INSURANCE SETTLEMENT AFTER CAR TOTALED MAY NOT PAY OFF LOAN BALANCE
A car accident, even if no one is injured, is an annoying and frustrating experience. The first issue that often comes up after an auto collision is the repair or replacement of your car. Generally, things will go pretty smoothly if there is insurance and the car can be fixed after the crash. Hopefully, you will be covered for a rental car while you are waiting, and the repairs will get done quickly and professionally. Our car accident lawyers help people with this process every day.
It can be a bit more challenging, however, when your car is totaled. Our Minnesota car accident lawyers understand the frustration. When your car is totaled, you are basically selling the car to the auto insurance company. This is a forced sale, so you have limited control over the price. You will get the approximate market value of the car, i.e. what it would sell for in an arms-length transaction.
LITTLE ROOM FOR NEGOTIATION
There is some room for negotiation here, because there are variables. Most importantly, the condition of the car before the accident. Also, special accessories you may have added, whether it should be considered a dealer transaction or a private party transaction, etc.
One thing that can be especially frustrating is if you purchased the car with a long term loan, e.g. 5 years or more. This made sense when you did it, because you got lower payments. However, after a crash, the value of your car may have depreciated (gone down) faster than you were paying off the loan. So, when the insurance company pays you the market value of the car, it is not enough to pay off the remainder of the loan.
For example, if you buy a car new for $30,000 and take out a five-year loan, you may have paid down the principal by only $4,000 at the end of the first year. However, the value of the car at that point may by only $23,000. If your car is totaled, you will receive $23,000 but still owe $26,000 to the bank. Now, you have no car and are $3,000 in the hole.
GAP INSURANCE FOR CAR ACCIDENT
Sadly, there is often nothing that can be done about this situation. Longer term loans on cars often result in the car going down in value faster than the loan is paid off. Some people get ‘gap’ coverage insurance for this type of situation, which will generally solve the problem. However, most people do not get gap coverage. Then, they are angry if the insurance settlement on the car is less than the amount owed on the loan. After all, the other driver wrecked your car and now you’re not getting enough insurance money to even pay off the loan.
Our auto accident attorneys go through this problem with people frequently. We try to come up with suggestions to make the best of the situation.
However, the primary focus of our lawyers is to get people fair compensation when they have been injured in a car accident. Injury compensation is what our experienced lawyers help people with every day. Click here to learn more about auto insurance benefits.