Now it gets sticky

[cjsmith]

State Farm offered me $1725 for the vehicle...

(this seems low to me, but wait, here comes the fun bit)

... if I can come up with a title. I've never had a title to this car. When I bought it I had a loan. By the time my loan was paid off, my bank had been purchased something like four times, I had moved at least twice, and I guess whatever's supposed to happen just didn't happen.

The DMV will accept a notarized letter on the lienholder's letterhead, which letterhead of course no longer exists. I MAY be able to get whichever bank purchased everybody else to write such a letter with a note saying they're the ones who ate my old bank. Maybe. If I can find the old loan information anyway. The newest of it should be thirteen years old.

(Pssst. This is why I don't like throwing away any financial papers.)

This is going to be an adventure.

Comments

[genderfur.livejournal.com]

Don't take their first offer. They are low-balling you and they'll be tickled if you don't ask for more.

I totalled a middle-aged Mazda 4-door years ago and it really wasn't worth much because it was designed to be traded in but it had been given to me instead. But what they offered me wouldn't even get me another one of what I'd had, even if I had wanted it.

Instead, I shopped for what I wanted (a used Toyota station wagen) and just kept telling them that I needed enough money for a *usable car*, a car I could *drive*, etc. After awhile, I guess I wore them down, because after being reasonable with me for several phone calls (while I was stubborn with them), they finally showed their belly and gave me what I was asking for.

They expect you to haggle with them and count on you not doing it. Don't take their first offer.

[oddhack.livejournal.com]

I second all that. Their goal is to get you to go away quickly at minimum cost. A bit of pushback can result in a much higher settlement. You have, IIRC, a year from the accident date to settle so there's no rush unless you absolutely need the money now for a replacement vehicle.

One thing you can do is look in local used car sales listings for comparable vehicles - that may well be higher than the blue book value they came up with, and is good evidence they should pay you more. Also, make sure you report any recent major maintenance or add-ons that would increase the value.

And don't be eager to settle the medical side of the claim (which can be done separately). Make sure you are getting evaluated for injury and any complaints arising from it - even minor collisions can create long-term problems - and are completely post-injury, and keep track of all treatment for it. That will end up getting multiplied by some pain-and-suffering value (I think it was about 3x in my case) in their final offer.

[oddhack.livejournal.com]

Oh, and speaking of "paperless" - make sure *everything* you discuss with the opposing insurer is documented. What they tell you on the phone is meaningless. Get it in writing. In my case, I ended up with an 800 line log documenting every interaction with Allstate, as well as a thick sheaf of letters - and you can bet I made use of it, because they cycled me through two offices and 5 adjusters before the claim was finally settled.