1simpleman
New member
Good Morning, I'm looking for suggestions on how to communicate with a car insurance claim advisor. Would like to put my request into their language to try and ensure approval.
Background:
My daughter was in a very low speed parking lot fender bender that was deemed 50/50 liability. We only carry liability insurance on this particular car as book value is around 5K only.
Initial estimate on our repair was 2K which still seemed high but I was ok with. Other drivers insurance agreed to the estimate and would pay 50%. While in the shop the quote has now increased to 4K but we don't think all the repairs are necessary. Now insurance wants to call the vehicle a total loss. We could take the payout and buy the car back at salvage value but it would have a salvage title on it that we would like to avoid.
What is the best way to suggest to the insurance company that we would take a reduced payout and fix the car ourselves if we can avoid the salvage designation? I understand their determination is purely based on book value. We know the mechanical reliability and history of the vehicle and it has more value to us. We have also since talked to a couple of other body shops and believe we can get all the repairs done for between 1000-1500.
Background:
My daughter was in a very low speed parking lot fender bender that was deemed 50/50 liability. We only carry liability insurance on this particular car as book value is around 5K only.
Initial estimate on our repair was 2K which still seemed high but I was ok with. Other drivers insurance agreed to the estimate and would pay 50%. While in the shop the quote has now increased to 4K but we don't think all the repairs are necessary. Now insurance wants to call the vehicle a total loss. We could take the payout and buy the car back at salvage value but it would have a salvage title on it that we would like to avoid.
What is the best way to suggest to the insurance company that we would take a reduced payout and fix the car ourselves if we can avoid the salvage designation? I understand their determination is purely based on book value. We know the mechanical reliability and history of the vehicle and it has more value to us. We have also since talked to a couple of other body shops and believe we can get all the repairs done for between 1000-1500.