So are they officially totaling it? Where is your truck? At a collision center?

I see you used the words "my estimator"… did that mean your personal insurance estimator? If I recall, you were not at fault here so I'm curious why their estimator and collision company are not the ones giving you an estimate.

Being what happened to you, standard procedure would have been tow your vehicle to the collision center of their insurances choice and immediately put you in a rental car which they would keep extending while they figured out what to do (total/fix/settle). Once they decide to total it, they send an offer and then put a short timer on your rental, typically about 72-hours… because they've offered and are now moving on and stopping expenses (rental).

If they decide to fix it - because that's cheaper - they will keep you in a rental and pay for it as the cost of the rental contract and how long they will take to fix your vehicle is factored into their decision on whether to fix it or total it.

If the frame is NOT bent and they're gonna total it - then that VERY LIKELY means repair costs are more than they feel the value of the truck is, and they will offer you far less than that repair estimate cost.

satexas said:

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So are they officially totaling it?

I see you used the words "my estimator"… did that mean your personal insurance estimator? If I recall, you were not at fault here so I'm curious why their estimator and collision company are not the ones giving you at estimate.

Being what happened to you, standard procedure would have been tow your vehicle to the collision center of their insurances choice and immediately put you in a rental car which they would keep extending while they figured out what to do (total/fix/settle). Once they decide to total it, they send an offer and then put a short timer on your rental, typically about 72-hours… because they've offered and are now moving on and stopping expenses (rental).

If the frame is NOT bent and they're gonna total it - then that VERY LIKELY means repair costs are more than they feel the value of the truck is, and the they will offer you far less than that repair estimate cost.

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Yes, they are officially totaling it.

To answer questions:

No I was not at fault.

Vehicle was towed towed by their insurance where their insurance deemed it a total which exceeded the policy coverage, thus short-terming my rental. Never actually got a settlement offer from them

I got my insurance involved after that, they deemed it a total loss today after the aforementioned damage estimate which included frame damage. I've searched for comps and anything close to mine is north of $30K due to the low mileage for a 2019, some are closer to $40K. I'm hoping for something close to $35K.

Tree Hugger said:

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No I was not at fault.

Vehicle was towed towed by their insurance where their insurance deemed it a total which exceeded the policy coverage, thus short-terming my rental. Never actually got a settlement offer from them

I got my insurance involved after that, they deemed it a total loss today after the aforementioned damage estimate which included frame damage. I've searched for comps and anything close to mine is north of $30K due to the low mileage for a 2019, some are closer to $40K. I'm hoping for something close to $35K.

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So you mentioned they have the minimum, which is called "30/60/25"... which the 25 means '25k property damage' aka your truck.

I'm not sure how this part works, but if they are only insured up to 25k, I suspect they'll make you sue the person for the difference. Ouch. We both know how that would turn out. I wonder what YOUR policy/insurance says about situations like that.

Yeah, my insurance said I am covered for the under insured aspect, basically they will pay the claim and go after the other for the rest. At least that is what they say will happen.

Insurance is offering $31K what do you guys think?

Tree Hugger said:

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Insurance is offering $31K what do you guys think?

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I think you'll end up at about 35k once the arguing is done. #beinghonest

The first offer is never high. Start proving why your vehicle had extras, etc etc... all that stuff we mentioned in the thread already.

Remember when I told you to go get your bed cover in my earlier long post? Yeah, drive your butt over there and get that. The truck is yours until you sign off the final deal. If you plan on getting another truck, go get your special mats, bed cover, etc etc etc... because it won't affect your offer.

I already got everything but the bedcover and I'm not worried about that one since it was just a $150 Amazon special that's been sitting in the sun for 7 years, oddly enough on their estimate sheet they added $200 for a soft tonneau cover.

I've got a couple of comps saved both are in the same ballpark of $32-$34K I'm going to try and eke out a few more thousand. The only thing I could get dinged on though is a dent in the rear bumper from my son backing into a pole (also scratched the tailgate a bit)

Don't feel bad asking for more money, this is exactly why you pay them rather than insure yourself.