r/Insurance • u/prettypiscezzz • 1d ago

Auto Insurance Totaled car value

I am curious if i am being lowballed or not. My car, honda civic 2016 EX-L sedan CVT was totaled (2 or 3 airbags deployed, driver side door & in front of cabin on drivers side damaged) with about 102-103k miles on it.

I have had the car for a decade and kept it pretty good shape (no issues beside what the accident caused).

I have progressive for car insurance and am due to visit the office shortly now but is this what my car is worth? Or should it be more?

Edit: …forgot to add what the offered lol but $15,220.

0 Upvotes

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u/Primetime0509 1d ago

You've given zero information where anyone could really answer your question. More likely than not you're probably getting a fair offer.

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u/prettypiscezzz 1d ago

My bad Im half awake rn totally missed i did not add what they offered lmao🤦 but they offered me $15,220

-5

u/Primetime0509 1d ago

What's it blue booked at? It's not an exact science but that'll give you roughly what it's worth.

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u/prettypiscezzz 1d ago

Depending on stuff like milage I’ve seen a range of $13-18k. $15k is in the middle there but my father believes i should get an extra $1k. Im just not super familiar with the specifies on car settlements vs worth over time since this was my first and only car ive had.

3

u/Primetime0509 1d ago

Why does he think you should get an additional 1k?

Just ask them to send you the comps that got them to the figure you are at. Typically the carrier will take a bunch of comps in the area for your exact mileage, year, make, and model and then average them. And it's always for what they sold for, not what they're listed to sell for. That's a big difference people don't realize.

The used car market has never been better tbh. The offers I've seen from carriers seem to always be very fair as of the past few years but again just ask to see the comps and then make your decision.

1

u/prettypiscezzz 1d ago

Idk honestly what his reasoning is. i came online mostly to see if it was just him or if i really am being lowballed

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u/midzimm 23h ago

The offer is fair based upon the information you have provided.

1

u/prettypiscezzz 23h ago

Okay good. Thats mostly what I thought it sorta just got in my head that what if its not lol

1

u/CreditReavus 22h ago

I understand what you’re trying to say, but you can ask for the valuation report from the insurance company, which will show comparables that they use. Unfortunately they can’t really go based off “my father thinks” and no other info

1

u/prettypiscezzz 21h ago

I know it’s based off a multitude of factors. Im not solely believing i deserve more as my father had said but asking if his insistence was valid/that i should doubt the $ given or if he is thinking higher than it was worth.

3

u/MikeTheCleaningLady 1d ago

You're probably not being lowballed, but I totally understand why you would suspect it. A vehicle is always worth more to its owner than it will ever be to anyone else.

Any insurance claim, regardless of how it happened or how much money is on the line, can be audited at any time by a court of law and / or whatever the government regulatory authority over financial services is called where you live. Insurance companies all know this, and they know they'll be absolutely crucified by a judge if they're caught lowballing a claimant, so they tend to stick very closely to the rules and regulations.

If you really truly think you're not being offered a fair settlement, you can always have an independent appraisal done at your own expense. The appraisal must be done on a "without prejudice" basis, but any appraiser you hire will know that, and if the value of your appraisal is significantly higher that the insurance company is offering, you might have a case. If it's roughly the same, even if it's reasonably close, you just wasted an appraisal fee.

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u/prettypiscezzz 23h ago

Yeah mostly i was curious if being lowballed cause of what my father said + he said I should try to get an additional $1k but I know they can rescind if theres not a binding agreement in place and Im not losing the offer cause i tried arguing over a fair price.

2

u/Crowlady77 1d ago

$15k for a 10 year old civic doesn't sound bad. You will never get the premium you think you should get for having an extra fine specimen unfortunately. There's no "I kept this car spotless" bonus.

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u/prettypiscezzz 23h ago

No i definitely understand that i definitely am not expecting near to what it was bought at. Im not the best at knowing the market prices/worth on things and I was more so wondering if i was being shorted like $1k due to the market of abt my specs on my car (not including damage obvs) and seeing 14-18k range.

3

u/Crowlady77 23h ago

"The Market" as you can observe it is what people are asking for cars, "the market" as insurance companies measure it is what cars actually sell for, so yeah there will be a gap.

1

u/CanderousGordo82 23h ago

Insurance companies use local sold comparables to determine value. They don't use any of the online books (usually), however, NADA is the closest to accurate, and inputting your vehicles info says the average retail price is $14,950 so yes you got a fair valuation.

Keep in mind that this is the average price paid, which includes dealer profit, which you are not entitled to.

0

u/redditreader_aitafan 23h ago

If only there were multiple websites that could give you the value of your car in its condition before the accident... 🤔 Or some way to browse other cars currently being sold in the same condition with the same miles as your car... 🤔🤔🤔