The Insurance Company TRICK to underpay for your car!

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[pistonburner]

The insurance company responds: "What? Are you trying to tell us your car was a *_vegan_* ? And because it was a *_vegan_* it was more valuable?"

[eeee]

These are some of the best stories because they include consumer information that can be helpful to us avg joes

[ksteak]

Some dummy pulled out in front of me and wrecked my 1985 Porsche 944. Insurance offered me $3200 for it. I was upset and the adjuster said he could add $200 by his own discretion. I researched comps (which didn't differentiate between NA and turbo lol) and got the insurance company to agree to $6000. Then I asked the adjuster to still give me the $200. So I got $6200 for a car I paid $3500 for. Winning!!!

[genoaoak]

The Saab was so sturdy, it's totalled.

[blueyedevil]

“Totaled” my 2019 X6 back in November and the Insurance company tried to do the exact same thing to me… the 5 “comparable” models didnt have anything near the options mine had, they all had 20k+ miles more than mine did, and when I asked for the copy of the valuation report, I had to be the one to fight for the options and features they failed to identify or add. When all was said and done, they were $29k short from their initial valuation, to the final and most accurate valuation….and just for Shnitzengiggles, I sent them a bill for the going rate of an adjuster, for the time I had to spend doing their job. Was interesting getting to negotiate that also… lol

[MontyLS]

CCC was the company used when a guy titled my car. Took 4 months but I got an additional 4k out of them. They used higher mileage cars and "adjusted" them. Ignored any car for sale that had similar mileage since they were selling for over 10k. After I discovered that some of the cars they gave me were actually sold years ago vs within the 90 day period that the law requires all of a sudden my car was worth more.

[richardbrant]

I had the same problem trying to buy back my '04 "totaled" Subaru Forester XT 5-speed. I'm in S Texas where they are not common. They tried nonturbo automatics as comps.

[dyingbreed]

Remember dealing with the same thing when my wife's 91 Firebird GTA was stolen, then promptly crashed about 100 yards later. The car was in perfect condition with about 20, 000 miles on it and they wanted to give her $3, 800. We never got the true value and the car is worth significantly more now but she did walk away with a check for $11, 000 which was just enough to get another 91 GTA but the new one had 3x the miles, worn interior, and in desperate need of pain. This was about 20 years ago and thinking about still upsets me.

And the person who stole it never faced charges. 🤬

[JDude-ujlk]

Had the same thing happen when my Suburban was totaled. The insurance company told me what they said it was worth and I replied "Is that for the fully loaded model?" No, that's for the base. "Better look again. Mine is a fully loaded Suburban." Oh, I guess we owe you a little more. "Ya THINK!"

[RCgenral]

Some body ran a red light and totaled my 91 f150. This was a base model rusted out 5 speed 4x4 truck, and they give me $4, 200 for it.... I only paid $1, 700 😂

[cberna]

I worked for one of those 3rd parties. We never tried to low ball the estimate. Hell, we had to justify why a 76 Nova was worth 150k for a scratch in the original paint.

[garrettmyhre]

Obviously. Insurance companies number one goal is to pay out as little as possible. Been doing it since day 1.

[localcrew]

State Farm tried to devalue my car based on damage that was caused by the collision. So I caught them and their story changed to “Well, that damage really doesn’t matter”. So I pointed out to the claims adjuster that it either matters — or it doesn’t. So were you lying *then* or are you lying *now*. Then he did that slow-motion thing where his smile got wiped off his smug face. So for the rest of our conversation I just kept saying “Like a good neighbor, huh?” Over and over again. Just kept saying it. Wouldn’t stop. He finally just asked me to leave — like a good neighbor would, ya know?

[jcmount]

When my truck was total the insurance company Safeco could not even do the math to average the comparables correctly. The average was off, lower of course by hundreds. They also did not use real comparables but vehicles with lower trim levels.

[umaikakudo]

It's a huge scam. The valuation companies are customers for the insurance company. They have no reason to not undervalue your vehicle to save money for the insurance company. In some states you have the option to have the insurance company purchase a comparable vehicle of the same model to replace your vehicle.

[PENX]

I had this exact same thing happen to me, short version. My 2001 Subaru Impreza special edition was rear ended, I was told they were going to write it off. They sent me a cheque for £1800 (10-12 years ago) I called them and asked where the hell did they come up with that figure, they said there were Subaru Impreza’s for sale within 250 miles for around that. 1st, all the Subaru’s for sale were non turbo or automatic, mine was a manual. 2nd, the cheapest “Cashmere Special Edition” I could find was nearly £7K since there was only ever 500 ever made in the world (250 in cashmere yellow and 250 in catalunya blue) According to the other dudes insurance company (who was at fault and was paying for it) an Impreza is an Impreza, regardless of trim or rarity. 14 months of arguing before I settled on £6k, at which time the price of the Cashmere’s were reaching £10k+

[brandons]

I had the EXACT same situation with a 2002 Dodge Stratus RT coupe that I bought. I had it 9 months after paying $24, 000+ for it. It was fully loaded car. I was hit by a kid in his Mustang and my car was totaled. This was Columbus day that year. After going round and round with my own insurance company they finally say decide to try and give me like $13, 000 for the car. There was NO WAY that I was going to take that much of a loss on that car in less than a year. I asked to see their valuation. They had compared my car to the 4 door base model rental fleet Stratus. I had my own appraiser write an appraisal and ended up getting just over $22, 000 for it. I was livid that my own insurance company was going to do me like that. I knew the scam. They wanted to pay me out low and go after the kids insurance company for the real value of my car to pocket the difference. I told them this face to face as they had a claims office not to far from my house. I spent so long there one day that my girlfriend brough me lunch there. As soon as their check cleared the bank I left them as my insurer.

[ball_of_wires]

Sounds about right. They collect money from you for 10 years. Then you have an accident. They cheat you on the value of the car and then they probably drop you.

[chilj]

I went through the same thing with my truck. They used the same system, the CCC report. That system is broken. They were doing the same thing to me. Giving me "comparable" vehicles that were older, more miles & less options. That system is a scam.

[hdoglesby]

Not trying to badmouth Saabs or their owners but I've worked on a dozen or so in 30 years and I've never not come across a clapped out one where the client wanted to spend money to maintain them. This gentleman is few and far between. Kudos to him for wanting to keep his Saab on the road