For context, I was on my way home from work coming up to normal rush hour traffic at highway speeds. While slowing down, a driver in a U-haul van wasn't paying attention and hit the car behind me very hard, most likely totaling that car. The car behind me then hit me, and I hit the car in front of me. The car that I hit left the scene after inspecting their bumper, and exchanged no information. Every other involved party did. I had no significant injuries other than some neck/back soreness and a minor concussion. I went to urgent care and this info was provided to my insurance.
I am financing a 2020 BMW M340i with 35,642 miles. KBB says the worth is $41,155-$45,028 private party. $37,413-$40,884 trade-in.
I still owe $28,287 on the car.
The damage to my car seems significant. At the very least, my front bumper, rear bumper, and rear tailgate will need to be replaced. Most likely the rear frame bumper will need to be replaced or repaired as I was hit pretty hard. Frame damage is likely. The paint is Mineral White, an upgraded BMW paint. I'm assuming the rear quarter panels and front quarter panels will need to be painted to blend in the new panels.
I'm hoping the car is totaled to make the process easier for me, but in the event that it isn't (which seems likely? I'm unsure), I'm looking for advice on how to be out the least amount of money I can. If the car is repaired, I'll immediately be upside down on my loan. I'm also unsure of who's insurance will pay the damages, as the U-haul van will be at fault.
How can I come out of this holding the bag the least? I see people mentioning diminished value, is that something I can start through U-haul? Should I contact an attorney? I can provide more detail if needed. I'm pretty heartbroken about it as I loved this car so far and haven't even owned it for a year. The car is dropped off at an autobody shop, and no communication has been started with my insurance adjuster other than starting the claim. What should I do come Monday? Thanks for your help.
Got rear ended on Friday, 4 car accident. Need some advice
byu/Hour_Tax_866 inInsurance
Posted by Hour_Tax_866
6 Comments
Just use your collision insurance. This person probably has the minimums so you probably won’t be able to get the amount to fix your car.
Highly recommend you file under your own insurance. Assuming there are no liability disputes, there’s a large likelihood that the uhaul driver didn’t purchase liability coverage on that vehicle, and depending on the weight of the uhaul, almost all insurance companies would deny coverage outright on it. But, it’s not going to be denied until a coverage investigation happens, which can be fast, or take weeks/months. Next, if your car is worth over $30K, plus rental/storage/towing costs, your claim alone is going to be butting up the property damage limits for most states if not going over it all ready… this could easily be a $75K + claim for property damage if the vehicles are expensive.
For the value of your car, look up comps within a 100mile radius that is the same year/make/model and trim level, within 5-10K miles if possible. They look at the sold value not selling value of the vehicle.
Question did any of your airbags go off. I got hit a couple of years ago and my airbags didn’t deploy… I pointed it out to the adjuster and they totaled my car because of that.
Use your collision coverage definitely. Nothing you need an attorney for unless you’re injured and even then you may not.
There’s no diminished value on a total loss, if that happens. There’s a high probability there won’t be enough at fault insurance coverage to cover everything. So unless you have underinsured motorist property damage coverage, you probably will never see diminished value.
What state?
A couple of things. First, file through your carrier. U-Haul is ridiculous to deal with and if there were multiple vehicles involved there could very likely be a limits issue anyway.
Also, if your vehicle is indeed totaled, there is no diminished value. You are due the Acv plus taxes and fees if applicable in that state.
KBB is not what the insurance companies use to evaluate the acv. And if they total it you **may** end up with enough to cover the loan. But you aren’t going to get 40k for it.