bit more your way.

cheers
Bob

On Mon, 4 Mar 2013 20:15:08 -0600, "HeyBub"
wrote:

Two weeks ago my little S10 pickup was struck, while parked, by a U-Haul
truck. My pickup is 15 years old, but only has 98,000 miles on the clock (I
don't get out much). U-Haul referred me to their insurance carrier and,
after proof of ownership and a witness list changed hands, they promised to
send over an adjuster today between 1:00 and 4:00.

It's 8:00pm and he's still not here.

Anyway, I figure it will cost about $900 to fix the truck, but for that
amount I'll bet the insurance company will total the thing and offer me five
hundred bucks to just go away.

Frankly, the truck is worth MUCH more than that to me.

As others have said, book is about the best you can expect - maybe a
*little* more. You might be surprise what the book on the truck is,
though. Used cars are at a premium now. Have you looked?

I just threw a few random options at a '98 S10 and came up with a
private sale price of about $4K. I used www.kbb.com, but I'd use two
or three sites for backup. Take the highest. They'll take the lowest
but at least you have ammunition.

So I compute my best plan of action is to decline U-Haul's offer, whatever
piddly amount it turns out to be, and march against them in small claims
court. Counting the damage, replacement vehicle rental, and loss of
consortium, I should file for about, oh, $3000. I further estimate that
U-Haul will likewise compute that it would cost them more to defend the suit
than to just cut me a checky-poo for the three grand.

No guessing allowed. Start with the empty threats and you'll get
eaten alive. They do this for a living. You don't. Chances are the
adjuster doesn't want to make your life miserable but he can if you
insist.

Your experiences along these lines, observations, and advice would be much
appreciated.

*BEFORE* you talk to the adjuster, you should know what the vehicle is
worth. Good grief, this isn't rocket-surgery!

On Mar 4, 9:15*pm, "HeyBub" wrote:

I should file for about, oh, $3000.

Wait for an offer, come back at $3K, and stick to it. Don't let
yourself get dragged into justifying the figure, or start higher
hoping to end up there. $3K is your number.

You're entitled to "compensatory expenses", so that's not at all an
unreasonable figure for a rig with a market value in the $1500 range.

Adjusters are actually paid to close claims these days. Too many "bad
faith" judgments got insurers' attention.

Forget about small claims. If you get a lawyer they're going to have
to pay it, too.

Don't threaten getting representation, or let yourself become
emotional, raise your voice or plead your case. If $3K doesn't work
them, thank them, lead them to the door, say "I'll let you know".
They'll take the hint, I'll bet.
-----

- gpsman

On Mar 5, 2:15*am, "HeyBub" wrote:
Two weeks ago my little S10 pickup was struck, while parked, by a U-Haul
truck. My pickup is 15 years old, but only has 98,000 miles on the clock (I
don't get out much). U-Haul referred me to their insurance carrier and,
after proof of ownership and a witness list changed hands, they promised to
send over an adjuster today between 1:00 and 4:00.

It's 8:00pm and he's still not here.

Anyway, I figure it will cost about $900 to fix the truck, but for that
amount I'll bet the insurance company will total the thing and offer me five
hundred bucks to just go away.

Frankly, the truck is worth MUCH more than that to me.

So I compute my best plan of action is to decline U-Haul's offer, whatever
piddly amount it turns out to be, and march against them in small claims
court. Counting the damage, replacement vehicle rental, and loss of
consortium, I should file for about, oh, $3000. I further estimate that
U-Haul will likewise compute that it would cost them more to defend the suit
than to just cut me a checky-poo for the three grand.

Your experiences along these lines, observations, and advice would be much
appreciated.

I had a similar experience.
My 4x4 was parked on my driveway when a truck came down the drive
(after hitting another on the highway).
It smashed up my 4x4 and my garage.
I had a bad insurance deal on the 4x4 but I got a new garage.

HeyBub wrote:
Two weeks ago my little S10 pickup was struck, while parked, by a
U-Haul truck. My pickup is 15 years old, but only has 98,000 miles on
the clock (I don't get out much). U-Haul referred me to their
insurance carrier and, after proof of ownership and a witness list
changed hands, they promised to send over an adjuster today between
1:00 and 4:00.
It's 8:00pm and he's still not here.

Anyway, I figure it will cost about $900 to fix the truck, but for
that amount I'll bet the insurance company will total the thing and
offer me five hundred bucks to just go away.

Why would you think that? The vehicle is worth around $2000 FMV so it is
cheaper for them to pay to fix than to total it.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

Winters getting colder? Tired of the rat race?
Taxes out of hand? Maybe just ready for a change?
Check it out... http://www.floridaloghouse.net

On 3/4/2013 9:15 PM, HeyBub wrote:
Two weeks ago my little S10 pickup was struck, while parked, by a U-Haul
truck. My pickup is 15 years old, but only has 98,000 miles on the clock (I
don't get out much). U-Haul referred me to their insurance carrier and,
after proof of ownership and a witness list changed hands, they promised to
send over an adjuster today between 1:00 and 4:00.

It's 8:00pm and he's still not here.

Anyway, I figure it will cost about $900 to fix the truck, but for that
amount I'll bet the insurance company will total the thing and offer me five
hundred bucks to just go away.

Frankly, the truck is worth MUCH more than that to me.

So I compute my best plan of action is to decline U-Haul's offer, whatever
piddly amount it turns out to be, and march against them in small claims
court. Counting the damage, replacement vehicle rental, and loss of
consortium, I should file for about, oh, $3000. I further estimate that
U-Haul will likewise compute that it would cost them more to defend the suit
than to just cut me a checky-poo for the three grand.

Your experiences along these lines, observations, and advice would be much
appreciated.



First thing I would do is get Blue Book value as that is max that
insurance company will pay. Lower mileage and good condition usually
does not mean much to insurance company. I had one low mileage car
stolen and another totaled in past 15 years and might have finagled an
extra $100 out of them above book.

I have a repair shop that I use that works with insurance company. I
prefer final bill paid to estimate. Deer ran into me last year and
estimate was about $1,500 but repair ended up at about $2,500.
Insurance companies know all this stuff and will "total" a vehicle if
initial estimate goes over about 70% of book value as they will not know
true cost of repair until work starts and parts removed to see any
underlying damage.

Here, in DE an insurance company has up to one month to give you an
estimate. Don't know law where you live.

On Mar 4, 10:44*pm, wrote:
On Mon, 4 Mar 2013 20:15:08 -0600, "HeyBub"
wrote:





Two weeks ago my little S10 pickup was struck, while parked, by a U-Haul
truck. My pickup is 15 years old, but only has 98,000 miles on the clock (I
don't get out much). U-Haul referred me to their insurance carrier and,
after proof of ownership and a witness list changed hands, they promised to
send over an adjuster today between 1:00 and 4:00.

It's 8:00pm and he's still not here.

Anyway, I figure it will cost about $900 to fix the truck, but for that
amount I'll bet the insurance company will total the thing and offer me five
hundred bucks to just go away.

Frankly, the truck is worth MUCH more than that to me.

So I compute my best plan of action is to decline U-Haul's offer, whatever
piddly amount it turns out to be, and march against them in small claims
court. Counting the damage, replacement vehicle rental, and loss of
consortium, I should file for about, oh, $3000. I further estimate that
U-Haul will likewise compute that it would cost them more to defend the suit
than to just cut me a checky-poo for the three grand.

Your experiences along these lines, observations, and advice would be much
appreciated.

*If the truck is spotless and rust free it's a $2500 truck. What
damage was done? Box side? door and fender??

Go for a buy-out They say thnere is 1500 damage so they want to write
it off, you say give me 1500 and the truck - and fix it yourself???- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Kind of what I was thinking too. I don't know why HB thinks
his truck is only worth $500. If his guess of $900 to fix it
is accurate and the accident was not his fault, I would
expect the insurance company to pay that without much
fight.

But, first thing is look up the blue book value online. Then
get a couple estimates. Even better, if you have a body
shop that you use, then take the car there and have the
adjuster see it there. That's what I do. That way the body
shop guy can discuss it with the adjuster. The adjuster
says it takes xyz to fix this and if it isn't right, the body shop
guy says to him, no you also need to do these additional
thing to do the job right..... IMO better to get into that
process from the beginning, rather than have the adjuster
low ball it and then try to revise it.

On Mar 4, 11:57*pm, gpsman wrote:
On Mar 4, 9:15*pm, "HeyBub" wrote:



I should file for about, oh, $3000.

Wait for an offer, come back at $3K, and stick to it. *Don't let
yourself get dragged into justifying the figure, or start higher
hoping to end up there. *$3K is your number.

You're entitled to "compensatory expenses", so that's not at all an
unreasonable figure for a rig with a market value in the $1500 range.


I've never seen cases where they hand out extra money
as "compensatory expenses". You get either the repair
cost or if that exceeds the market value, then you get
market value. You also can get rental car fees, taxi
fees, etc., but they have to be reasonable and provable.
Judges don't take a $1500 claim and double it to $3000
in a case like this just to throw extra money at you.




Adjusters are actually paid to close claims these days. *Too many "bad
faith" judgments got insurers' attention.

Forget about small claims. *If you get a lawyer they're going to have
to pay it, too.

Says who? And you'd have to be nuts to go to an
attorney with a $900 or $1500 claim.




Don't threaten getting representation, or let yourself become
emotional, raise your voice or plead your case. *If $3K doesn't work
them, thank them, lead them to the door, say "I'll let you know".
They'll take the hint, I'll bet.
*-----

- gpsman

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Mon, 4 Mar 2013 20:15:08 -0600, "HeyBub"
wrote:




So I compute my best plan of action is to decline U-Haul's offer,
whatever piddly amount it turns out to be, and march against them in
small claims court. Counting the damage, replacement vehicle rental,
and loss of consortium, I should file for about, oh, $3000. I
further estimate that U-Haul will likewise compute that it would
cost them more to defend the suit than to just cut me a checky-poo
for the three grand.

Your experiences along these lines, observations, and advice would
be much appreciated.


Not going to happen. Most they will give you is book value. Maybe a
good adjuster will kick in a few bucks more just to get you to sign
immediately, but they won't be intimidated at all by your threat of a
lawsuit.


I went to law school. While I never practiced law, I did learn you NEVER
threaten suit. You do or not do.

wrote:


I've never seen cases where they hand out extra money
as "compensatory expenses". You get either the repair
cost or if that exceeds the market value, then you get
market value. You also can get rental car fees, taxi
fees, etc., but they have to be reasonable and provable.
Judges don't take a $1500 claim and double it to $3000
in a case like this just to throw extra money at you.


Yes they do. If I file a claim for $3,000 and the other party doesn't show
up, I'll almost always get the amount I asked for. After all, it's my word
against no one's.

On Mar 5, 8:15*am, "
wrote:
On Mar 4, 11:57*pm, gpsman wrote:

You're entitled to "compensatory expenses", so that's not at all an
unreasonable figure for a rig with a market value in the $1500 range.

I've never seen cases where they hand out extra money
as "compensatory expenses".

Oh. So you think it is reasonable to limit everything to what you've
seen...?

*You get either the repair
cost or if that exceeds the market value, then you get
market value. *You also can get rental car fees, taxi
fees, etc., but they have to be reasonable and provable.
Judges don't take a $1500 claim and double it to $3000
in a case like this just to throw extra money at you.

You seem to labor under the false impression that a claim cannot be
settled until every cent of loss is documented. It is not so.
-----

- gpsman

On Mar 5, 8:42*am, "HeyBub" wrote:
wrote:

I've never seen cases where they hand out extra money
as "compensatory expenses". *You get either the repair
cost or if that exceeds the market value, then you get
market value. *You also can get rental car fees, taxi
fees, etc., but they have to be reasonable and provable.
Judges don't take a $1500 claim and double it to $3000
in a case like this just to throw extra money at you.

Yes they do. If I file a claim for $3,000 and the other party doesn't show
up, I'll almost always get the amount I asked for. After all, it's my word
against no one's.

The judge will still look at what evidence you have to support
that $3,000 claim. And if all you have is a book value for the
truck at $1500 and $100 worth of rental car receipts, all
you're going to get is $1600. Just because the other party
doesn't show up doesn't mean you get everything you're
suing for, with no proof at all.

On Mon, 4 Mar 2013 20:15:08 -0600, "HeyBub"
wrote:

Two weeks ago my little S10 pickup was struck, while parked, by a U-Haul
truck. My pickup is 15 years old, but only has 98,000 miles on the clock (I
don't get out much). U-Haul referred me to their insurance carrier and,
after proof of ownership and a witness list changed hands, they promised to
send over an adjuster today between 1:00 and 4:00.

It's 8:00pm and he's still not here.

Anyway, I figure it will cost about $900 to fix the truck, but for that
amount I'll bet the insurance company will total the thing and offer me five
hundred bucks to just go away.

Frankly, the truck is worth MUCH more than that to me.

So I compute my best plan of action is to decline U-Haul's offer, whatever
piddly amount it turns out to be, and march against them in small claims
court. Counting the damage, replacement vehicle rental, and loss of
consortium, I should file for about, oh, $3000. I further estimate that
U-Haul will likewise compute that it would cost them more to defend the suit
than to just cut me a checky-poo for the three grand.

Your experiences along these lines, observations, and advice would be much
appreciated.


I had a similar experience about 5 years ago. Details are a bit
hazy, but here's the basics. Son was driving our spare car, a '93
Beretta. Had about 160k miles on it. Got hit, smashing up some body
parts. Front fender, buckled hood, and front light assembly.
The hitter's insurance company paid book value and totaled it.
Think it was about $6-800. Son wanted to fix it. Think I had to pay
$100 to the insurance company for the title. Also think the title was
marked "Salvage" in the state data base, but not sure.
This is Illinois. The insurer was State Farm or Allstate.
So just ask the insurer how it works in your state. They pretty much
go by the book with everything they do.
My son fixed the Beretta for about $250 in boneyard parts, even
getting an exact color match with the parts.
He wanted to do it, could do it, so it worked out.
Think hard about what's damaged and real costs before you go that
route.

HeyBub wrote:
Two weeks ago my little S10 pickup was struck, while parked, by a
U-Haul truck. My pickup is 15 years old, but only has 98,000 miles on
the clock (I don't get out much). U-Haul referred me to their
insurance carrier and, after proof of ownership and a witness list
changed hands, they promised to send over an adjuster today between
1:00 and 4:00.
It's 8:00pm and he's still not here.

Anyway, I figure it will cost about $900 to fix the truck, but for
that amount I'll bet the insurance company will total the thing and
offer me five hundred bucks to just go away.

Frankly, the truck is worth MUCH more than that to me.

So I compute my best plan of action is to decline U-Haul's offer,
whatever piddly amount it turns out to be, and march against them in
small claims court. Counting the damage, replacement vehicle rental,
and loss of consortium, I should file for about, oh, $3000. I further
estimate that U-Haul will likewise compute that it would cost them
more to defend the suit than to just cut me a checky-poo for the
three grand.
Your experiences along these lines, observations, and advice would be
much appreciated.

You're assuming they are going to total the truck, and you're assuming they
are going to tell you a 1998 Chevy S10 pickup truck is worth $500. Then,
from that assumption, you are off on a whole big scenario of taking them to
small claims court etc.

There is no way that anyone is going to say 1998 Chevy S10 pickup truck is
only worth $500. I just junked a completely rusted out, beat-to-s..., GMC
pickup truck with a blown automatic transmission for $350 -- and they came
and towed it for free. That was just the junk metal value. When the
transmission on that one went out, I bought a 1989 GMC Sierra 1500 mediocre
condition pickup truck for $800. Look online and your 1998 pickup is worth
$2,000 or more.

Let us know what they actually do say after you hear back from them.

HeyBub wrote:
Two weeks ago my little S10 pickup was struck, while parked, by a U-Haul
truck. My pickup is 15 years old, but only has 98,000 miles on the clock (I
don't get out much). U-Haul referred me to their insurance carrier and,
after proof of ownership and a witness list changed hands, they promised to
send over an adjuster today between 1:00 and 4:00.

It's 8:00pm and he's still not here.

Anyway, I figure it will cost about $900 to fix the truck, but for that
amount I'll bet the insurance company will total the thing and offer me five
hundred bucks to just go away.

Frankly, the truck is worth MUCH more than that to me.

So I compute my best plan of action is to decline U-Haul's offer, whatever
piddly amount it turns out to be, and march against them in small claims
court. Counting the damage, replacement vehicle rental, and loss of
consortium, I should file for about, oh, $3000. I further estimate that
U-Haul will likewise compute that it would cost them more to defend the suit
than to just cut me a checky-poo for the three grand.

Your experiences along these lines, observations, and advice would be much
appreciated.


Insurance law varies from state to state, so lacking knowledge of what
state you are in, most of the advice posted is questionable.

Generally, if you are making a claim on your own policy, they will give
you the cost of repairs (less your deductible, which they will return to
you if they make a recovery from the other party) or the fair market
value of your vehicle, whichever is less. They can do this because it
is written into your contract of insurance.

The other parties insurer does not have a contract with you. Their
contract is with their insured, so they cannot arbitrarily total your
vehicle. Their obligation is to their insured, and with an at-fault
accident, their insured is obligated, generally, to put you back where
you would have been without the accident. I suspect that if you get a
written estimate of the cost of repairs, and a list of other expenses
you have had to incur, such as the cost of a rental vehicle, they will
be amenable to fully reimbursing you, although they may make an initial
low-ball offer, just to try to save some money. Get their offer in
writing; if it is too low, decline it and repeat what you want. If you
can't come to an agreement, take all documentation and head for court,
but I suspect you will come to agreement, as the insurance company will
not want to have to pay an attorney.

An interesting question you might want to look into is who was driving
the uhaul, as that is the party who will ultimately be liable, unless
there are some strange circumstances that haven't been revealed.

dadi,

I think that HB hasn't done his homework. As you point out his
guesstimate of the value of his vehicle seems very inaccurate. This leads me
to wonder if his guesstimate of repair cost is also off.
Posting for advice while spouting meaningless figures will lead to bad
advice. He needs to get the "blue book" value. There are web-sites that do
this. He needs to get some repair estimates. There are repair shops that
will gladly do this.

Dave M.

On Tue, 5 Mar 2013 11:05:23 -0500, "David L. Martel"
wrote:

dadi,

I think that HB hasn't done his homework. As you point out his
guesstimate of the value of his vehicle seems very inaccurate. This leads me
to wonder if his guesstimate of repair cost is also off.
Posting for advice while spouting meaningless figures will lead to bad
advice. He needs to get the "blue book" value. There are web-sites that do
this. He needs to get some repair estimates. There are repair shops that
will gladly do this.

Dave M.

His estimate of the value MAY be pretty close. It may be a badly
clapped out and beaten to death POS that really is NOT worth fixing,
and he's hoping to come out ahead. Just the hassle of having to buy a
"new" vehicle, to some people, is worth $500 or more - so the clapped
out POS could be worth more to him than the truck is really worth.

Not terribly likely scenario, but quite possible.

On Tue, 05 Mar 2013 13:18:57 -0500, wrote:

On Tue, 5 Mar 2013 11:05:23 -0500, "David L. Martel"
wrote:

dadi,

I think that HB hasn't done his homework. As you point out his
guesstimate of the value of his vehicle seems very inaccurate. This leads me
to wonder if his guesstimate of repair cost is also off.
Posting for advice while spouting meaningless figures will lead to bad
advice. He needs to get the "blue book" value. There are web-sites that do
this. He needs to get some repair estimates. There are repair shops that
will gladly do this.

Dave M.

His estimate of the value MAY be pretty close. It may be a badly
clapped out and beaten to death POS that really is NOT worth fixing,
and he's hoping to come out ahead. Just the hassle of having to buy a
"new" vehicle, to some people, is worth $500 or more - so the clapped
out POS could be worth more to him than the truck is really worth.

Not terribly likely scenario, but quite possible.

Happens all the time. I had a '67 Skylark, knew it up and down, and
it was the best tracking car I ever had. Body wasn't perfect, big
deal, that's why I got it for $500. Drove it a couple years. Kid hit
it while it was in front a house we were partying in on New Year's
Eve. Had to chase him to his house because he took off. His dad took
care of the insurance. I got book, $600. Wasn't happy about that at
all. Paid $1400 for a '74 Dart, cheapest decent car I could find
quick, but it wasn't half the car as the Buick.

Notat Home wrote:

The other parties insurer does not have a contract with you. Their
contract is with their insured, so they cannot arbitrarily total your
vehicle. Their obligation is to their insured, and with an at-fault
accident, their insured is obligated, generally, to put you back where
you would have been without the accident. I suspect that if you get a
written estimate of the cost of repairs, and a list of other expenses
you have had to incur, such as the cost of a rental vehicle, they will
be amenable to fully reimbursing you, although they may make an
initial low-ball offer, just to try to save some money. Get their
offer in writing; if it is too low, decline it and repeat what you
want. If you can't come to an agreement, take all documentation and
head for court, but I suspect you will come to agreement, as the
insurance company will not want to have to pay an attorney.

An interesting question you might want to look into is who was driving
the uhaul, as that is the party who will ultimately be liable, unless
there are some strange circumstances that haven't been revealed.

Good point, but U-Haul knows they have some liability in that they did not
instruct the renter on the pecularilarities of the truck.

To go into more detail, my truck was parked and the U-Haul parked next to
it. The driver of the TWENTY-TWO foot-long bed U-Haul was evidently unaware
that the ass-end of his truck stretched beyond the rear wheels, I'd guess,
ten feet. So when he tried to leave, by driving straight ahead and cutting
sharply to the left, the tail of his truck swung to the right, scraping my
vehicle, removing the rear-view mirror and folding the driver's door. It got
the bed, door, and front quarter-panel.

HeyBub wrote:
Two weeks ago my little S10 pickup was struck, while parked, by a
U-Haul truck. My pickup is 15 years old, but only has 98,000 miles on
the clock (I don't get out much). U-Haul referred me to their
insurance carrier and, after proof of ownership and a witness list
changed hands, they promised to send over an adjuster today between
1:00 and 4:00.
It's 8:00pm and he's still not here.

Anyway, I figure it will cost about $900 to fix the truck, but for
that amount I'll bet the insurance company will total the thing and
offer me five hundred bucks to just go away.

Frankly, the truck is worth MUCH more than that to me.

So I compute my best plan of action is to decline U-Haul's offer,
whatever piddly amount it turns out to be, and march against them in
small claims court. Counting the damage, replacement vehicle rental,
and loss of consortium, I should file for about, oh, $3000. I further
estimate that U-Haul will likewise compute that it would cost them
more to defend the suit than to just cut me a checky-poo for the
three grand.
Your experiences along these lines, observations, and advice would be
much appreciated.

I have learned much from the comments you folks have offered. It's said to a
man with a hammer, every solution involves a nail.

I can see where I wanted to rush off to court (having done so countless
times) when there are other, perhaps better, tactics to employ.

Once again, thanks to all who earnestly tried to help; it was much
appreciated.

On 3/5/2013 8:28 AM, HeyBub wrote:
Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Mon, 4 Mar 2013 20:15:08 -0600, "HeyBub"
wrote:




So I compute my best plan of action is to decline U-Haul's offer,
whatever piddly amount it turns out to be, and march against them in
small claims court. Counting the damage, replacement vehicle rental,
and loss of consortium, I should file for about, oh, $3000. I
further estimate that U-Haul will likewise compute that it would
cost them more to defend the suit than to just cut me a checky-poo
for the three grand.

Your experiences along these lines, observations, and advice would
be much appreciated.


Not going to happen. Most they will give you is book value. Maybe a
good adjuster will kick in a few bucks more just to get you to sign
immediately, but they won't be intimidated at all by your threat of a
lawsuit.


I went to law school. While I never practiced law, I did learn you NEVER
threaten suit. You do or not do.


So what did you do after you dropped out during the first semester?

If you really did (heybub story telling and all) you should get your $35
that you spent for tuition if a simple under $1,000 damage situation
presents such a conundrum.

On 3/5/2013 10:25 AM, TomR wrote:
HeyBub wrote:
Two weeks ago my little S10 pickup was struck, while parked, by a
U-Haul truck. My pickup is 15 years old, but only has 98,000 miles on
the clock (I don't get out much). U-Haul referred me to their
insurance carrier and, after proof of ownership and a witness list
changed hands, they promised to send over an adjuster today between
1:00 and 4:00.
It's 8:00pm and he's still not here.

Anyway, I figure it will cost about $900 to fix the truck, but for
that amount I'll bet the insurance company will total the thing and
offer me five hundred bucks to just go away.

Frankly, the truck is worth MUCH more than that to me.

So I compute my best plan of action is to decline U-Haul's offer,
whatever piddly amount it turns out to be, and march against them in
small claims court. Counting the damage, replacement vehicle rental,
and loss of consortium, I should file for about, oh, $3000. I further
estimate that U-Haul will likewise compute that it would cost them
more to defend the suit than to just cut me a checky-poo for the
three grand.
Your experiences along these lines, observations, and advice would be
much appreciated.

You're assuming they are going to total the truck, and you're assuming they
are going to tell you a 1998 Chevy S10 pickup truck is worth $500. Then,
from that assumption, you are off on a whole big scenario of taking them to
small claims court etc.


Sounds like you never read a "heybub" post before?

There is no way that anyone is going to say 1998 Chevy S10 pickup truck is
only worth $500. I just junked a completely rusted out, beat-to-s..., GMC
pickup truck with a blown automatic transmission for $350 -- and they came
and towed it for free. That was just the junk metal value. When the
transmission on that one went out, I bought a 1989 GMC Sierra 1500 mediocre
condition pickup truck for $800. Look online and your 1998 pickup is worth
$2,000 or more.

Let us know what they actually do say after you hear back from them.

On Tue, 05 Mar 2013 14:15:49 -0600, Vic Smith
wrote:

On Tue, 05 Mar 2013 13:18:57 -0500, wrote:

On Tue, 5 Mar 2013 11:05:23 -0500, "David L. Martel"
wrote:

dadi,

I think that HB hasn't done his homework. As you point out his
guesstimate of the value of his vehicle seems very inaccurate. This leads me
to wonder if his guesstimate of repair cost is also off.
Posting for advice while spouting meaningless figures will lead to bad
advice. He needs to get the "blue book" value. There are web-sites that do
this. He needs to get some repair estimates. There are repair shops that
will gladly do this.

Dave M.

His estimate of the value MAY be pretty close. It may be a badly
clapped out and beaten to death POS that really is NOT worth fixing,
and he's hoping to come out ahead. Just the hassle of having to buy a
"new" vehicle, to some people, is worth $500 or more - so the clapped
out POS could be worth more to him than the truck is really worth.

Not terribly likely scenario, but quite possible.

Happens all the time. I had a '67 Skylark, knew it up and down, and
it was the best tracking car I ever had. Body wasn't perfect, big
deal, that's why I got it for $500. Drove it a couple years. Kid hit
it while it was in front a house we were partying in on New Year's
Eve. Had to chase him to his house because he took off. His dad took
care of the insurance. I got book, $600. Wasn't happy about that at
all. Paid $1400 for a '74 Dart, cheapest decent car I could find
quick, but it wasn't half the car as the Buick.

Had a real nice 1981 Corolla wagon.Catalytic converter overheated and
burned the floor mat, console/shifter, and corner of the passenger's
seat. The Insurance company wanted to write it off and give me $2000.
I said nope, but give me the car and $2000 and we'll call it square.
After a couple of hours they said "ok" and gave me a cheque. I paid
about $300 for used shifter/console and used carpet (right side only -
the left side of the one in the wreckers was damaged) and I put the
rest into the "car replacement fund" and drove the corolla another 3
years.

Mother-in-law had a little Mustang coupe - california car with a baked
paint job. Her son had bent the rear fender, and they had not gotten
around to having the insurance repair it when the wiring harness for
the air conditioning (california installed aftermarket) went up in
smoke - found out it was because the second cooling fan motor had
shorted - and the insurance company wanted to write it off because
they didn't want to get caught having to replace a whole wiring
harness. They said the car was in rough condition - bad paint and body
damage, so they were only going to give her $1500 for it.

I told them they were already on the hook for the body repairs, and it
was otherwize in good shape with low mileage etc - I said I thought
the car was worth $3200 to replace, and a paint job was under $1000,
so the car should be worth $2200. They offered $2200 and the car - I
drove it home from Windsor to Waterloo, rewired the AC, replaced the
fan motor, fixed the bent rear quarter and repainted it and had over
$300 left over when it was finished.

wrote:
On Tue, 05 Mar 2013 14:15:49 -0600, Vic Smith
wrote:

On Tue, 05 Mar 2013 13:18:57 -0500, wrote:

On Tue, 5 Mar 2013 11:05:23 -0500, "David L. Martel"
wrote:

dadi,

I think that HB hasn't done his homework. As you point out his
guesstimate of the value of his vehicle seems very inaccurate. This leads me
to wonder if his guesstimate of repair cost is also off.
Posting for advice while spouting meaningless figures will lead to bad
advice. He needs to get the "blue book" value. There are web-sites that do
this. He needs to get some repair estimates. There are repair shops that
will gladly do this.

Dave M.

His estimate of the value MAY be pretty close. It may be a badly
clapped out and beaten to death POS that really is NOT worth fixing,
and he's hoping to come out ahead. Just the hassle of having to buy a
"new" vehicle, to some people, is worth $500 or more - so the clapped
out POS could be worth more to him than the truck is really worth.

Not terribly likely scenario, but quite possible.

Happens all the time. I had a '67 Skylark, knew it up and down, and
it was the best tracking car I ever had. Body wasn't perfect, big
deal, that's why I got it for $500. Drove it a couple years. Kid hit
it while it was in front a house we were partying in on New Year's
Eve. Had to chase him to his house because he took off. His dad took
care of the insurance. I got book, $600. Wasn't happy about that at
all. Paid $1400 for a '74 Dart, cheapest decent car I could find
quick, but it wasn't half the car as the Buick.

Had a real nice 1981 Corolla wagon.Catalytic converter overheated and
burned the floor mat, console/shifter, and corner of the passenger's
seat. The Insurance company wanted to write it off and give me $2000.
I said nope, but give me the car and $2000 and we'll call it square.
After a couple of hours they said "ok" and gave me a cheque. I paid
about $300 for used shifter/console and used carpet (right side only -
the left side of the one in the wreckers was damaged) and I put the
rest into the "car replacement fund" and drove the corolla another 3
years.

Mother-in-law had a little Mustang coupe - california car with a baked
paint job. Her son had bent the rear fender, and they had not gotten
around to having the insurance repair it when the wiring harness for
the air conditioning (california installed aftermarket) went up in
smoke - found out it was because the second cooling fan motor had
shorted - and the insurance company wanted to write it off because
they didn't want to get caught having to replace a whole wiring
harness. They said the car was in rough condition - bad paint and body
damage, so they were only going to give her $1500 for it.

I told them they were already on the hook for the body repairs, and it
was otherwize in good shape with low mileage etc - I said I thought
the car was worth $3200 to replace, and a paint job was under $1000,
so the car should be worth $2200. They offered $2200 and the car - I
drove it home from Windsor to Waterloo, rewired the AC, replaced the
fan motor, fixed the bent rear quarter and repainted it and had over
$300 left over when it was finished.

In 1980 I was driving a 66 lay-down Rambler. An Ambassador 990. I was a
broke college grad and about to move out of town for a job. To me, the car
was priceless.

A few weeks before i was leaving town, a repair shop was doing some work on
the front end, broke a part and couldn't find a replacement that was in any
better shape. One day I stopped by to get an update and they told me the
car had been stolen. When I reminded them that it wasn't drivable, they
just shrugged and said "Yeah, it's pretty strange."

Two days later the police called and told me the car was about a mile from
the shop and that the front end was all smashed up. I could be wrong, but
it looked to me like someone had backed a tow truck into it. I even checked
the repair shop's truck to see if it had green paint on it. No such luck. I
had my suspicions but I couldn't prove anything.

Anyway, the Ins Co deemed it totaled and gave me $600. They could care less
what I thought the car was worth or what my situation was. What was I going
to do with $600 and no car? I ended up putting the money towards a rental,
drove to my new town and rode a bicycle for a few months while I saved up
for another car.

George wrote:

I went to law school. While I never practiced law, I did learn you
NEVER threaten suit. You do or not do.


So what did you do after you dropped out during the first semester?

If you really did (heybub story telling and all) you should get your
$35 that you spent for tuition if a simple under $1,000 damage
situation presents such a conundrum.

Uh, thanks for asking. After I COMPLETED law school, I got hired as an
adjunct professor of mathematics and computer science by the University of
Houston. After one semester there, I went to work for seismic data
processing company, then opened a couple of bookstores. Eventually I
started my own small software company and today, some 30 years later, am
still as happy as the day I struck out on my own.

I figured, correctly, that as long as I was going to work for a fool, that
fool might as well be me.

DerbyDad03 wrote:
wrote:
On Tue, 05 Mar 2013 14:15:49 -0600, Vic Smith
wrote:

On Tue, 05 Mar 2013 13:18:57 -0500, wrote:

On Tue, 5 Mar 2013 11:05:23 -0500, "David L. Martel"
wrote:

dadi,

I think that HB hasn't done his homework. As you point out his
guesstimate of the value of his vehicle seems very inaccurate.
This leads me to wonder if his guesstimate of repair cost is also
off. Posting for advice while spouting meaningless figures will
lead to bad advice. He needs to get the "blue book" value. There
are web-sites that do this. He needs to get some repair
estimates. There are repair shops that will gladly do this.

Dave M.

His estimate of the value MAY be pretty close. It may be a badly
clapped out and beaten to death POS that really is NOT worth
fixing, and he's hoping to come out ahead. Just the hassle of
having to buy a "new" vehicle, to some people, is worth $500 or
more - so the clapped out POS could be worth more to him than the
truck is really worth.

Not terribly likely scenario, but quite possible.

Happens all the time. I had a '67 Skylark, knew it up and down, and
it was the best tracking car I ever had. Body wasn't perfect, big
deal, that's why I got it for $500. Drove it a couple years. Kid
hit it while it was in front a house we were partying in on New
Year's Eve. Had to chase him to his house because he took off.
His dad took care of the insurance. I got book, $600. Wasn't
happy about that at all. Paid $1400 for a '74 Dart, cheapest
decent car I could find quick, but it wasn't half the car as the
Buick.

Had a real nice 1981 Corolla wagon.Catalytic converter overheated and
burned the floor mat, console/shifter, and corner of the passenger's
seat. The Insurance company wanted to write it off and give me $2000.
I said nope, but give me the car and $2000 and we'll call it square.
After a couple of hours they said "ok" and gave me a cheque. I paid
about $300 for used shifter/console and used carpet (right side only
- the left side of the one in the wreckers was damaged) and I put the
rest into the "car replacement fund" and drove the corolla another 3
years.

Mother-in-law had a little Mustang coupe - california car with a
baked paint job. Her son had bent the rear fender, and they had not
gotten around to having the insurance repair it when the wiring
harness for the air conditioning (california installed aftermarket)
went up in smoke - found out it was because the second cooling fan
motor had shorted - and the insurance company wanted to write it off
because they didn't want to get caught having to replace a whole
wiring harness. They said the car was in rough condition - bad paint
and body damage, so they were only going to give her $1500 for it.

I told them they were already on the hook for the body repairs, and
it was otherwize in good shape with low mileage etc - I said I
thought the car was worth $3200 to replace, and a paint job was
under $1000, so the car should be worth $2200. They offered $2200
and the car - I drove it home from Windsor to Waterloo, rewired the
AC, replaced the fan motor, fixed the bent rear quarter and
repainted it and had over $300 left over when it was finished.

In 1980 I was driving a '66 lay-down Rambler. An Ambassador 990. I
was a broke college grad and about to move out of town for a job. To
me, the car was priceless.

A few weeks before i was leaving town, a repair shop was doing some
work on the front end, broke a part and couldn't find a replacement
that was in any better shape. One day I stopped by to get an update
and they told me the car had been stolen. When I reminded them that
it wasn't drivable, they just shrugged and said "Yeah, it's pretty
strange."

Two days later the police called and told me the car was about a mile
from the shop and that the front end was all smashed up. I could be
wrong, but it looked to me like someone had backed a tow truck into
it. I even checked the repair shop's truck to see if it had green
paint on it. No such luck. I had my suspicions but I couldn't prove
anything.

Anyway, the Ins Co deemed it totaled and gave me $600. They could
care less what I thought the car was worth or what my situation was.
What was I going to do with $600 and no car? I ended up putting the
money towards a rental, drove to my new town and rode a bicycle for a
few months while I saved up for another car.

My case was a bit different as I more or less set the value of the car.

It was (is) a 1973 Fiat 124 Spyder, bought new in Honolulu. I live in
Florida now and in 2000 the wife and I were driving down the middle lane of
a divided highway when a guy pulls out to cross the road. Fine and good but
he stopped in the middle of my lane. I couldn't change lanes, cars in both,
so I did what I had to do...I hit him.

I had been doing about 50, managed to slow to maybe 30 and veered a bit to
the left so I would hit ahead of the driver door where I was aimed. It bent
in his wheel well, pull it out and he was good. However, the Fiat front end
was pretty shot.

I don't recall what State Farm wanted to give me - they wanted to total it -
but it wasn't enough so I found a duplicate car on eBay listed at $4500 for
"buy it now". That's what they gave me: $4500. Plus the car. I bought a
California car for $900, shipped it to Florida for $600. The CA car was a
1974 - a year newer - and the engine and transmission were less than great
but the body was excellent and were the same as mine except for the bumper
and I had a spare of that.

We drove both cars to a body shop and they took the front clip - radiator,
both fenders, hood, gril, etc. - from the CA car and put them on mine.
Charged $3,000. That shot the $4500 insurance money exactly.

The parts car is sitting "out back" under some oak trees, busily rotting
away. My Fiat is sittng in the garage. It needs an alignment but other
than that it is pristine. I drove it home from the body shop but not since.
Why? Because the body shop tool a year - a YEAR! - to do their thing and in
the interim we had purchased another car. We really have no need for two
cars and I really should sell it (they sell now for $5500 - $18,000, mine is
maybe a 9-10K car) but I keep it for auld lang syne...that was the car of my
best days and we have been through a lot...I've driven it on unguarded
gravel roads in mountains with sheer cliffs...down stream beds...all over
Mexico; I've suffered through multiple damages caused to it over may years
by inept mechanics; I drove it every day for 27 years. I kinda miss it.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

Winters getting colder? Tired of the rat race?
Taxes out of hand? Maybe just ready for a change?
Check it out... http://www.floridaloghouse.net

On Mar 5, 11:01*am, Notat Home wrote:
HeyBub wrote:
Two weeks ago my little S10 pickup was struck, while parked, by a U-Haul
truck. My pickup is 15 years old, but only has 98,000 miles on the clock (I
don't get out much). U-Haul referred me to their insurance carrier and,
after proof of ownership and a witness list changed hands, they promised to
send over an adjuster today between 1:00 and 4:00.

It's 8:00pm and he's still not here.

Anyway, I figure it will cost about $900 to fix the truck, but for that
amount I'll bet the insurance company will total the thing and offer me five
hundred bucks to just go away.

Frankly, the truck is worth MUCH more than that to me.

So I compute my best plan of action is to decline U-Haul's offer, whatever
piddly amount it turns out to be, and march against them in small claims
court. Counting the damage, replacement vehicle rental, and loss of
consortium, I should file for about, oh, $3000. I further estimate that
U-Haul will likewise compute that it would cost them more to defend the suit
than to just cut me a checky-poo for the three grand.

Your experiences along these lines, observations, and advice would be much
appreciated.

Insurance law varies from state to state, so lacking knowledge of what
state you are in, most of the advice posted is questionable.

Generally, if you are making a claim on your own policy, they will give
you the cost of repairs (less your deductible, which they will return to
you if they make a recovery from the other party) or the fair market
value of your vehicle, whichever is less. *They can do this because it
is written into your contract of insurance.

The other parties insurer does not have a contract with you. *Their
contract is with their insured, so they cannot arbitrarily total your
vehicle.
*Their obligation is to their insured, and with an at-fault
accident, their insured is obligated, generally, to put you back where
you would have been without the accident.

Which is pretty much the same thing. If the vehicle is
only worth $2,000 and it would cost $4,000 to fix it, they
will typically only pay the $2,000, just like they would if
they were paying for it under a collision policy. That puts
you back where you would have been without the
accident. Actually, you'd be a little better off, because if it were
your own car,
under a collision policy, a typical deductible of $500 or
$1000 would apply and you'd only get $1,000 -

You can go to court, but the court's concept of making
you whole is pretty much the same. If the truck was
only worth $2000, as shown by credible sources, that's
what you will recover. The insurance company may be
willing to kick in some additional money to avoid going to
court, but if it gets to court, the rules apply.


*I suspect that if you get a
written estimate of the cost of repairs, and a list of other expenses
you have had to incur, such as the cost of a rental vehicle, they will
be amenable to fully reimbursing you, although they may make an initial
low-ball offer, just to try to save some money.

Maybe if it only exceeds the value of the vehicle by a
small amount. But they're typically not going to pay
$5,000 to fix a car that's only worth $2,000.


Get their offer in
writing; if it is too low, decline it and repeat what you want. *If you
can't come to an agreement, take all documentation and head for court,
but I suspect you will come to agreement, as the insurance company will
not want to have to pay an attorney.

And better make sure that documentation includes
blue book proof that the car is worth more than they
are offering.




An interesting question you might want to look into is who was driving
the uhaul, as that is the party who will ultimately be liable, unless
there are some strange circumstances that haven't been revealed.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

On 3/5/2013 3:28 PM, HeyBub wrote:
HeyBub wrote:
Two weeks ago my little S10 pickup was struck, while parked, by a
U-Haul truck. My pickup is 15 years old, but only has 98,000 miles on
the clock (I don't get out much). U-Haul referred me to their
insurance carrier and, after proof of ownership and a witness list
changed hands, they promised to send over an adjuster today between
1:00 and 4:00.
It's 8:00pm and he's still not here.

Anyway, I figure it will cost about $900 to fix the truck, but for
that amount I'll bet the insurance company will total the thing and
offer me five hundred bucks to just go away.

Frankly, the truck is worth MUCH more than that to me.

So I compute my best plan of action is to decline U-Haul's offer,
whatever piddly amount it turns out to be, and march against them in
small claims court. Counting the damage, replacement vehicle rental,
and loss of consortium, I should file for about, oh, $3000. I further
estimate that U-Haul will likewise compute that it would cost them
more to defend the suit than to just cut me a checky-poo for the
three grand.
Your experiences along these lines, observations, and advice would be
much appreciated.

I have learned much from the comments you folks have offered. It's said to a
man with a hammer, every solution involves a nail.

I can see where I wanted to rush off to court (having done so countless
times) when there are other, perhaps better, tactics to employ.

Once again, thanks to all who earnestly tried to help; it was much
appreciated.



I've learned from my lawyer sons that most disputes are settled without
going to court even when lawyers are involved.

One son did help me when my car was totaled and drivers insurance
company was dragging its feet. Letter from lawyer can work wonders.
Also resulted in a settlement higher than book value for pain and
suffering sort of thing.

On Tue, 5 Mar 2013 22:31:09 +0000 (UTC), DerbyDad03
wrote:



In 1980 I was driving a 66 lay-down Rambler. An Ambassador 990. I was a
broke college grad and about to move out of town for a job. To me, the car
was priceless.

A few weeks before i was leaving town, a repair shop was doing some work on
the front end, broke a part and couldn't find a replacement that was in any
better shape. One day I stopped by to get an update and they told me the
car had been stolen. When I reminded them that it wasn't drivable, they
just shrugged and said "Yeah, it's pretty strange."

Two days later the police called and told me the car was about a mile from
the shop and that the front end was all smashed up. I could be wrong, but
it looked to me like someone had backed a tow truck into it. I even checked
the repair shop's truck to see if it had green paint on it. No such luck. I
had my suspicions but I couldn't prove anything.

Anyway, the Ins Co deemed it totaled and gave me $600. They could care less
what I thought the car was worth or what my situation was. What was I going
to do with $600 and no car? I ended up putting the money towards a rental,
drove to my new town and rode a bicycle for a few months while I saved up
for another car.

The bottom line on this is insurance settlements for an older totaled
car is "usually" is a net loss for the car owner.
Your post reminded me of what happened to my son's car.
Story time.
It was a late 80's Cutlass with 3800 engine.
He was commuting from Chicago to Champagne while attending U of I.
Christmas break I had it at my mechanic to fix some issue.
Great mechanic in Niles, IL. M&N Repairs. Very low crime area.
Wayne, the head mech and owner calls me the day before New Year's and
says the car is ready. Told him I'd get it Jan 2nd.
So I go there, go right inside, but I didn't see the car. It's an old
gas station with room to park about 8 cars outside without interfering
with the tow/plow trucks. So he hands me the keys and I pay him the
charge. He's standing there smiling at me while I wait for him to
tell me where the cars is. Finally I say, "Where's the car?"
He thinks I'm joking, so I repeat it. He thought I already picked it
up with spare keys. Took a bit before he realized I really hadn't
picked up the car. In the 25 years he had the garage, a car had never
been stolen. He said the car was there during the day on New Years
Eve, so we knew it was taken that night.
Reported the theft to Niles PD, and a couple days later they called
and said it was impounded on the far south side of Chicago.
Surprisingly, it had no damage. Not even the ignition.
Think it cost about a bill to get it out of the pound. No sympathy
there.
A few days later on the way back to school in the car, my son gets
pulled over by the State Police. He's cuffed and taken to the local
jail for driving a stolen car.
Took some phone calls to clear that up, and I had to show up at Niles
PD to get them to correct the records.

"dadiOH" wrote in :

[snip of interesting tale]

Nice story, but you overdid it he

I drove it every day for 27 years.

I call bull****. A FIAT??? Every day for 27 years? No way in the world.

On Wed, 6 Mar 2013 07:38:23 -0500, "dadiOH"
wrote:



My case was a bit different as I more or less set the value of the car.

It was (is) a 1973 Fiat 124 Spyder, bought new in Honolulu. I live in
Florida now and in 2000 the wife and I were driving down the middle lane of
a divided highway when a guy pulls out to cross the road. Fine and good but
he stopped in the middle of my lane. I couldn't change lanes, cars in both,
so I did what I had to do...I hit him.

I had been doing about 50, managed to slow to maybe 30 and veered a bit to
the left so I would hit ahead of the driver door where I was aimed. It bent
in his wheel well, pull it out and he was good. However, the Fiat front end
was pretty shot.

I don't recall what State Farm wanted to give me - they wanted to total it -
but it wasn't enough so I found a duplicate car on eBay listed at $4500 for
"buy it now". That's what they gave me: $4500. Plus the car. I bought a
California car for $900, shipped it to Florida for $600. The CA car was a
1974 - a year newer - and the engine and transmission were less than great
but the body was excellent and were the same as mine except for the bumper
and I had a spare of that.

We drove both cars to a body shop and they took the front clip - radiator,
both fenders, hood, gril, etc. - from the CA car and put them on mine.
Charged $3,000. That shot the $4500 insurance money exactly.

The parts car is sitting "out back" under some oak trees, busily rotting
away. My Fiat is sittng in the garage. It needs an alignment but other
than that it is pristine. I drove it home from the body shop but not since.
Why? Because the body shop tool a year - a YEAR! - to do their thing and in
the interim we had purchased another car. We really have no need for two
cars and I really should sell it (they sell now for $5500 - $18,000, mine is
maybe a 9-10K car) but I keep it for auld lang syne...that was the car of my
best days and we have been through a lot...I've driven it on unguarded
gravel roads in mountains with sheer cliffs...down stream beds...all over
Mexico; I've suffered through multiple damages caused to it over may years
by inept mechanics; I drove it every day for 27 years. I kinda miss it.

Neat. You worked that well. Did the body shop charge include a paint
job? No rust? I can't imagine a 70's era car not rusting out where I
live.

On Wed, 6 Mar 2013 06:32:53 -0600, "HeyBub"
wrote in Re
Insurance qustion:

Eventually I
started my own small software company and today, some 30 years later, am
still as happy as the day I struck out on my own.

It's amazing how many lawyers find happiness after *leaving* law. I
believe there is a lesson to be learned there.

On Mar 4, 7:44*pm, wrote:
On Mon, 4 Mar 2013 20:15:08 -0600, "HeyBub"
wrote:





Two weeks ago my little S10 pickup was struck, while parked, by a U-Haul
truck. My pickup is 15 years old, but only has 98,000 miles on the clock (I
don't get out much). U-Haul referred me to their insurance carrier and,
after proof of ownership and a witness list changed hands, they promised to
send over an adjuster today between 1:00 and 4:00.

It's 8:00pm and he's still not here.

Anyway, I figure it will cost about $900 to fix the truck, but for that
amount I'll bet the insurance company will total the thing and offer me five
hundred bucks to just go away.

Frankly, the truck is worth MUCH more than that to me.

So I compute my best plan of action is to decline U-Haul's offer, whatever
piddly amount it turns out to be, and march against them in small claims
court. Counting the damage, replacement vehicle rental, and loss of
consortium, I should file for about, oh, $3000. I further estimate that
U-Haul will likewise compute that it would cost them more to defend the suit
than to just cut me a checky-poo for the three grand.

Your experiences along these lines, observations, and advice would be much
appreciated.

*If the truck is spotless and rust free it's a $2500 truck. What
damage was done? Box side? door and fender??

Go for a buy-out They say thnere is 1500 damage so they want to write
it off, you say give me 1500 and the truck - and fix it yourself???

Yep. Take the 1500 and if they won't give you the truck, buy it back
for the 'book' as adjusted for damage.

Harry K

Harry K

On Mar 6, 9:49*am, Harry K wrote:
On Mar 4, 7:44*pm, wrote:





On Mon, 4 Mar 2013 20:15:08 -0600, "HeyBub"
wrote:

Two weeks ago my little S10 pickup was struck, while parked, by a U-Haul
truck. My pickup is 15 years old, but only has 98,000 miles on the clock (I
don't get out much). U-Haul referred me to their insurance carrier and,
after proof of ownership and a witness list changed hands, they promised to
send over an adjuster today between 1:00 and 4:00.

It's 8:00pm and he's still not here.

Anyway, I figure it will cost about $900 to fix the truck, but for that
amount I'll bet the insurance company will total the thing and offer me five
hundred bucks to just go away.

Frankly, the truck is worth MUCH more than that to me.

So I compute my best plan of action is to decline U-Haul's offer, whatever
piddly amount it turns out to be, and march against them in small claims
court. Counting the damage, replacement vehicle rental, and loss of
consortium, I should file for about, oh, $3000. I further estimate that
U-Haul will likewise compute that it would cost them more to defend the suit
than to just cut me a checky-poo for the three grand.

Your experiences along these lines, observations, and advice would be much
appreciated.

*If the truck is spotless and rust free it's a $2500 truck. What
damage was done? Box side? door and fender??

Go for a buy-out They say thnere is 1500 damage so they want to write
it off, you say give me 1500 and the truck - and fix it yourself???

Yep. *Take the 1500 and if they won't give you the truck, buy it back
for the 'book' as adjusted for damage.

Harry K

Harry K

I bought a used extended caravan for 900 bucks, had it some months and
found a valve was going bad Didnt know what to do about that......

Van got rear ended Because of its age it got totaled for 1400 bucks.
They didnt ask if it had any mechanical problems, and I didnt
volunteer any info, Insurance also paid for my wifes lost day of work,
she had to come get me.. and a small settlement for pain and
suffereing like 500 bucks, I hurt but didnt go to doctor.. Oh and a
rental car for a weekend getaway since my wifes car was having
troubles. I almost felt guilty for the rental

At the time we were really broke so the extra money came in hand and I
was glad I didnt have to worry about the bad valve.......

later I bought another van......that was far better than the one that
got totaled.

On Mar 6, 10:37*am, bob haller wrote:
On Mar 6, 9:49*am, Harry K wrote:





On Mar 4, 7:44*pm, wrote:

On Mon, 4 Mar 2013 20:15:08 -0600, "HeyBub"
wrote:

Two weeks ago my little S10 pickup was struck, while parked, by a U-Haul
truck. My pickup is 15 years old, but only has 98,000 miles on the clock (I
don't get out much). U-Haul referred me to their insurance carrier and,
after proof of ownership and a witness list changed hands, they promised to
send over an adjuster today between 1:00 and 4:00.

It's 8:00pm and he's still not here.

Anyway, I figure it will cost about $900 to fix the truck, but for that
amount I'll bet the insurance company will total the thing and offer me five
hundred bucks to just go away.

Frankly, the truck is worth MUCH more than that to me.

So I compute my best plan of action is to decline U-Haul's offer, whatever
piddly amount it turns out to be, and march against them in small claims
court. Counting the damage, replacement vehicle rental, and loss of
consortium, I should file for about, oh, $3000. I further estimate that
U-Haul will likewise compute that it would cost them more to defend the suit
than to just cut me a checky-poo for the three grand.

Your experiences along these lines, observations, and advice would be much
appreciated.

*If the truck is spotless and rust free it's a $2500 truck. What
damage was done? Box side? door and fender??

Go for a buy-out They say thnere is 1500 damage so they want to write
it off, you say give me 1500 and the truck - and fix it yourself???

Yep. *Take the 1500 and if they won't give you the truck, buy it back
for the 'book' as adjusted for damage.

Harry K

Harry K

I bought a used extended caravan for 900 bucks, had it some months and
found a valve was going bad Didnt know what to do about that......

Van got rear ended Because of its age it got totaled for 1400 bucks.
They didnt ask if it had any mechanical problems, and I didnt
volunteer any info, Insurance also paid for my wifes lost day of work,
she had to come get me.. and a small settlement for pain and
suffereing like 500 bucks, I hurt but didnt go to doctor..

Having any injury changes the equation dramatically.
The insurance company is going to be a lot more willing
to settle the whole thing for a couple thousand, even if
it means paying more than the vehicle is worth, because
an injury case can potentially escalate into a lot of
money.







Oh and a
rental car for a weekend getaway since my wifes car was having
troubles. I almost felt guilty for the rental

At the time we were really broke so the extra money came in hand and I
was glad I didnt have to worry about the bad valve.......

later I bought another van......that was far better than the one that
got totaled.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -