Expert: Claims Guy - 2/7/2011

Question
I financed a 1982 VW diesel pickup truck for a friend of mine. The vehicle was shipped from out of state and it took over a year to find parts (including a another engine) to get the truck running right and to pass Virginia state inspection. He's got over $7,000 invested in the truck. After finally getting the truck on the road (for less than 30 days), he was hit in the rear. The insurance company wants to total the truck and give him what he paid for it but not the additional cost to get the truck on the road. He would rather get the truck fixed but the insurance company won't pay to have it fixed.
I found your web site by searcing for hard to find vehicle damage but didn't see anything applicable.
Suggestions?

Answer
If this is a normal insurance policy, then they owe the lesser of the repair cost of the actual cash value (acv).  The actual cash value is defined as the amount he could get if he sold the vehicle on the open market before it was damaged.  It may be that this vehicle would not be appealing to very many people, and if that is the case, the acv will not be very high.

They have no obligation to pay for parts or labor to get it on the road.

If you think the acv exceeds 7k, then you'll need to find a way to prove this.  Check NADA, blue book, and edmunds to see if they can value it.  Check Cars.com.  Check local used car dealers and ask for opinions on value.  Keep a record of any quotes you get, and then show this information to the insurer if it helps your case.

If you think they are being unfair, then you can complain to the state insurance department.  You could also sue the at fault driver in small claims court, anbd the insurer will defend him.

In the future, for this type of vehicle, you may want to get a special "classic vehicle" policy that will pay a specified amount in the event of loss.