Have you suffered a total loss? Are you left wondering what to do? Has your insurance provider come back with a value that is just too low to accept? In this blog I will try to explain the best process to move you along through the explanation of total loss vehicle negotiation process.
First of all, don’t panic. You will not be the first person to feel undervalued and you certainly won’t be the last. Insurance companies have a habit of trying to save money by offering their customers low valuations. They're own customers ! I mean come on. How does a company charge you for their product and then they undervalue you on the other end. I guess we should all be getting used to suck things in life as it seems to be getting more common. I mean have you ever heard of anyone getting there money back on a 25 year guarantee shingle.
The process will start with a call or email from your adjuster with either a report from another company on your vehicle value or their assessment of your vehicles value. Either way I can almost guarantee that it’s low. Don’t let this scare you … There is tried and true process we can follow to increase our value.
You can simply say no thank you to the first offer. Here you will need to find and submit some comparables on why you think your vehicle is worth more. Pay attention to Kms here. Higher or lower they will try to attach a low value for the difference in kms. This is a major negotiation area so be prepared on what you think you kms are worth.
They usually will come back with a very small increase to try to get you to settle. I would recommend that once again you say no thank you to this offer and continue to negotiate with your adjuster.
Your adjuster will either keep working with you or they will move your case to arbitration. This sounds scary but I assure you it really isn’t. At arbitration you will have two options. 1, you can represent yourself and keep fighting for your valuation or 2, you can hire a service like Arbitter to take over the negotiations and deal with the arbitration process for you to get the maximum value for your vehicle. I would obviously recommend this as we have the expertise on dealing with adjusters and where to increase your value.
If you choose arbitration you will need to take your proof of loss form and cross out the values they have submitted to you and fill in your own, sign and date the document and return it to your adjuster.
If you and the adjuster can not come to agreement on the value (price) of your vehicle there is one more step to go through. They will move the case to an umpire. A umpire will cost you between $150 to $200 and possibly more in some cases so be prepared for that. They will also give you list of people they use as umpires that you can pick from. I would highly suggest you do your research on each one before selecting one. If you decide to move forward with one of their offered selections I would ask for an invoice before proceeding with payment opposed to paying cash. You have every right to select your own knowledgeable umpire to submit to your insurance for review.
Once and umpire comes to a conclusion on a price this is considered final and insurance will send you proof of loss form that you need sign and return.
Easy peasy right? For anyone that struggles with the process we are always here at Arbitter to help move the process forward.
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