Insurance question - 2016 TRD OR hit while parked

Not true all the time. I'm not sure what the rules are, but I've received checks directly from an insurance company twice for minor repairs, even when I had a lien on the vehicle. Once for hail, and another for a front bumper.

 

Thanks a lot, I'm trying to handle this as politely as possible, but with a repair estimate that's potentially 2-3x higher than expected I feel like I'm in the right for pushing for a resolution that makes me happy first and foremost...although I'm doing my best to consider the other guy's position as well. They're claiming to be "going through hard times" or whatever, which is a new narrative that has suddenly materialized just in the last week. Well, if that's the case, maybe try not to make the times harder by going out and getting drunk and then hitting a stranger's truck while attempting to pull your car out to drive home (pure conjecture, but I live on a street with a lot of bars, and the person who hit me doesn't live in the neighborhood).

Also thanks a ton for the diminished value suggestion. This is going to be a fucking pain in the ass if we have to go through insurance (even if I get a new bumper out of it), but I'm not willing to simply let it go or settle for an amount below $800 at this point, so it's good to know there are additional steps I should take to cover my ass and make sure I get the maximum benefit from the situation.

 

I'm sure he's right when it comes to leased vehicles, but I "own" mine via a USAA loan so I'm thinking there's a good chance I can negotiate a personal check.

 

Who is the insurance carrier for the dude that hit you?

 

No idea, we've been handling it as a straight cash deal until I got the first quote yesterday that was so much higher than expected. They said they're going to call their insurer on Monday and get me set up with a shop visit for a second opinion...at that point I'll know who I'm dealing with, I wasn't really planning to press them on it over the weekend.

 

You stated you own you vehicle but then stated you have a loan through USAA, so does USAA have a lien on the title or did you pay cash for your truck with no lien? I have USAA ins too but I payed cash for my truck no lien. Unless you own your truck out right you will probablly have to sign some sort of form stating you waive the warranty coverage on the repairs done to get them to give you cash. Then they will probablly only give the cost of replacment parts minus labor unless you send them an itemized repair cost of your diy work.

 

I'm an insurance underwriter with a major insurance company.

You don't have to get it fixed. You can get a repair estimate and then take the cash amount that they would have paid to fix the truck and then use that money however you want.

At worst they will make the check out to both you and your lien holder. You'll then have to mail the check to your lien holder to endorse. They'll mail it back, you can then sign it, then cash it and spend it one whatever bumper you want. You may have to send a photo of the repair to your lien holder to show you made the repairs and you may not. It depends on who your loan is with.

 

I had to have a wheel replaced and some minor paint and nothing ever showed up for my previous vehicle, I can link you the carfax if you would like to see, and everything went through my insurance. Not sure how it was never reported

 

I had my minor damage done at a dealership and nothing ever showed up on car fax

 

It doesn't always but often it will

 

Lots of misinformation in here.
Your insurance company is the only one with a fiduciary duty to protect your lein holder.
If you go thru his insurance, they will write an estimate, and pay you off of that estimate. Single party check to you only.
That said...the majority of people in this situation take the money and run.
Insurance companies know this, and they deliberately under write the value of your claim.
The estimate they write you will be less than what it will take to properly fix your truck.
Same goes for a shop they reccomend to get an estimate from.
Insurance companies only reccomend shops that give them discounts.
The part about dealers not taking cars that have been in accidents and diminished value is also false. It's not even an issue unless you plan on getting rid of the truck.
But, You have you the repair done by a certified by a certified collision repair facility and they can still call it a certified used vehicle.

You also havent considered the possibility of hidden damage yet and how you are going to handle that.

Your best bet is to have then write you an estimate and pay you off of it.
Take it to a reputable Toyota certified collision repair center and have them fix it.
Tell them you don't want to replace the factory front bumper and ask them to apply the price of the OEM one, and the associated cost to paint it to replacing it with the bumper of your choice. Theybcan irder it for you and put it on.
They will take your check, and supplement the insurance for anything they deliberately tried to under pay, or for any hidden damages they find.
You get the repairs done right, and you get your bumper.

 

What state do you live in? In Oregon, we have the right to take the vehicle anywhere we want and get as many or few estimates as we like.

Then give the other guy's insurance the estimate you prefer including just a straight up check cut for the amount of the estimate.

I've done this 3 times over the years on 3 separate vehicles.

 

Only if it's reported to the police. If you don't turn in the blue form to the police, no damage shows up on Carfax.

 

Not true

 

Good advice, but there are a lot of new car dealers that won't retail a car with a car fax hit. As long as there is no frame damage, many manufacturers will allow you to certify it. This applies to cars with a clean car fax. Most certifications require the dealer to inspect it for frame damage, car fax hit or not. I work for a large leasing company that resells our lease returns to the public, and if a car has ANY car fax accident showing, we send it to auction. Many dealers will sell a car fax vehicle, and many won't. Whether the dealership resells it or not, a car fax hit affects it's value. If you are looking for a used truck and there are two just alike online, one with a clean car fax, and one with an accident, most people will buy the truck with the clean car fax. The one with the accident showing will be sold because it's cheaper. Car Fax reports are a gimmick. A huge amount of accidents never get reported at all, and many will show minor damage when it was in a huge accident. A client of mine had a $46K repair job on their lux car. When their lease was up the car fax reported the accident as "minor damage". If your accident shows up, it WILL drop your value. Go after them if it does.

 

Most Car Fax accidents are reported by insurance companies and dealership body shops. A police report will probably guarantee it gets reported, but it's not the only way it gets reported. I had a accident where no police were involved, and it was reported to Car Fax.

 

The vast majority of useful info in Carfax comes from police reports, dealership records, dmv, etc. Ask your bodyshop buddies what they've ever submitted to Carfax. Hell, check on Carfax website on where they get info. https://www.carfax.com/company/vhr-data-sources.

The only time I've ever seen minor accident damage on a Carfax report is when it came from a Police report.

 

Did you get it fixed at the dealership?

 

I forget where I got it repaired. It all depends on the dealership's software they use. The software companies are the one's selling the data to car fax. I had a wreck in another vehicle with frame damage repaired at one of the larger dealers in Dallas, and it never showed up. Car Fax is a joke. More bad decisions are made because of Car Fax, than when we didn't have car fax. Now people don't have the cars inspected before they buy them. They just look at the car fax, and assume it's correct.

 

Totally agree. The only accident I've ever had show up was a replacement of a bumper cover when a school bus backed into my wife's vehicle in a snowstorm. It was about $400 in damages. It was literally a scratch.