The Insurance Company Won’t Replace My Car…(Part 2 of 2)
Because most automobiles are generally considered depreciable assets, as time passes and the vehicle use increases, these are depreciated from the value of the starting asset value as an expense. When you purchase a new vehicle you would obviously want to insure the replacement value of the vehicle. A year after owning the vehicle the value of the car is depreciated—whether you agree or not—it’s true. If you don’t check with your insurance company and adjust the policy amount to correlate to a change in value you could pay higher premiums for a higher policy limit that you’ll never use. The insurance company won’t tell you this. Why would they? Pay your premiums on the car that was worth $10,000 when you got it. Keep paying the premiums even though three years into the policy, the car is now only worth $5000. You get in an auto accident after paying the premiums on a $10,000 car when in reality your premium should have decreased—assuming your driving record remains constant.
Use the difference in the premiums the insurance company prefers that you pay and what you should really be paying to save for a replacement car. Or use the difference to pay down the balance owed on the car faster. This will save you less in interest and may help reduce the likelihood of an unfunded liability in the event your vehicle is considered a “total loss.” If you still owe more on your car than what it’s worth—the insurance company still only has to put you in the position you were in before the incident. If that means paying the lienholder some but not all of the balance you owe on the vehicle, they don’t care.
Is that harsh? Well, their insured driver only caused the damage. The fact that you may have a car that is worth less than what you owe on it doesn’t matter a lick to the insurance company. These are a few ways to keep things in check when it comes to property damage after an auto accident. At the Law Offices of Michael A. DeMayo we handle the claim for property damage all the time. It’s one more thing we can take off of your plate. Plus, there’s far less run around from the insurance company when they find out who is representing you. Call us today at 877-333-1000 or fill out a free case evaluation at www.demayolaw.com.
