Legal Question in Personal Injury in New York

There are a couple of issues that need to be answered. Is your car being financed or owned outright by you? You should have had an inspection done of the damage to your vehicle. This estimate will list all of the parts of your vehicle that was damaged. You must first determine whether all of the damages you sustained in the accident are accurately identified in the repair estimate. Make sure that they are not trying to categorize new damages as pre-existing damages. I am not sure whether you believe the vehicle should be deemed a total loss, but in order to be deemed a total loss the total amount of the damages have to equal at least 75% of the present day value of the vehicle and takes into account several factors, such as year, miles, prior damages, etc. Now you should hopefully also have a mechanic whom you trust and who was present with the adjuster when the estimate was made. If it is clear that the vehicle will not be deemed a total loss then you can get a repair estimate from your mechanic and dispute the dollor amount with the insurance company. I would also suggest getting a second estimate from another mechanic to strengthen your point. Finally, just because an insurnace company is offering you one sum of money does not mean you have to agree with and accept it. You can always file suit to recover what you believe is the fair value of the damages. You will need to prove your damages (I would recommend 2 seperate estimates from different mechanics) in court. There may be additional issues but they are outside the scope of your question. Feel free to contact me should you want to discuss this further.