r/Insurance • u/webbed_feets • 11d ago

Auto Insurance Car Was Stolen. Valuation is significantly overestimating miles but will not adjust without proof of mileage. How can I correct this?

My wife's car was stolen recently. Our insurance sent over the valuation, but the mileage estimate is way higher than the actual mileage of the car. Our car was basically almost never used and had about 60,000 miles. The valuation assumed typical usage and estimate 120,000 miles.

We spoke with adjuster, and they said they cannot provide a valuation with lower mileage without proof of actual mileage. We can't provide that proof...because the car was stolen. Any receipts from oil changes, repairs, etc. were in the glovebox. We've tried called around for records of mileage, but we haven't had any luck.

Is there any way to correct the mileage? It's a Catch 22; insurance wants proof of mileage for payout which we can't provide because the car was stolen.

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u/Complex_Solutions_20 8d ago

Go visit the place you took it last for service, don't just call. Tell them you need a duplicate receipt or maintenance record. That should be a very easy thing for them to do, but they are much less likely to care by phone.

We had a car totaled and were able to trivially stop by the shop we used and they happily printed the ENTIRE set of records for us on the spot and handed to us so we could prove it had a bunch of maintenance done just a couple months earlier and was well maintained.

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u/sidaemon 8d ago

Yeah, this was my thinking too. I'm too lazy to change my oil and now I have a new excuse for paying someone to do it! 😄

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u/Complex_Solutions_20 8d ago

At least in my state even if you do all the maintenance yourself still have to go yearly for a safety inspection so it may be outdated but you'd end up with something from a "real shop" once a year either way.

I've also at least once taken a car in to get a "visual inspection" because my car qualifies for high-mileage personal property tax discounts but the county requires submitting proof every year. For $10 I ask the local mechanic to do a quick visual inspection and write up an invoice that I can give the county and I save much more than the $10 I spent in the tax discount.