Legal Question in Insurance Law in California

Insurance Company Says Car Is Not Totalled

I was recently in an accident that was the other driver's fault. My car is less then 1 year old. My insurance company says my car is repairable. I have two issues with this:

1. - My insurance company used a percentage of the Replacement Value for determining whether my car is a total loss. This doesn't seem right or fair. So, my car that is worth around $15,000 (its Blue Book value), doesn�t qualify as a total loss because my insurance company says the damages have to exceed 75% of $20,000, the amount they�re using as its Replacement Cost. This may be because of a clause in my policy that states if my car is less then 1 year old or has less then 15,000 miles, I would receive Replacement Value. It says nothing about using that value for the estimate. So, it seems that if my car were 1+ years old, but had a book vale of $15,000, it might be a total loss, but because it is newer, it isn�t a total loss at the same book value.

2.- My insurance company is telling me the car is repairable despite the fact that they have not yet been able to examine the engine. They haven't even been able to get it started.


Asked on 12/20/02, 11:16 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Martin Snitow

Re: Insurance Company Says Car Is Not Totalled

I can't offer an opinion without seeing your policy and the estimate. Also, what does the other driver's insurance company have to say about this claim?

The insurance company's position probably will be that the car is a total loss only if the cost of repair plus the salvage value is more than the $20,000 amount you would receive for a total loss. You should ask them to pay for a rental car until they determine the repair cost and the salvage value. This will make them move more quickly.

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Answered on 12/23/02, 4:27 pm


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