So I just got a ballpark from my insurance what the insurance of the guy who hit me would offer and they put my FD valued at 8k. Which just isn't right.


How did you guys go about negotiating the value of any cars to your insurance companies.

 

You may be able to negotiate a moderately higher coverage if you express your concerns and list the components or condition that would make your car more valuable than their system "says" it is. However, a lot of insurance companies might just tell you they don't do that or maybe only 10% above blue book value. You may want to consider Hagerty or Grundy insurance where you essentially claim the value of your car and you pay accordingly. They have very strict rules about your daily driver (must be 10 years old or newer) and also you must have a garage and a few other small things. One of the two limits mileage and the other lets you build in an agreed yearly mileage into the policy... forget which one is which.

 

Receipts and build pictures are a must. The best bet is to come in with that and do the negotiating/settle on exact coverage before an accident or claim occurs. If you are trying after it is much more difficult.

 

I am with an affiliate of Hagerty.
There are a few restrictions, however, given my age and the location I live in, there are no issues with meeting those parameters. I know you have to have a DD, you can't drive the car to and from work, nobody below the age of 25 can drive the car, I am not sure about mileage restrictions (don't remember, so either I did not get one or it was so much more than what I likely will drive, that I didn't worry about it).

The way they worked, they asked for the car to be upraised by a certified person.
Since I'm in the process of doing a bunch of things (rebuild, exhaust, turbos have been changed, fixed a bunch of things), I asked them about it needing to be upraised again. They told me that this time all they need is to take pictures of stuff that was changed, send it to them and then let them know what my estimate of the current value is, and they will cover it.

I hope this helps.

 

If you want to show a higher value for your car, you need to show your insurance company advertisements for similar cars in similar condition. Ads on this site should do that. Ads on sites like autotrader will do the same thing. It shouldnt be that hard to prove a higher value thru these types of ads.

You are in SLO??? I'm in SLO

 

of course they did lol.... Did you have full coverage insurance? If you did you especially need to being through YOUR insurance.


You go back to the insurance company and state these exact words "I am entitled to fair market price on my vehicle and $8k is below that. I will submit current for sale ads of other RX-7's in similar conditions and I expect to be compensated accordingly." If they disagree remind them that failure to comply with the law will land them in court after you file a complaint with the CA insurance bureau.


http://www.insurance.ca.gov/



BTW listen to AdamC on this subject....


Edit-
Don't ***** foot around insurance companies. Plain and simple they're dicks so you have to be a dick in dealing with them.

 

Montego, you've tickled me in all the right spots. I like the approach


I'm prior mil so being a dick comes natural. Just needed the right ammo, juuuust like that. I'm not pressed for time so I can afford to have this drag out as long as I need to.

 

+1 for saving for sale ads when you see similar vehicles for sale. I have my RX-7 insured through Classic Car Insurance of Texas on a limited mile agreed value policy.

 

I actually just took an insurance/credit class this week, they said try posting it for sale with a picture before the crash for the price you want for it, see if you get any offers. If someone gives you an offer take it to the insurance company and show them thats what you could have sold it for. The teacher lady said she ended up getting 13k instead of 7k for her boat that way (someone sideswiped it off the trailer on the road).

 

lol you post the ad, we all make offers aha

 

eyyyyyyy

Hahaha

 

in canada mine is insured as a classic, (15+ years, cant be my primary car, nobody under the age of 21 can drive it, all drivers must have a full licennse not a graduated or learners. ive also got a 25xxx km every 5 year limit (so 5k a year) if i go over i have to pay a fine at the end of the 5 years)

the value is determed by an inspection done at an autobody shop. when i got the only one thats been done thus far done i basically went in showed the guy at the shop some listings and told him of the mods that had been done to the car he said okay and wrote me a value of 35k (which is way over what my car even should be) he said the insurance will have to restore my car to the condition it was in at the last inspection or they will cut me a cheque for that amount.

 

Complain, complain, complain..

Show them evidence(any legitimate for-sale ads, kbb,etc), and complain that they should have known this from the start.


back in '08 they valued my 55k-ish mile FD at 12,000. After phonecall #1 they went up to 14,000. Phone call number 2 they agreed to have it appraised. Phone call number 3, it was appraised at 21,000 (took all mods into account, which they initially said "may detract from the cars value"---haha, as if a OEM 99 spec kit ever detracted from these cars).

as my father would put it, make sure you put the S on your chest when dealing with them, not on your forehead (stupid).

 

my state farm insurance guy is a friend of mine and also a car guy.

I called his office and got a pretty good quote on the FD with the mileage restriction of 3k a year.

I asked what the value was on my FD to make sure and he said 18k. I said that is close enough take my money.