https://www.corvetteblogger.com/2019...n-in-michigan/

 

If you have "Agreed Value" insurance coverage, you should get full value from insurer if the car can't be found. If you do not have AV insurance coverage, you will receive Black Book (average wholesale) amount for your car. You can dispute it, but that's what you paid for with regular insurance. You will have to take legal action to get anything more....and the legal fees will be larger than any increase you receive via settlement.

 

Most 'regular' car insurance covers the vehicle for 'Actual Cash Value' ; this is NOT 'just black book' / CPI , blue book, red book nor NADA value, though those guides MAY be used in absence of other / better sources. [and it is not 'wholesale' value unless the car is a wholeale quality unit ] Non-specific coverage from mainline insurers vary some-especially by state- but ACV is standared determination and is in the ISO forms upon which the vast majority of insurance contracts are based. What this means is that the insurer 'owes' the 'actual cash value' of the item ; i.e. what one could reasonably expect to sell the car for or what similar vehicles are found to be available for. Should the car not turn up, the owner needs to start doing his/her own research on what the market is on the car - be honest with yourself and the adjuster. gather documentation, including photos, apraisals if any and ads for similar cars. Trust me - that poor overworked adjuster wants to pay as much as he/she can possibly justify and support and get the file closed / you off their phone; they do NOT want to talk or argue with anyone any more than they have to as there is a line a mile long behind you wanting something. Help them build their file and document WHY an amount is being paid and life is better for everyone concerned. Just remember to be realistic, and, if the car is insured with a non - specialty insurer, remember that the person on the other end of the phone is most likely NOT a 'car person' and does not have esoteric knowledge about your particular vehicle or class of car.
IF the car is insured with a specialty insurer with an agreed value, then life MAY be a lot easier. READ the policy ; some are 'if the car is totalled we will pay you 'X' amount of dollars' and others use that 'agreed value' as a MAXIMUM amount payable and base the premium on that, but still pay demonstratable ACV. Look at your contract.

 

That all sounds great. Only problem, the insurance company is the one that initially establishes the ACV, not the insured! So, if they end up low-balling you and you wish to challenge that amount, get your legal team ready to fight tooth and nail....and keep the money coming to pay for them.

Thanks, but I'll get Agreed Value insurance for my vehicles....

 

The insurer does indeed determine ACV; however, especially in the case of an old/special interest/collector car - tho its true on any vehicle in the main - the initial offer is not set in stone - this is why the insured needs to have some documentation. Any legitimate documentation helps your case and is most usually welcomed. Again, there are exceptions to every rule, but by and large that adjuster just wants to get your file closed and off his / her desk. Helping them document paying closer to what you can establish as a realistic value goes a long way.

Also, if you disagree with the insurers appraisal, there is no need to go running to a lawyer. Remember, unless the attorney thinks they can stiff out some 'bad faith' , they will not take a simple first party property damage case on contingency - there is no money in it for them. So...it will be billed hourly; dont know about where the owner of the car in question lives, but around here thats about $300 per hour last time I checked. HOWEVER, the auto policy allows for independent appraisal should the insured and the insurer be unable to reach an agreement. The car owners cost for independent appraisla will vary from zero [if he knows someone qualified] on up. Still significantly less than retaining an attorney. There is a possibility of added expense should the two appraisers - once the appraisal clause is invoked by either party, its out of the insurers hands also as they too have to provide an independent valuation/appraiser - for arbitration if the two cannot agree. At that point it goes to arbitration and the cost of a third independent is shared. Still cheaper than an attorney. In approximately 25 years of being stuck in that job, only a handful ever went to appraisal and only one to arbitration. [rememebr to be realistic also I might add ; the one file that went to arbitration returned an award LESS than the company had offered and both parties are contractually bound to the decision...]

No one is arguing that Agreed value Insurance is not the way to go on older and special interest cars. I would suggest however that you READ your policy contract carefully, as most people that think they have 'agreed value' really dont, and most Agents dont know the difference.

 

OP: I hope it's properly insured too! This thread and the conversation serve as a good reminder that we should ensure that our policies state the value of our car on the policy itself. I've used State Farm for years, and each of our 'collector' car policies have a stated value right on the policy. Most of the time they accept pictures from me to help establish value. One time they sent an agent to our home to check a car and he approved the amount no problem once he saw the car.

I appreciate the reminder!