My 01 XKR convertible was rearended in a 4 car pile up today.

I was stopped behind a line of traffic. A Buick Rendevoux hit a Chevy Malbu that submarined under a Honda CRV that slammed into my rear bumper, it stopped with me and there was enough room between me and the guy in front of me that I did not hit anyone.

My car needs a new rear bumper and the trunk is bent, but it is still drivable and I think it is fixable. My guess is it will be totaled by whatever insurance company gets hit with this bill.

The car has 119k miles and it is a daily driver, not a show car, but until this it had no dents, the paint is in good shape and overall I would say the car is in "good" shape.

How much should I ask for from the insurance company?

 

You can ask for less money, take a rebuilt title and keep the car. You will have to get it inspected as safe to get it back on the road. I am not sure what you will get, probably more than if you sold it prior to the crash, the ebay value for your car would be pretty low.

 

Sorry to hear this and I hope you are OK. After going getting hit a number of times by inattentive drivers, here are some lessons I've learned (as someone who is not a lawyer):

The bottom line here is that there is little reason for you to be nice or polite or reasonable about any of this situation. The other driver made an intentional choice not to pay attention that put your life at risk and now they are costing you even more of your precious time and focus dealing with their aftermath, with no compensation to you. AGAIN, this is not the time to be nice.

0. You are an amateur going up against pros in this game. If your Insurance Company (IC) isn't liable for the costs, then they are going to be your best friend. Otherwise, you have to treat your IC as an adversary.

1. If possible, keep your car in your possession.
Make their insurance adjuster come to you at your convenience to inspect the damage.

2. Demand that their IC gets you a comparable rental car with full insurance coverage.
The mounting price of this will pressure their IC to not drag their feet on the settlement process. But also see #7 below

3. My usual buy-back price of my totaled cars was ~10% of the payoff amount, but you will now have to title your vehicle as a salvage vehicle. My impression is that most ICs won't compensate you for full value if the vehicle gets totaled again in the future. But some do.

4. Don't expect a fair value assessment from their IC.
The IC for the kid who totaled my Audi convertible offered me a very low ball amount. I refused it and I had my IC (who wasn't having to pay for the wreck) to send out their adjuster, who correctly assessed it at 2x the first estimate. I took my IC's settlement and let the two ICs fight it out.

5. Don't expect a fair value assessment from their IC.
They will look for comparable vehicles in the region and pick the worse ones. Demand to see their list of comparables. I researched and contacted some of their comparables and discovered they were using parts cars and non-runners off craigslist to generate their numbers. Come up with your own list of comparable values.

6. Don't expect a fair value assessment from their IC.
The adjuster will generate a comparable number, then come out, inspect your vehicle. If the adjuster is from the IC that is paying, the adjuster will lower the assessed value substantially based on any flaws they can find on your vehicle, such as rock-chips, worn seat/carpet, oil on the ground, dents etc. Don't allow this as it double penalizes you because your vehicle's current As-Is condition is already reflected in the average price of their comparables, which are also "As-Is" and not perfect. Next time I get hit, I'm immediately getting my vehicle professionally detailed by a mobile service before any adjuster sees it.

7. Don't expect a fair value assessment from their IC.
Once their IC offers you their low-ball settlement offer, that starts the clock for you to lose the rental car in a day or so, even if the offer is ridiculously unrealistically low. No matter how nice they seem, the other persons IC and their inspectors have your worst interests at heart.

8. You will take an unfair loss on this.
You won't be compensated for your lost time or the fact that you are now being forced to unwillingly sell your vehicle that you had no intention of selling (if it is totaled out). Both of these have a real value that you won't be able to recover from the other driver's IC.

9. If your vehicle is not totaled and is rebuilt, research getting compensated for "diminished value" due to the accident and rebuild now showing up on its carfax history.

Good luck with this and let us know how this turns out.

 

If this was my car, I'd 1. Get at least 3 estimates with at least one of them from a shop the insurance company of the guy who hit you recommends. 2 See if his insurer will fix your car or wants to total it. 3 If they will fix it at a shop you're comfortable with, do it. 4. If they want to total it, you'll have to decide if your OK with that or if not, see if they'll give you the amount they value the car at and decide if you are wiling to pay the difference to get it fixed. 5. Or lastly, see if your insurance company will get involved and work with the other company or get a lawyer.

Its always best to avoid getting a totaled or rebuilt title because it will lower the value of your car by a lot.

 

I am guessing you don't have 'collectors' insurance?
I have all my XK convertibles insured with Hagerty and they offer DECLARED/AGREED UPON VALUE coverage.
If my cars are a 'total loss' they will pay me about $15,000 each.
Don't know about repair costs for accidental damage below total loss?(don't plan on wrecking car)

 

I don't have collectors insurance. I don't even have collision on that car as it is an old daily driver. So it is entirely on the liability insurance of one of the 4 people in the pile up.

I'm not sure who to really file a claim with, the guy who hit me or the guy 2 cars behind him that started the whole thing.

 

you don't need collision, the other party should be paying!

 

Sue everyone involved and the INS COs will fight it out!

 

Turn it over to your insurance company and let them sort it out.

 

>Turn it over to your insurance company and let them sort it out.
>>I don't even have collision on that car as it is an old daily driver.

Since you don't carry collision coverage on that car, your IC has no reason to do anything for you. Unfortunately, you might be on your own here. Still, you should definitely check with your IC to see if they'll help you. And maybe the other ICs will do the right thing, but don't count on it. In any case, you have some reading to do: https://www.google.com/search?q=assi...tion+collision

While we used to do what you do and not carry collision coverage on our older vehicles, this is exactly why we switched from zero to minimal collision on all our low-value cars. Even that minimal collision activates our IC's claims department to help us make the other parties pay fully if we are hit and it's not our fault.

Again, we're glad you weren't hurt and the fact that you left enough distance in front of you that you didn't hit the vehicle in front of you speaks well for your driving skills.

 

I called a law firm that extensively advertises locally. They listened to my story and when I told them I wasn't injured they ended the discussion and said they would assign it to someone to call me back, and then never did.

 

I'm not a lawyer, but at least here in Texas, you file on the insurance of the car that actually made contact with your car. They file on the car behind them, and so on and so forth. The insurance companies then negotiate among themselves to come up with an equitable distribution of fault. Somewhere in there is the notion that had any of those cars actually stopped with adequate distance to the car in front of them, that's where the chain reaction would have ended. Everyone except you, as the last domino, who did allow adequate distance (good job BTW), shares somewhat in the blame. It may be 90% the last guy and 5% each for the other two, but they'll figure that out. You'll also find that there is a limit as to how long insurance will pay for a rental car. They can't be made to pay for rental indefinitely just because you can't reach agreement on the settlement value. And if you don't have coverage for rental car yourself, it may be dependent upon the settlement agreement anyway.

I too am just carrying liability on my two Jaguar sedans because they're worth so little and they've both been superceded by a newer daily driver. I haven't put them on my classic car policy because of the driving restrictions. I still keep them in the rotation along with my pickup truck, using them strategically (depending which has got gas in it vs how much time I have to stop for gas or depending on the weather and what's just been washed vs. needs washed anyway or if four doors are necessary) but neither one are going to a car show anytime soon. Overall, I don't drive them that much so the risk is minimized. I see what comps sell for on BaT and figure whether I sold them at auction or they get hit and totalled, they are Jaguars after all and so I'm going to take a bath either way.

 

I got an estimate from a local body shop. $5200 to repair

I've called the Insurance company for the guy at fault have an adjuster assigned, but the adjuster does not call me back. I left no fewer than 10 messages yesterda and they never returned my call.

I am at a loss on what to do if they won't talk to me.

 

What insurance companies are involved? Is there a police report?

I was rear ended a couple of weeks ago. One slight difference in my case is that I have collision coverage on my car. My insurer is State Farm, the insurer of the person who hit me is Allstate. State Farm gave me the option of filing the claim through them or I could go directly to Allstate. The difference is that State Farm would get the car fixed and then go after Allstate to recover costs, which might mean a future rate increase (not stated, but I got that vibe). Being retired and looking for a challenge, I went through Allstate. It has been relatively easy. Allstate has an online estimating process that mostly works. I sent some prescribed photos of the car, some of the damaged areas in specific orientations, and then I got to submit up to 8 more to show more detail, all through a website available on a smartphone or tablet.. The estimator spits out some paper and I get to take the car to my shop of choice, since there were no Allstate aligned body shops nearby (also why the online process instead of a live adjuster). Allstate will cut a check for the estimate amount to me and I pay the body shop. If more damage is found, the shop works with Allstate to cover the difference. I haven't gotten that far yet, so this may go pear shaped in a few months. A key component of this is that I remembered to get a photo of the insurance information from the other driver. I had the policy number, name, address, car VIN and plate number. That made it super easy to file the claim. There was also a phone interview to get my side of the story. If you have this information for all of the cars involved, I say go for it - file a claim against all of them. Worst they can do is say no. I would also approach your agent to see if they can do this for you as a good will gesture even though you don't have collision. It's pretty easy to change insurance companies these days and they know that. You presumably have other assets insured with them, that is your leverage.

 

Tennessee Farm Bureau Insurance is the guy who caused the whole thing. They finally assigned someone and he said it seems straightforward based on the police report and he just has to call everyone and talk to them before they will accept liability.

He did say they will probably total it, which is frustrating and means I have to figure out what the value is. The numbers vary so widely and I don't know what my options are once they make me an offer (which will almost certainly be a low ball offer).

In Alabama if the damage is 75% of the value they have to total it and if it gets rebuilt it needs to have a safety inspection and get a rebuilt title. With the $5200 estimate it would have to come in over $6900 for them not to total it.

 

Sorry - I'm a little late to the party.
You need to do three things (at least):
1) Make sure the estimate included OEM parts only. None of the aftermarket crap. If new OEM parts are not available, good used *sheetmetal* parts from a DRY PART OF THE COUNTRY could be accepted.
2) Search & document listings for cars of like kind & condition, & what they're selling (or sold) for.
3) You should get an additional payment for Diminished Value. A car that has been wrecked is not worth as much as one that has not. It's usually around 15% of the value.
Remember the law says they have to MAKE YOU WHOLE. That includes all expenses occurred including time from work or anything else. In the end, it's up to you to accept or deny any offer or sue them. Remind them if you have to sue, they will have to pay more to cover those expenses including your lawyer.

 

Sorry for the damage to your baby...

There are enough cars available now, or have sold recently on places like Bring A Trailer, that you should be able to find a comparable car (paint, interior, repairs) that you should be able to establish a good value for your car, probably with multiple vehicles. Get these before you have to negotiate with the insurance company that wants to determine the value of your car, either for payout or repair value.

Bill

 

Well after a month and a half of haggling (and not returning my calls) they finally agreed to fix it (and not total it). We've had bad weather here, but if the body shop is open tomorrow I am going to go make an appointment.

 

I got the estimate from the body shop before the insurance company authorized me to. The shop did not initially want to even give me an estimate without the ok from the insurance company. This is 3 weeks after the accident mind you. I told them I was going to end up suing them anyway so just do it like you were just dealing with me. When the insurance company finally got around to calling the body shop I think he told them I said I was going to end up suing.

 

Good news your getting her fixed.