Legal Question in Insurance Law in Florida

Should the Insurance company be able to total a car that is not totaled ,but is
On Nov.11th I hit a deer with my automoble. My car is almost paid for with a 10 day payoff of $1911.23 it is a 1995 Ford Mustang in excellent condition other than the deer damage. The insurance company values the car at $4080.00. They car is not totaled it is still drivable and the air bags did deploy which is alot of the repair cost. The insurance company is willing to pay $4080 but they are only willing to pay $3200 to fix my car and only that. They say they want to total it out because the price to fix the damage exceeds the value of the car , but the information that GMAC insurance sent me from the estimates they got come to $4017.47 dollars total. The total changes to $3517.47 minus my deductible. Can they insist that the car be totaled when they are willing to pay $4080( and take my car that I have paid 3 times what they say its worth in the past 4years ) or should they have to fix my car. I have paid my insurance faithfully every month on time . can they do this ???

Asked on 1/08/03, 11:23 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Michael Tobin Michael M. Tobin, P.A.

0 users found helpful

0 attorneys agreed

Re: Should the Insurance company be able to total a car that is not totaled ,but

While the ins co has the right to "declare" a total loss, they do not have the right to take away your title or your choice to keep and repair the car. Total loss is a measurement of value that is subject to disagreement. You also have the right to demand an appraisal of the value of your car. After all you did not intend to auction off your car and the "books" used by the ins cos reflect current sales of cars of unknown quality.

I have had similar problems. You have to hang tough.

Answered on 1/10/03, 6:51 pm

Mark as helpful