The Insurance Company Says My Car Is A Total Loss–What Now?

Was Your car Totaled After an Accident? Call Our Car Accident Lawyers Today

When you are involved in an auto accident, you are hoping for two things. First, you hope you and anyone else involved in the accident will not be seriously injured. Second, you hope your car will not sustain major damage. Unfortunately, many accidents result in cars being considered a total loss by insurance companies. However, just because this is the determination of the insurance company does not mean you won’t have recourse if you disagree with the company. Should you have a disagreement with the insurance company over this topic, turn to a Los Angeles personal injury attorney for advice and guidance.

Which Insurer Pays for the Damage?

Once you begin looking into the details of your car accident insurance to find out who will pay for your car’s damages, it can get confusing. Ultimately, this comes down to if the accident occurred in a fault or no-fault state, and what type of insurance coverage will be used to pay for the damages. If no-fault insurance is used, an insurer will pay for damages no matter who was at fault for the accident. However, in a fault state, an insurer will only pay based on negligence, meaning someone will have been determined to be at fault for the accident. Since insurers will use many tricks to find ways to not pay compensation in car accidents, hire a car accident settlement lawyer who has significant experience dealing with insurance companies.

Collision Coverage

Though expensive, collision coverage can prove to be important in these situations. Since it covers all damages sustained by your vehicle regardless of who caused the accident, making a claim with your own insurer becomes much easier than it may have been otherwise. However, that does not mean your insurance company will not have questions or even balk at paying damages for one reason or another. If a conflict arises, do not try to handle it on your own. Instead, hire a car wreck attorney Los Angeles residents rely on from Grey Law to make your insurance company do the right thing.

The Other Driver’s Insurance

Needless to say, the other driver’s insurance company will be less than anxious to pay out compensation in these cases. If the accident happened in a non no-fault state, the other driver’s insurer will only pay if it is proven the other driver caused the accident. Because of this, expect the other driver and their insurance company to do all they can to show the accident was your fault. From disputing information in a police report to using expert witnesses of their own to spin the details of the accident to fit a more favorable scenario for themselves, you may face an avalanche of accusations. To ensure your legal rights are always protected in these matters, consult with a drivers’ compensation attorney from Grey Law.

What Insurers Will Pay

Even if the other driver was completely at fault for the accident, this does not necessarily mean you will be fully compensated for damages your vehicle sustained. Since insurers will only pay damages up to the limit of a policy, you may still come up thousands of dollars short of what you need. For example, if your car has $25,000 worth of damages but the other driver only has a $10,000 policy for property damage coverage, you’ll have a gap of $15,000. To get this, you’ll only be able to do so if you have collision coverage. Since negotiations will likely be needed to rectify these situations, always discuss your situation in detail with an experienced auto accident lawyer in Los Angeles at Grey Law.

A Total Loss

If the insurer decides your car is a total loss, you should definitely consult quickly with a Los Angeles car crash compensation lawyer. To begin with, the insurer will only be required to pay you fair market value as determined on the day the accident took place. Along with this, the insurer has the legal right to take your car and sell it to recoup any losses it may suffer. Though you can attempt to convince the insurer to let you keep the car, this rarely works. Since you will need a highly-experienced car accident attorney to help with this, turn immediately to Grey Law.

Gather Evidence of Your Car’s Condition

When an insurance company decides a car is a total loss, it will expect you to simply give up and let them take possession of the vehicle. However, you can fight back and even win your case. To do so, you should begin by gathering as much evidence about your car showing it is in fact not a total loss. This can be done by having photos of the car not only in its current condition, but also photos of it prior to the accident. In addition, don’t hesitate to hire a professional appraiser to examine your car and your evidence to come up with an opinion as to your car’s value. In most cases, this will differ greatly from the value given you by the insurance company, since the insurer will likely have valued your car at much less than it is actually worth. Once you have this information, speak to a wreck lawyer Los Angeles trusts at Grey Law to determine what to do next.

Negotiate or Sue?

When meeting with an injury attorney at Grey Law, the main topic of conversation will be whether you should try to negotiate with an insurance company or file a lawsuit regarding the damages sustained by your car. While an insurance company may initially act as if it has no intention of negotiating, this can change once it realizes you have hired a knowledgeable auto accident attorney in Los Angeles who has a record of success in winning these types of negotiations.

Whether you are ultimately successful with negotiations or do file a lawsuit to recover compensation for your car’s damage, schedule a consultation today with a Los Angeles accident injury lawyer from Grey Law to discuss your case.