Kerry & Kathy
Member #007
As many of you know I totaled Kathy's Acura in heavy rain on 8/9...hitting a guardrail hard enough to cause $4800 damage.
Farmers Insurance agreed that the car was going to be totaled but sent the following message indicating the compensation for the vehicle that they were willing to pay:
"Dear Mr Owen:
Your vehicle has been determined to be a total loss. The value of the vehicle was based on the vehicle’s actual
cash value at the time of the loss. The vehicle’s mileage, equipment, and condition are taken into account
when determining the actual cash value.
The amount of the payment was determined as follows:
Actual Cash Value:$3,424.00
License / Transfer Fees:+$11.00
Less Deductible:-$500.00
Total Amount:$2,935.00"
This was BS...!!
Note that they based this ACV "estimate" on only two 2005 Acura RSX cars found within 70 miles of Farmington.
I knew this was far undervalued and sent the following message to the insurance adjuster:
"Kathy,
Thank you for the documents sent. It is obvious that you invested considerable time in preparing them.
On much of the information provided, I agree.
However, on the Actual Cash Value and Base Vehicle Value assigned to our vehicle, I vehemently disagree.
As a retired Manufacturing Engineer, I can assure you that a sample size of two is not statistically valid. Selecting only two vehicles for comparison is far too small a sample size to accurately represent the value of any car. To do so becomes meaningless.
To obtain a more representative comparison I researched (14) comparable 2005-2006 Acura RSX automatic base models, equally equipped, located within a reasonable driving distance of Farmington MO. Keep in mind that living in a rural area limits the number of “local” cars available for comparison requiring a larger geographic search area. Some of these comparable vehicles had fewer miles. Others had more miles and the conditions varied from poor to excellent. However, it provided a far more accurate cross section of the actual values of “comparable vehicles” when an average of the (14) vehicles was made.
I have attached photos with retail prices of each car that was identified.
The aggregate average of these (14) comparable vehicles is $5218.
Your “Adjusted Vehicle Value” / “Actual Cash Value” of $3424.00 for our car is clearly $1798 too low.
In addition, I have included Assessed values of our car by KBB and NADA based on mileage, equipment, condition and zip code.
The assessed value by KBB is a “fair market range” of $3878 to $5791 with an aggregate average of $4835…. suggesting that your suggested Actual Cash Value for our car is $1411 too low.
The assessed value by NADA for a clean retail 2005 Acura RSX with 168666 miles and leather interior is $5525…again suggesting that your assigned value to our vehicle is $2101 too low.
I will not submit the signed title until a fair adjustment is made in the “Adjusted Vehicle Value / Actual Cash Value” of our car.
Please advise...
Kerry Owen
Well...48 hrs passed and I received this second message today from the adjuster:
"Dear Mr. Owen:
Your vehicle has been determined to be a total loss. The value of the vehicle was based on the vehicle’s actual
cash value at the time of the loss. The vehicle’s mileage, equipment, and condition are taken into account
when determining the actual cash value.
The amount of the payment was determined as follows:
Actual Cash Value:$5,525.00
License / Transfer Fees:+$11.00
Less Deductible:-$500.00
Total Amount:$5,036.00"
An increase in the payout by the insurance adjuster of $2101.00....!
This time...they took the NADA calculated value...to the dollar.
The point is to NEVER accept the first offer made by your insurance company for a repair...or total loss.
They will attempt to undercut your payout as they assume that no one will question their "professional" estimate.
When in fact...a little time spent by an owner to present a strong rebuttal based on factual research can pay huge benefits.
In this case an increase in the original payout of nearly 72%...!
Kerry
Farmers Insurance agreed that the car was going to be totaled but sent the following message indicating the compensation for the vehicle that they were willing to pay:
"Dear Mr Owen:
Your vehicle has been determined to be a total loss. The value of the vehicle was based on the vehicle’s actual
cash value at the time of the loss. The vehicle’s mileage, equipment, and condition are taken into account
when determining the actual cash value.
The amount of the payment was determined as follows:
Actual Cash Value:$3,424.00
License / Transfer Fees:+$11.00
Less Deductible:-$500.00
Total Amount:$2,935.00"
This was BS...!!
Note that they based this ACV "estimate" on only two 2005 Acura RSX cars found within 70 miles of Farmington.
I knew this was far undervalued and sent the following message to the insurance adjuster:
"Kathy,
Thank you for the documents sent. It is obvious that you invested considerable time in preparing them.
On much of the information provided, I agree.
However, on the Actual Cash Value and Base Vehicle Value assigned to our vehicle, I vehemently disagree.
As a retired Manufacturing Engineer, I can assure you that a sample size of two is not statistically valid. Selecting only two vehicles for comparison is far too small a sample size to accurately represent the value of any car. To do so becomes meaningless.
To obtain a more representative comparison I researched (14) comparable 2005-2006 Acura RSX automatic base models, equally equipped, located within a reasonable driving distance of Farmington MO. Keep in mind that living in a rural area limits the number of “local” cars available for comparison requiring a larger geographic search area. Some of these comparable vehicles had fewer miles. Others had more miles and the conditions varied from poor to excellent. However, it provided a far more accurate cross section of the actual values of “comparable vehicles” when an average of the (14) vehicles was made.
I have attached photos with retail prices of each car that was identified.
The aggregate average of these (14) comparable vehicles is $5218.
Your “Adjusted Vehicle Value” / “Actual Cash Value” of $3424.00 for our car is clearly $1798 too low.
In addition, I have included Assessed values of our car by KBB and NADA based on mileage, equipment, condition and zip code.
The assessed value by KBB is a “fair market range” of $3878 to $5791 with an aggregate average of $4835…. suggesting that your suggested Actual Cash Value for our car is $1411 too low.
The assessed value by NADA for a clean retail 2005 Acura RSX with 168666 miles and leather interior is $5525…again suggesting that your assigned value to our vehicle is $2101 too low.
I will not submit the signed title until a fair adjustment is made in the “Adjusted Vehicle Value / Actual Cash Value” of our car.
Please advise...
Kerry Owen
Well...48 hrs passed and I received this second message today from the adjuster:
"Dear Mr. Owen:
Your vehicle has been determined to be a total loss. The value of the vehicle was based on the vehicle’s actual
cash value at the time of the loss. The vehicle’s mileage, equipment, and condition are taken into account
when determining the actual cash value.
The amount of the payment was determined as follows:
Actual Cash Value:$5,525.00
License / Transfer Fees:+$11.00
Less Deductible:-$500.00
Total Amount:$5,036.00"
An increase in the payout by the insurance adjuster of $2101.00....!
This time...they took the NADA calculated value...to the dollar.
The point is to NEVER accept the first offer made by your insurance company for a repair...or total loss.
They will attempt to undercut your payout as they assume that no one will question their "professional" estimate.
When in fact...a little time spent by an owner to present a strong rebuttal based on factual research can pay huge benefits.
In this case an increase in the original payout of nearly 72%...!
Kerry
