Save All Receipts and Document, Document, Document

[1990new]

Sorry, I know this post is a little long but the information may help another member someday.

Be Prepared! It could happen to you.
It only takes a few minutes to file that piece of paper and enter a note in your Festiva Log, and that information is worth money.

Today after two weeks and two days, I finally concluded negotiations with the at fault party's insurance company for a damage claim settlement on my 1992 GL.

In the end, they agreed to pay me the amount that I had set as my goal and also paid for a rental for 3 weeks.

If you have saved all your receipts and keep detail notes about your major upgrades and detailed maintenance records including dates and mileage, and you have the time and patience required to negotiate with the claims representative, you increase you odds of getting a reasonable damage settlement on your Festiva.

You may not be able to prevent a total loss declaration, but with the proper ammunition, you can persuade them to up the true market value. Out of the proceeds, I'm paying the insurance company $512 salvage value to keep my Festiva and with the balance I will be able to get the Festiva back to the condition it was in before the accident, and maybe do an upgrade or two.

You goal in negotiations is to prove that you could sell your car for the amount that you are claiming it is worth, instead of the NADA or Blue Book (or whatever source the insco used.) You do this by supplying them with documents (paper is your friend.). They are sitting in front of a computer terminal using an application which has places for them to enter documentation to support a higher value. Ask them question about what they need from you.
Also be sure to stress the the fact that the Festiva is unique, is getting harder and harder to find and therefore increasing in value as it ages (if well maintained). Thanks to a forum member for giving me this tip. I faxed them the 2010 Registered Festivas table from this forum to document the fact that the 92 GL was one of the rare ones (along with over 30 pages of documentation).

Another key point, they will begin by offering you the lowest amount they think they can get away with (they work for the insurance company and it's their job to do this, so keep you wits, remain calm and just present the facts.), so in your initial claim appeal letter, begin by claiming an amount that is higher than the amount you will be willing to settle for. Remember, the insurance rep is just another hard working mom or dad who is trying to keep their job and feed their family. They have a tough job and they don't have anything personal against you (unless you give them a reason to). They cannot enter the information into the boxes which will support the additional value unless you give it to them. If they intentionally tell you something that they know is a lie, they will be putting the company at risk and they will be in great danger of losing their job. They will not voluntarily give you information that could be favorable to you as the claimant, so you need to be prepared to ask them for it. Example: Has "insco" ever agreed to increase the true marked value of a claimant's auto based on the limited availability of the same make and model?

Factors in my favor: Clear and undisputed fault was established at the scene of the accident, my Festiva was in top shape, and I had maintained a file of receipts, documented upgrades and have kept detail records of every maintenance event and upgrade (in including the dates of the wax jobs.)

Disclaimer:
I am not a lawyer and I am not pretending to give legal advise here.
I am only speaking from my own personal experience.
This same strategy may not work for everyone, but it worked for me.


Now I begin my parts roundup.

[Team Lightning]

Congratulations!!

[1990new]

Congratulations!!

Thanks...
Crap..I proof read read this post multiple times and ended up messing up the first word.
Should be "Save All receipts and Document, Document, Document" Is there a way to edit the thread title?

[rbrown]

LOL. I didn't even see the error until you pointed it out. I think most of us look right past something like that.

[scitzz]

Nice. I have only recently began to keep any thing resembling a record of things I have done, but it has all been post B6 swap. I am thinking I need to do this more.

I DARE an insurance company rep to tell me I can not keep my car.

[Flyin4stroke]

Saver All Receipts and Document, Document, Document

How can they tell me how much my time is worth? I don't have receipts and I use all used parts that are mostly hand me downs, this usually leaves no receipts. You would have to come get the title from me.... Not gonna happen. I drive my car less because no coverage could replace it.

[1990new]

How can they tell me how much my time is worth? I don't have receipts and I use all used parts that are mostly hand me downs, this usually leaves no receipts. You would have to come get the title from me.... Not gonna happen. I drive my car less because no coverage could replace it.

A further explaination.

The insurance negotiation I am referring to here is between you and the insurance company of the person who was at fault in the accident.
There is not much chance that they will not declare a Festiva a total loss even in a minor accident. Probably the only way to prevent this
it to have your own special collision coverage with you own company which would include a clause declaring higher than true market value, which of course they would require an inspection of your car and you would pay a proportionately higher premium. Because you have this special coverage
with you own company they will have the leverage to force the insurance company of the at fault party to pay that amount so they would not lose money. Any way you look at it, auto insurance companies are in business to make as much money as they can and most state laws are stacked against the insured. To see the reason why they have so much leverage, you might do a survey of you state legislature to see how many of it members real jobs are in the insurance business.

Regarding parts, repairs, maintenance, upgrades and additions.
If you paid nothing for the part you cannot use it to show added value (something broke and you fixed it with a free part = no added value). In any case they will not add to the value for anything considered routine maintenance and repair. However if you have receipts for maintenance items and you have a log showing the dates and mileage. You can use these to support the fact that you have consistently performed the recommended maintenance of the car while you have owned it so they will at least be able to note the fact that the car has been well maintained.
They will add value for major repairs, and things you do to the car to increase the true market value such as:
a recent new paint job, a new engine, new tires with the last 3 thousand miles or 6 months. I didn't add any amount for my labor for these things but you have nothing to lose if you add it to the claim, they might accept it.

The bottom line is, you are trying to make the case that there are people out there who would have paid me (X + Y) Dollars for the car before the accident.
X is the total loss value you expect them to pay you for your car.
Y is the extra $500 dollars or so that you are asking for but don't really expect to get.
You goal is to convince them that you really could have sold the car for X before the tragic accident that their insured caused.
You will also have to convince them that NDADA and Blue Book value for the Festiva are arbitrary, and research wise, completely out of date, and that their rules about the 200 mile market area are completely unreasonable because of the rapid extinction of the Festiva.
To keep you car as part of the settlement, you will have to let them deduct the salvage value they say you car is worth. (My salvage of $512 stayed the same even as they increased my total value.) I kept my registration and they paid for the new salvage title (some states will let you get a normal title back after inspecting the repairs.) I drove my car home after the accident so I think I may be able to upgrade my title later.

You other option is to not file a claim at all, pay for everything out of you pocket do the repairs yourself and keep your original title.

[SimonTuffGuy]

This doesn't belong in the Help & Support section. Moving.

[1990new]

Thanks....I realized that when I saw that the help and support topic referred to help with understanding and navigating the web site.
And thanks also for fixing the thread title.

[Safety Guy]

Good thread!

I think for your time and effort, figuring in minimum wage rounded up to the nearest dollar would be quite reasonable. Remind them that a "real mechanic" would probably be charging double or more for the same work. The best way to figure the hours would be to have access to "real mechanics'" estimated hours for completion of work. Failing that, also keep records of how long you took to do each chore, and when you make a mistake which takes you longer, leave that out to be fair. Doing this "time documentation" might be most of the "extra" money you will argue you deserve for the settlement. Argue that your labor is definitely worth something, and also argue that unlike a paid mechanic, you have your best interests at heart and you know your car well the more you work on it. Having a couple stories where some shop did a crappy job or missed something won't hurt.

Karl

[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

But is really worth all that time and effort keeping all those records, just to get an extra $500 in the unlikely even that some bozo runs into your car?

Just looking at the practical side of it.

[Safety Guy]

There are other reasons to keep records:

-know what you have spent
-check to see what brand part you used, and when you put it in
-compare parts quality for long term use
-maybe include a few pictures here and there for later knowledge
-sharing your data with others here

Karl