Q: Does insurance pay a total loss based on value of a car or the price paid? Do they require a bill of sale?
I purchased a unique 66 mustang from a private owner. Long story short 2 hours after the sale some older lady came out of nowhere & smashed both my cars which I paid in full (parked behind each other) to total loss status. No bill of sale was made in the process because Oregon does not require it as there is no sales tax. Her insurance offered me 11k for my mustang as an evaluation which isn't close to the Price of the car. The comparable they used was garbage and my car had a fraction of the milage there comparables had. Eventually after speaking to the adjusters supervisor and sending him the pictures of the cars before the accident, he finally raised the evaluation to the price of 16k still low but is okay. Keep in mind that I sent the pictures to the claim agent a month prior, which was hours after the accident and the adjuster didn't see them till I sent them to him personally(a month later). Now they want the bill of sale & won't pay me unless I send it. This is ridiculous right?
A:
They want proof of ownership. How you work that is up to you. However, the issue is what the value is.
Likewise on #2. Unless your policy has replacement value you don't get it in most states.
You can check with the insurance commissioner for your state as to what they can ask for/condition settlement on.
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