So you want your car totaled?
Someone hits you and you do not want the car fixed. The damage is so severe or questionable that you are wondering if the vehicle would ever bet the same?
Insurance companies are notorious for telling their clients that vehicle body shops will put the vehicle to the same position that it was before. I believe this is a questionable claim at best. Once a car (or anything for that matter) is hit at a high speed (more than 30 mph, one has to wonder if the steel, plastic, and whatever else cars are made off can be straightened and fix.
If you are wondering about this and you would like your car to be a total loss, but you believe the insurance company is trying to fix it to save some bucks at your expenses, then you MUST play hard. The last think you want is the insurance company fixing your car and leaving you with a junky, unsafe, and unreliable vehicle!
How do you play hard? Follow the steps below:
1. Demand to see the “comps” on your car. Not the blue book value but actual data in your local market regarding the value of your car.
2.Check those “comps” to make sure your car has the same options as the ones on the list. If there are inaccuracies, then point those out to the adjuster.
3.Do not provide any maintenance records or repairs done to the car. Wait until the car is deemed a total loss to try to get more value out of it.
4.Request an independent appraisal from the insurance company. These appraisals are expensive and the adjuster will be adding the claim cost to the cost of repair. It helps them think that the claim cost is getting expensive, so they just rather call it a total loss.
5.Point out the rental cost. If the fix the car, then how long will they have to pay for a rental car? This cost would not be nearly as much if the total the car. (Many states allow insurance companies to cut your total loss a day after the car is a total loss)!
Read more about the total loss process
