I was in a car accident, if I fight for all the money i put into my vehicle will they give it to me?

Question

I was in a car accident and my vehicles rear right corner got all of the damage. That shouldn't be enough to make the vehicle totaled but the paint job cost $7,000(custom paint job with very expensive paint and designs) and the rim that was damaged cost around $1,250. The total cost to repair the vehicle to its previous state will exceed its value which is $10,625. When and if the vehicle is pronounced dead(totaled) should i fight to get all the money back that i put into it? which is around $17-18,000 along with what its worth. I was not at fault, their were 2 witness's and both of us had insurance. I also have receipts of all the work i had done to it.

Answer 1

Usually the only way you will get paid for the additional work you have in the car is if you purchase "Custom Parts & Equipment" coverage on your policy.  There is a cost per $1,000 of extra coverage.  It is not cheap to do it.  If you didn't tell your insurer about this work, it is all on you, you took the chance by adding this stuff.

You can try to get the additional from the other insurer however, the custom stuff you did to the car because YOU like it may not increase its actual cash value.  Sometimes it actually lowers the actual cash value because maybe very few people like the custom paint & most people wouldn't buy it.  Be careful what you ask for...

Answer 2

This would be best asked of the insurance company who will settle your claim. Normally, you will not get every dime you put into a vehicle because of depreciation .

Answer 3

yes, if it wasn't your fault you are in entitled to damage loss. Just show your loss through receipts.

Answer 4

Unless you have a special policy, and have paid an extra premium for special coverage, such as for a show car, you are out of luck.  With the average paint job several thousand dollars less than your custom job, you have paid for average paint job coverage.  You have paid for coverage for factory rims, not custom rims.  Therefor your coverage is for a vehicle same condition as yours, relatively close to factory original.

The extreme example, now written out of standard policies, used to be the guy with the $500 car with a $10,000 stereo expecting a cheque for $10,000 if the car was totalled, even though he paid the premium for the $500 car.

Answer 5

They will give you the Actual Cash Value (ACV) of the car. ACV is what you would have been able to sell the car for just before the crash. Fight all you want, this is what you'll get.

FYI: Replacement Cost (RC) would give you the amount you put into the car. it is very rare with auto insurance and usually only offered to brand new vehicles. Most Homeowner or Renter policies will give you RC on your personal property.

Answer 6

Not unless you had it written in to your policy. That is what you get for having all c**p on your car. Those rims should be banned they are not safe.

Answer 7

Probably not. Did you have extra coverage for the rims? If not, the insurance company isn't going to care.

Answer 8

In UK you would only be entitled to the value of the car $10625. You are only entitled to be put back into the position you were in and that is a value of the car. It seems unfair but there it is. US law may differ but i would be suprised if it does