Legal Question in Insurance Law in Iowa

Looking for auto insurance claim precedents

My wife was involved in a car accident causing $10K damage to a new Windstar van. An 85 year old lady ran a red light, there was a witness as police report states. No evidence of bodily damage except for a bit of neck and leg strain that may or may not go away, to early to tell. A salvage buyer offered me $10K cash for the van as is. I expect the insurance company to offer me the $10K repair bill, a small portion of the cost of the rental and cost of medical bills. The van was worth $23K unwrecked as a trade on an identical new one . . . approx fixed trade in is 3-4K less due to branded title. Many other expenses including switching trailer hitches, missed day of work, extra vehicle milage, anxiety over the entire event, loss of sales tax advantage of trade in value, loss of low interest rate on orignial van purchase.

What parts of the insurance policy covers all these ''other'' items? Is there somewhere I can find legal precedents or previous insurance claims to establish the auto's loss of value?


Asked on 12/05/00, 11:30 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Charles Aspinwall Charles S. Aspinwall, J.D., LLC

Re: Looking for auto insurance claim precedents

The only part of the offending party's insurance coverage you are concerned with is her liability coverage. That is sufficient to cover your losses, which means the reasonable cost to restore the van to as near to original condition prior to the wreck as possible, or payment of the reasonable value of the van according to NADA bluebook if the costs of repairs would exceed the bluebook value.

It would be unusual for an insco to declare a $23K van a total loss for a repair bill of $10K, but not unheard of. In any event it is their call, not yours, unless the company is willing to pay you the repair cost and forget having the vehicle repaired, in which case you keep the salvage and the transfer of the items you mention is your responsibility.

It would, again, be highly unusual for them do to that.

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Answered on 12/05/00, 4:28 pm


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