Head on accident lead total loss

An 89 yr old woman hit me head on at 9:30 pm (dark) and without her lights on. She was driving the WRONG WAY on an off ramp. The impact totaled both cars. I am not injured; the air bag scrapped my face up a bit. The 89 yr old has a back injury.

My husband, child and I live paycheck to paycheck and still run short sometimes. We had no money down when we bought the 2005 Nissan Sentra and still owe $8,000 dollars.

My research indicates I may not be offered what we owe. That will mean I owe money on a car I can't use and have no money to get a new one.

This surely seems unfair. Is there anything I can do?


Answer:


Hello anonymous,

It seems unfair because it is extremely unfair! This is one of the reasons we believe tort and insurance law reform should take place in the United States.

The argument is that insurance (and the at-fault party) must put you back in the position you were prior the collision. They are not doing that in your case. You had a perfectly good car, and now you are going to be hard press to find one.

They argue that you are not supposed to profit from your accident, and that if you made a bad deal in a car that losses a lot of value, that is your loss, as the at fault party had nothing to do with the negotiation when you bought the car.

Although this argument has substance, it fails to compensation for your opportunity cost: you had a good car, making payments on it, and perfectly happy with it until their client came and hit you, left you making payments in a car you no longer have....

We can go on and on ranting about this issue. It is very frustrating. There is simply not much you can do other than be very hard and negotiate well your total loss. We recommend you read:

http://www.auto-insurance-claim-advice.com/totaling-a-vehicle.html

Also, please consider getting this ebook about total losses. We find it very helpful when we deal with insurance companies.

http://www.auto-accident-blog.com/go/Total-Loss-Ebook.php


Good luck,

http://www.auto-insurance-claim-advice.com