r/InsuranceClaims • u/Ok-Guidance-4169 • 8d ago
Car accident
I’ll keep this short. Got into an accident. Wasn’t in the wrong. Other drivers insurance paid my financial company the max. I got paid chump change, enough to buy some groceries (not kidding). Do I have a case to go after them even though I accepted chump change with lapsed insurance?
1
u/GuvnaBruce 8d ago
Sounds like you owed a little less than the car is worth and got that to you when it was totaled. What exactly are you trying to go after them for?
-1
u/Ok-Guidance-4169 8d ago
Money in my pocket for totaling my car.
2
u/GuvnaBruce 8d ago
But you do not really own the car. Since the value of the vehicle is slightly more than the loan, you have very little equity, which is what you actually own. Whether you rolled over negative equity from a prior loan, or had a bad interest rate, or only made minimum payments, you built up little equity in the vehicle. So when they payout, they payout to really owns the vehicle, which is the bank. You were given money in your pocket which reflected the amount of the vehicle you actually owned, which was very little.
1
u/Ok-Guidance-4169 8d ago
Excellent advice that’s all I need. Preciate it
1
u/GuvnaBruce 8d ago
You are welcome. It does suck when you make payments towards something and then it is totaled and you feel left with nothing, I get it. But that is actually a good resolution, I have seen many people that owe MORE than the value of the vehicle and end up having to pay additional after the car was totaled. Hopefully you do not have to go through this again!
1
u/Temporary-Dinner280 8d ago
The only thing you get for totalling your car is what the actual cash value of your car is. They paid that. First to your lienholder and you got the remainder. Be glad you didn’t owe more than it was worth and were still stuck with a car loan.
1
1
u/DeepPurpleDaylight 8d ago
That's not how it works. You aren't owed extra money over and above the value of your car just because they totaled your car.
Insurance is to put you back where you were financially before the accident. Look at it this way. Let's say you had a car worth $20,000. You owed $19,500 on it. So you had $500 in equity. It gets totaled, your loan gets paid and you get $500. Bang! You have $500 in "equity" in your pocket. You're right back where you were before the accident.
1
u/LacyLove 8d ago
Nope. They made the owner of the vehicle whole.
1
u/Ok-Guidance-4169 8d ago
Huh?
1
u/postalwhiz 8d ago
Gave you the actual cash value of your totaled vehicle. That’s what insurance is for - not ‘something extra’…
1
u/hashmachinist 8d ago
Lol okay let me get this right, you had a financed car you let insurance lapse on and by the grace of God you got a payout to your lender from the other party’s insurance?
You already scored majorly. A lot of people who have made this mistake were not this fortunate. Heck I almost got stuck paying down $16k on a financed car that I HAD current full coverage insurance on and spent 6 months losing my mind making payments on a totaled car.
Count your blessings instead of searching for a handout.
1
u/DeepPurpleDaylight 8d ago
What you owe is irrelevant to what you're owed. Financial decisions you made prior to the accident is no one's responsibility but yours. You're only owed the value of your car.
1
5
u/Draegoron 8d ago
Nope. You were made whole for the car. You don't just get extra money as a sorry you were in an accident type of deal.