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It is not illegal or unethical to take the insurance payout and do as you please with the car. Most insurance companies want to make checks out to you and the body shop, buy it's not a requirement if you ask. Now, if there's a loan or lien on it, that can be a different story because you don't own it outright.
 
I did that with my '87 Camaro after an accident. Bought it back from the insurance company, used the payout to get it repaired, including a fiberglass hood (cheaper than a factory replacement IROC hood).
 
It's a 2008, so not very highly valued. Of course it's fixable, as long as the frame rail didn't get bent in. One could haggle with insurance to buy it back, still get some money and repair it. At least it was parked and no one was in it, so there wasn't other damage from people opening doors. When my wife's van was hit/totalled, a police officer opened the passenger door because of the smoke from the airbags going off. That damaged the front fender and door, which would have been just fine if it was left alone. That's what helped to total the van. Damn shame. Simply opening a window would have sufficed - or open the sliding door. The van took a glancing front end hit that ripped off the bumper cover and grille, but didn't really damage the frame. I can't remember, but I think the radiator was even spared. It was just sheetmetal parts and bumper/cover. We had just finished paying it off and had gotten the title in the mail that day. I think we only lost a few hundred $ from what we paid for the van.

Insurance doesn't care how much parts are. They just auction the vehicles off and collect the money. It's the dismantlers that make the money on parts, depending on what the damage was and what is still good/how much parts value is there.
 
Up here in Canada most insurers sell a waiver of depreciation endorsement. The time ranges from 36 months to 60 months from when you take delivery of the vehicle new...and if it's totalled you get back what you paid for the vehicle. The endorsement is not expensive, usually bundled in with replacement rental car coverage. If you don't have the endorsement I highly recommend you look into the waiver. The cost will likely not be more than $35 or so.
 
Yeah, this can be an issue with rare cars and why I maintain a "declared value" rider on my Acura. Yes, third generation Acura TLs are a dime a dozen, assuming an automatic transmission, however, there was only something like 4.3% of these cars made with manual transmissions, and not surprisingly, they command a premium on the used car market. Lots of folks on the Acura forum have crashed their 6MT cars and have them totaled by the insurance company, only to find out the settlement is only half to three quarters what it would cost to buy a comparable car.
I hope you have "agreed value" overage otherwise you might not get what you expect. Just a warning to get it writing what coverage you really have and understand exactly what you will get if your car is totaled. Words mean a lot in insurance coverage.
 
Our 1996 Voyager was hit harder on the side and further back by a guy who ran a red light in 2000, spinning the van around 90 deg. The left strut was bent, fender and hood crunched, and transmission case cracked. I fixed it all and still driving in 130K miles later. GEICO only paid $2500 and only after we filed a lawsuit. Initially, they said both drivers (both insured by GEICO) were 50% at fault, so under GA law they didn't have to pay either (slimy lizard). It looks like your hood might not even be dented, nor the headlamp cracked. Actually a fairly minor hit that just cracked the plastic bumper and bent the thin sheet-metal. Since in front of the wheels, nothing in the suspension or main frame was harmed. You might need to bend the front bumper back. I wedged my Voyager in my concrete garage and used a Chinese Porta-power for that. A junkyard bumper cover w/ grill might cost $150 and $50 for a fender. I bought a new fender for $70 and painted it myself. These vans are so common, you can even find a junked one with the same paint code (check VIN online). I'd take the insurance payment, keep it, and fix myself.
 
I hope you have "agreed value" overage otherwise you might not get what you expect. Just a warning to get it writing what coverage you really have and understand exactly what you will get if your car is totaled. Words mean a lot in insurance coverage.
What part of my post didn't you understand? As I wrote earlier, I have what is called a "declared value" rider which I need to update every year at renewal.
 
What part of my post didn't you understand? As I wrote earlier, I have what is called a "declared value" rider which I need to update every year at renewal.
I am sorry I brought it up. I have never heard of "declared value". In the collector car world of insurance I am familiar with "agreed value" guarantees if a car is totaled and I have agreed value of $40000 I get a check for $40000, no if's and's or butt's. Because insurance companies don't like to pay you anything the word "declared" value means that's what you say its worth but has the insurance company "agreed" to pay you that amount without deducting for "depreciation" or what ever words they want to use? I am just trying to warn you about the way insurance companies work. Note, companies such as Grundy and Haggerty sell "agreed value" policies among others. If you don't want to make sure of what you have I don't care but I know folks have been screwed by their insurance companies because they didn't have the "correctly " worded policy.

What is the difference between agreed value and stated amount?
A stated value policy does not guarantee what you will receive. An adjuster will review comparable models in the market to determine a fair value and this could be less than what you think your vehicle is worth. An agreed value policy starts both insurer and insured on the same page.
 
Discussion starter · #31 ·
I am sorry I brought it up. I have never heard of "declared value". In the collector car world of insurance I am familiar with "agreed value" guarantees if a car is totaled and I have agreed value of $40000 I get a check for $40000, no if's and's or butt's. Because insurance companies don't like to pay you anything the word "declared" value means that's what you say its worth but has the insurance company "agreed" to pay you that amount without deducting for "depreciation" or what ever words they want to use? I am just trying to warn you about the way insurance companies work. Note, companies such as Grundy and Haggerty sell "agreed value" policies among others. If you don't want to make sure of what you have I don't care but I know folks have been screwed by their insurance companies because they didn't have the "correctly " worded policy.

What is the difference between agreed value and stated amount?
A stated value policy does not guarantee what you will receive. An adjuster will review comparable models in the market to determine a fair value and this could be less than what you think your vehicle is worth. An agreed value policy starts both insurer and insured on the same page.
Ummm hummm learn something new everyday. Good information . I wished I'd known that before my beloved 00 Lincoln Towncar burned up in a warehouse fire a year ago.

The car was there for safe keeping and was destroyed at their hand . Got royally screwed by the insurance company.
 
I am sorry I brought it up. I have never heard of "declared value". In the collector car world of insurance I am familiar with "agreed value" guarantees if a car is totaled and I have agreed value of $40000 I get a check for $40000, no if's and's or butt's. Because insurance companies don't like to pay you anything the word "declared" value means that's what you say its worth but has the insurance company "agreed" to pay you that amount without deducting for "depreciation" or what ever words they want to use? I am just trying to warn you about the way insurance companies work. Note, companies such as Grundy and Haggerty sell "agreed value" policies among others. If you don't want to make sure of what you have I don't care but I know folks have been screwed by their insurance companies because they didn't have the "correctly " worded policy.

What is the difference between agreed value and stated amount?
A stated value policy does not guarantee what you will receive. An adjuster will review comparable models in the market to determine a fair value and this could be less than what you think your vehicle is worth. An agreed value policy starts both insurer and insured on the same page.
Declared Value, Agreed Value, different insurance companies, different terms for the same thing.
 
Declared Value, Agreed Value, different insurance companies, different terms for the same thing.
No, is not the same thing.

Some insurance companies specialize on collector's vehicles (antique vehicle)

You tell them the amount of money you think your vehicle is worth, and the expected miles you think is going to be drive per year. If insurer agrees, then you pay and your vehicle gets insured.

If your vehicle is totaled, you get the exact amount of money your vehicle was insured for, as long as mileage was not greatly exceeded.

This kind of insurance is usually very inexpensive, compared to regular insurance.

I wouldn't argue with 57tim, seems like he is in the collector's business.

At least in Texas, antique vehicle registration is very cheap, and you don't need to comply with annual vehicle inspection either.
 
No, is not the same thing.

Some insurance companies specialize on collector's vehicles (antique vehicle)

You tell them the amount of money you think your vehicle is worth, and the expected miles you think is going to be drive per year. If insurer agrees, then you pay and your vehicle gets insured.

If your vehicle is totaled, you get the exact amount of money your vehicle was insured for, as long as mileage was not greatly exceeded.

This kind of insurance is usually very inexpensive, compared to regular insurance.

I wouldn't argue with 57tim, seems like he is in the collector's business.

At least in Texas, antique vehicle registration is very cheap, and you don't need to comply with annual vehicle inspection either.
I beg to differ, in talking with my insurance company, they clearly stated the "Declared Value" rider I have on my car will pay the exact value of the car if it is totaled, regardless of market value (which in the case of my car is based upon the "dime a dozen" automatic versions littering the streets). While my car is quite rare, it in no way qualified as an "antique vehicle", nor does it see limited miles every year, it is my daily driver (which prior to COVID-19 was being driven approximately 20,000 miles per year). Each year at renewal we renegotiate what the declared value is, and if I total the car at anytime in that year, the declared value is what I'm paid.
 
I beg to differ, in talking with my insurance company, they clearly stated the "Declared Value" rider I have on my car will pay the exact value of the car if it is totaled, regardless of market value (which in the case of my car is based upon the "dime a dozen" automatic versions littering the streets). While my car is quite rare, it in no way qualified as an "antique vehicle", nor does it see limited miles every year, it is my daily driver (which prior to COVID-19 was being driven approximately 20,000 miles per year). Each year at renewal we renegotiate what the declared value is, and if I total the car at anytime in that year, the declared value is what I'm paid.
I pay $130.00 USD every six months for a agreed value of $25,000.00 USD. and no deductible.

Is that close of what you pay?

Probably not!

60291
 
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