Anybody w/insurance claims experience??

[SCOTI]

State Farm has offered me 1000$ over the cost of estimated repairs to 'total' my beater. At first this seems like a good deal but it leaves me wondering if there will be some sort of stigma attached to the vehicle vin that would hinder future sales/insurance claims down the road. The title would stay in my name so it wouldn't actually be a salvage title but I'm in the dark concerning regulations & rules in a situation like this. I've told them I would just rather get the cost of damages & fix it but they're really resisting. My concerns are:
#1 If I take the check & repair the truck, then someone else from State Farm plows into me again will they(S.F.) pay for the damages or only pay the salvage 'buy-back' price since technically they already paid for the truck once?
#2 If I decide to buy something else in the future & sell the truck would/could there be legal concerns since they 'totaled' the truck?
Anyone have a similar incident to share that could shed some light on this or maybe we have someone out there that's in the insurance industry that could answer?? Anything reguarding this would be appreciated.

[busterwivell]

If you repair it and have a problem again, they can't NOT pay you again. You've sustained additional damage. You repaired the first damage.
If it had not been totalled, and they paid a claim, and it happened again, they can't deduct the amount of the first check from your new settlement.

[superchevy]

You could get into a situation of "diminished value", ie, if you have 2 identical vehicles except one was previously totaled and repaired and the other has never been damaged, the repaired vehicle would be worth a lesser amount to a knowledgeable buyer - even if the totaled/repaired vehicle was put back to "as new" specs.
You wouldn't pay as much for the totaled/repaired one, would you?
Thus, your beater will have a lesser value in the eyes of any future claims.
Some attorneys are suing insurance companies for the diminished value of their clients vehicles as a result of serious collision damage - damage that must be revealed to potential buyers at time of sale - reducing the amount the seller will receive for the vehicle as few people want to buy a seriously damaged or totaled vehicle no matter how well it was repaired.
SC

[Rhino]

the question on paying a claim in the future would not depend on weither or not it was total in the past.....at the time the truck was totaled your old policy on the truck ends...so the new problem is will they give you another policy on a totaled truck.....in most cases they will especially once you repair the damage but may make you have a stated value policy(if you didn't already) .....once your new policy is written they will pay on what ever damage occurs in the future except for parts that you didn't replace from the first wreck........

[jason]

I bought my 72 from a guy whose son had totaled the truck. The guy bought the truck back from the insurance company at the salvage value. I fixed it and had no problems getting insurance and license for it. I had state farm for a short time and they said that it does not matter if it had been totaled before. They told me as long as it passes the state inspection, they can insure it.

[SCOTI]

Thanks guys for the good info. State Farm is the insurance co. of the individual that hit me so my insurance doesn't even know about any damages. I think the way SC does: once it's totaled there will be diminished value attached to the vin. One ins. rep I spoke with(a friend of a co-worker) suggested taking the check, repairing the damaged sheetmetal/cosmetics(there is no frame/structural damage), then take to a legit appraiser for a completed appraisal w/pics showing before/after condition. It just doesn't seem logical to me to call it totaled just because of sheetmetal damage that is easily repaired. I guess I'll speak w/the appraiser & go from there 'cause a 1000$ extra will definitely help w/the repairs.

[bobs409]

I can't say why they want to do this but I would not let them total it. (dont' they usually take the vehicle too!???)

Don't let any insurance company try to wiggle around because you have an old car/truck. They have to return that vehicle to the condition it was in or better no matter what year it is. To them, all you have is an old truck. We know it's more than that though.

[Maximum Overdrive]

There is no need to show the apprasier befoe pictures. He is only to appraise the value of the truck as it sits in front of him. The term totaled only means that to fix the vehicle will cost more then the vehicle is worth on the market. I really dont understand why they would give you a 1000 more then what it would cost to fix your vehicle as this would mean that the vehicle is not totaled and they cannot just label it as such. It sounds like they are trying to pull a sneaky one with in regard to the
"diminished value" thing. By them totaling it they never have to pay you a diminished value of the vehicle. Insurance companies NEVER do anything for anyone except themselves.

[tom hand]

Sometimes insurance companys do weird things. A guy I worked with had his Harley wrecked by a shop that was working on it. They totaled it, wrote him a check,and he bought it back from them for $250, and fixed it for $500 and sold it for $14000.