Expert: Ron Cercone - 2/5/2010

Question
Saturday i was hit in the passenger side by a lady who ran a stop sign. the lady admitted fault and the police report and witnesses all agree. the NADA average value for my car is $2815 my car is a 86 Pontiac fiero. progressive found three cars in local adds for $2000. they then knocked off another 800 for 24 years of wear and tare. and offered me $1200 which will not pay for a running car. I went to look at these $2000 cars 2 of them needs clutches and one of them had a frozen a/c Compressor and they all had about the same wear and tare issues as my car. and progressive refuses to negotiate. i think it is time to go to small claims court. i should at lease be able to buy a car that is running with the insurance money.

Answer
Frank,

Progressive can't take depreciation off of an existing market appraisal which "includes" depreciation. Thats insane and I think you have a rogue adjuster and supervisor.

Yes, you are right and you did good to inspect the "comparable cars". There are several ways to go with this from easy to hard, small claims court being the last and hardest. If you want to get Progressive to up their valuation by playing their game and talking "their talk", get the eBook at UClaim.com entitled Total Loss Auto for Claimants. It has a money back guarantee and an "information guarantee".

By the way, I have an 87 Fiero SE in mint condition in storage. I'd be going crazy for any offer under $4,000.