Daughter in car accident, she is not at fault, but both have same insurance company?

Question

Daughter's car totalled. No injuries other than seatbelt injury to chest and airbag braze under chin. The other party has the same insurance company. Daughter is 19, and insurance company told me that most car rentals do not rent to those under 21. We have provided her with her grandmother's car to get her to her home. She did not have a job but now has. She had just finished summer college and was on her way home for a week before going to find a job. What do we expect to receive from the insurance company? We have liability and not collision. Car was 2002 and in good condition.

Answer 1

It makes no difference that both had the same insurance company (in this case  it is even better)  Since the other driver was apparently at fault Everything should be taken care of within the policy limits.  You will be paid "fair market value" for your totaled car on the other persons Property damage insurance.   Your Daughter was very lucky to have an accident with another person insured by the same company with (apparent) full coverage.  Tip: Buy full coverage now.  Never drive without full coverage   If the other person was not deemed at fault you would be SOL for a lot of the costs.

Answer 2

you will get actual cash value of the car.  you said she was not hurt, so no doctor visit.

if they total it, no towing.

Answer 3

You only had liability on a 19 year old's car?  Well lucky for you it is the other person's fault.  More than likely their policy will have to pay to get your daughter's car fixed.  Your daughter is young, I would suggest getting more insurance.  Even if it not her fault, there is such a thing as being accident prone.  Too many people, especially young ones, think the other driver  is going to do the correct thing, when they don't.

Answer 4

If she is not at fault, then the other person's policy will have to pay for the value of your daughter's car if totaled, along with any towing fees, medical bills, etc.  It does not matter that they both have the same insurance company.  If it had been your daughter's fault, you would not have received anything for her car, because liability only covers the other person's car.  The key to dealing with insurance companies is to get receipts for anything you spend out of pocket, and double check the value of the totaled car, because they will try to low-ball you.  Good luck on finding a new car for her.

Answer 5

Shes under 25 like me so it might be pretty high and a car accident already, good thing she has a job. I say around 200 or 300 a month. I'm with Geico also, try them.

Answer 6

I was about 18 or 19 when I got my 69 VW Beetle t-boned by an 80s model Ford Taurus.  This was about 10 years ago.

I got a rental.  This should not be a big deal for your daughter to get one, either.

Answer 7

Car rental is usually 25 years of age minimum.  It doesnt matter if both insurance providers are the same.  What matters is who was at fault.  You didnt specify if the other party was at fault.  Did they get a citation?  If the did, they are liable to replace car car at it's value.

Answer 8

When insurance companies inure both drivers it's called a double insured.  It is actually handled by two different adjusters in different units and treated like the other person with a different company. Neither adjuster is supposed to have any knowledge of the other party’s investigation.  

Insurance companies use market value to determine the settlement amount of a total loss vehicle, by law they can not use any 'book' values like Kelly's or NADA.  Those are mainly used by banks to establish loan values. Just imagine if your car has 10,000 miles on it but Joe Schmoe has the exact same year make and model but has 75,000 miles on it and a broken mirror, the books say they are worth the same, but they clearly aren't. I'd recommend picking up an Auto Trader and looking in the classifieds to get an idea of what your type of car is selling for.

The rental is tough, with your daughter being 19 she will not be able to rent. I usually ask the parent to rent the car and let them drive the family vehicle until repairs or settlement is made.  

The car will stay where it's 'totaled' and be taken to a local salvage yard. You can go there to get the personal items out of your car or sometimes the lot will mail the items to you if you are out of the area.

I hope this helps!

Answer 9

Look at the blue book value and that will tell you.  Kellybluebook.com