Expert: Charlie Barone - 11/7/2009

Question
My mini-van was hit from behind. The police report indicated that the other driver's probable contributing circumstances were drugs and inattention. I filed a claim with the insurance company of the driver who was at fault. The insurance company want to total my mini-van. I am not happy with their settlement offer. They are offering $7,925.00. My pay off is with Chrysler Financial and it is $8,516.13. The accident was on 10/27/09 and I requested a rental on 10/28/09 and they arranged one for me. But on 11/9/09 they want to recall their rental and I will be left without any transportation. I don't have money for a new down payment or sales tax for another car. What can I do?

Answer

The liability carrier of the at-fault party has no legal duty to you, however their policyholder does. I would send a letter by certified mail to the at-fault party with a cc to their insurance company demanding that you be made whole. While this may get them to increase their offer, they only owe you the actual cash value for your mini-van, which is the cost to replace it with one of like kind and quality. So start looking around (online and in local newspaper classified ads) for a similar car to yours for sale. That way you will know what the value of your van actually was.