Legal Question in Insurance Law in North Carolina

Re: Automobile Wreck - Property Claim - Loss of Use

Since the other driver's insurance has accepted liability, your recovery depends upon what you would be awarded if you sued the other driver.

Here is the measure of damages that would be presented to a jury:

When a vehicle, by the negligence of another, is totally destroyed as a conveyance (or if for some reason repairs would be so long delayed as to be improvident), the owner may recover for loss of use only if a substitute vehicle is not immediately obtainable. If a substitute is not immediately obtainable, the owner may recover for loss of use during the period reasonably necessary to acquire a substitute. The measure of such damages is the cost of renting a similar vehicle during such period (whether or not the owner actually rented such a similar vehicle).

You can try and get more compensation for the period of time you used your own car, but the issue is whether or not you spent a reasonable period of time to acquire a substitute.

Insurance companies in practice do not pay for lost earnings incurred to obtain a subtitute vehicle. The extra gas used is considered when figuring the cost or renting a similar vehicle. Had a similar vehicle been made available to you for a longer period of time, the extra gas would not have been used.