Insurance is totaling my truck.

[thepenguin99]

Originally Posted by RandyP

Any older vehicle that you've spent tons of money on to restore or refresh, you should insure for a stated cash value, just make sure you can back up your value with receipts. At least then you could turn it over to your carrier and get paid the proper amount, and let them sic their lawyer team on the company who is at fault.
I had an 86 GMC that I'd spent about 10k on, mostly engine and interior, this was back in the mid 90's. Truck was stolen out of my drive way, my insurance company tried to pay me $2500 as book value. Once I produced my stack of invoices they paid me $12,500 minus my $500 deductible. The stated value policy did not cost all that much more either, it just basically is a "book value be damned, here is my receipts" valued policy. Not all insurance carriers have it though.

Looked like a beautiful truck man, sorry for your loss. You can at least yank your wheels off of it and put on some rallies with junk tires. Same with the stereo and such. Adjusters tell us "as long as their is a radio in it, it doesn't matter". And they mean inside it, like it could be laying in the seat and it's still in there.

I think what you actually want is an agreed value policy. You produce pictures/receipts on the front end and you know exactly what you will get if the car/truck is ever totalled. Stated value you still have to prove to the insurance company that the car/truck is worth the stated value after the accident.

[LONGHAIR]

Originally Posted by thepenguin99

Stated value you still have to prove to the insurance company that the car/truck is worth the stated value after the accident.

That is not true at all. The only reason you ever have to repair a vehicle after a crash is if it is financed.....and then only if you don't choose to just pay the bank off. You still owe the balance of the financed amount and no longer have their collateral. So you have to pay them from the insurance check you receive.
The insurance is covering the cost of your loss, you do not have to put this money anywhere but into your pocket.

Stay on the other guy's insurance....and sue him personally if you cannot get satisfaction from them. An under-insured motorist's liability does not stop at the limit of his insurance. He still owes you. It might take a court order to get it, but that's the way it is....

[thepenguin99]

Originally Posted by LONGHAIR

That is not true at all. The only reason you ever have to repair a vehicle after a crash is if it is financed.....and then only if you don't choose to just pay the bank off. You still owe the balance of the financed amount and no longer have their collateral. So you have to pay them from the insurance check you receive.

I am thinking maybe you misread my post or I wasn't clear. I never said you have to repair the vehicle. Only that with a stated value policy, it is exactly that. What you state the value of your vehicle to be. You still have to prove to the insurance company that the vehicle is worth that amount when you have a claim. All of this goes out the window when dealing with someone elses insurance though.

[motornut]

i dealt with my company....sorry argued with my company.
Here it is some new "no fault"....
yet it took three days to have his company agree to be at fault.....i was sleeping
my company deals with me and then goes to him, ithink
but ya i sent lots of links via email to trucks like it
my rental is paid by him
start a list of mods big or small, time spent,time lost due to loss of truck
put a build book together info and pics

but free advice is a great start

[LONGHAIR]

Originally Posted by thepenguin99

You still have to prove to the insurance company that the vehicle is worth that amount when you have a claim.

The "proof" of value comes way before any claim can ever happen. The premium that you pay is based upon the "agreed value" when the policy goes into effect. You don't just get a policy based upon what you(the customer) say it is worth. It is, at best, a compromise between your opinion (receipts,etc) and what an appraiser says it's worth.
If you can't "agree" with them, you move on to another company. Either way the cost is based on the agreed value, so you have to reconcile that too. The more it's "worth" the more it costs to insure....and there is a point of "diminishing returns".
It is very possible to "over insure".

[thepenguin99]

Originally Posted by LONGHAIR

The "proof" of value comes way before any claim can ever happen. The premium that you pay is based upon the "agreed value" when the policy goes into effect. You don't just get a policy based upon what you(the customer) say it is worth. It is, at best, a compromise between your opinion (receipts,etc) and what an appraiser says it's worth.
If you can't "agree" with them, you move on to another company. Either way the cost is based on the agreed value, so you have to reconcile that too. The more it's "worth" the more it costs to insure....and there is a point of "diminishing returns".
It is very possible to "over insure".

That is the difference between a stated value policy and an agreed value policy. Stated value you can insure your car/truck for say 20k but unless you can prove the trucks value when you have an accident, they aren't going to pay out the full 20k. Agreed value everything is taken care of on the front end. You supply pictures/receipts and/or an appraisal when getting your policy. The insurance company and you agree on a price and when something happens to your car/truck that is exactly what you will get if it is a total. I actually went through this with my corvette a few years ago and the stated value policies struck me as a scam more than anything else because I still had to prove the value of my car if I had a claim that might total the car.

EDIT: After reading dammitmitchell's post below I thought it worth mentioning the specialty insurance companies like Hagerty were the only places that gave me the option of an agreed value policy.

[LONGHAIR]

Originally Posted by thepenguin99

I actually went through this with my corvette a few years ago and the stated value policies struck me as a scam more than anything else because I still had to prove the value of my car if I had a claim that might total the car.

That seems like a huge scam. They "allow" you to pay premiums based on a value that they are going to "debate" with you later? I would run from that as fast as I could.