Expert: Ron Cercone - 3/30/2009

Question
My friend's husband was in an accident totalling his car. They replaced the car with a used vehicle and 4 days later, he had another accident, totaling that car. They discovered he was having seizures. They are insured with AAA, which has a BBBpi rating with S&P. The offer for the first accident was very low but they accepted because he travels alot for his occupation and needed a car. Now he cannot drive for 6 months due to the seizures so they have time to dispute the offer on the second vehicle. A
AA offered them $700 less than what they paid for it only 4 days prior to 2nd accident. 1) Can they offer less than what you paid for the vehicle being newly purchased? 2) Can they still dispute the offer on the first accident? and if so, is their a statute of limitations from the date of the check or does cashing the check eliminate any rights? The state is Illinois. They are insured with AAA and both accidents were deemed at fault.

Answer
Hello Blinda,

Sorry for the delay. I thought I already answered this one. The UClaim.com product on Total Loss Auto for Insureds will answer your questions in great detail.

1. The insurer owes the ACV (actual cash value) or "fair market value" of your car, regardless of what you paid for it. Where you can pin them down is to find another comparable car for sale, or check out the one that they locate. It needs to be in your local market area, not 200 miles away.

2. You can renegotiate most property claims up to 3 years after the accident, since that's how long the statute of limitations is to sue, in most states. Most states don't allow your own insurer to put a release on the check. I don't know Illinois law on this.