Expert: Richard Hixenbaugh - 10/13/2009

Question
I was in a auto accident and I was told by my insurance company that my car was a total loss, I recieved a total loss pack from them I was advised by them to fill out all paper work get it notarized which I did containing  bill of sale, power of atty, send in my keys which I did and my lein holder info having done all of this I get a letter back saying my car was not totaled and they sent a check which i HAVE NOT CASHED because they told me that the car was totaled I plan to get my own estimate and have a shop do a teardown to see if there is more damage. we want the car totaled if we find out there is more damage then the insurance company found by the way the lady who hit me was charged in the accident and then I have found out we are both insured with the same insurance company.

Answer
Hi Michael,

You are doing exactly the right thing. You should select your own body shop. Have the insurance company or the body shop pay to have the vehicle towed to that body shop. Request the body shop do a tear down and write as accurate an estimate as possible. Then have the body shop call your insurance company to have their estimator come out to the body to inspect any additional damage and re-write their estimate. If additional damage is found then the vehicle should be totaled.

Depending on the age of your vehicle, if it is repaired you may be entitled to compensation for the loss of market value or diminished value of your vehicle. It is possible that just the mention of this to the insurance company will cause them to total the car.

For more information on diminished value visit www.collisionclaims.com

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh