MY CAR'S A WRECK! WHAT CAN I DO?

WHAT IF MY CAR IS "TOTALLED"?

DO I GET "SALVAGE VALUE" FOR MY "TOTALLED" VEHICLE?

CAN I GET THE CHECK?

WHAT IF THE CHECK ISN'T ENOUGH TO PAY OFF MY LOAN?

WHAT ABOUT TOWING AND STORAGE?

CAN I RENT A CAR?

DO I HAVE TO PAY FOR GAS AND INSURANCE?

MY CAR'S BEEN DAMAGED BUT NOT "TOTALLED"... WHAT NOW?

DO I NEED TO GET AN ESTIMATE?

WHAT ABOUT DEPRECIATION?

CAN A LAWYER HELP?

MY CAR'S A WRECK! WHAT CAN I DO?
When your vehicle is damaged because of the careless driving (negligence) of another, you have rights under the laws of North Carolina, including regulations of the North Carolina Department of Insurance. Of course, if you hire an attorney to help, you won't need to know all the rules of what's covered in a property damage claim. However, because of the time and costs involved, most attorneys won't pursue a claim just for property damage, unless you wanted to pay an hourly fee. However, most attorneys will handle your property damage claim as part of their handling a personal injury claim.

At the outset, you should know that you have a duty to mitigate your damages (a fancy term for minimizing your losses). That means you will be expected to take certain positive steps to get things going. Usually, the first thing to do is to contact the "at-fault" driver's insurance company. You can often obtain the name of the liability insurance company from the "exchange slip" provided to you by the investigating officer at the scene of the collision. You should give your own company a call, too. This is very helpful just in case the other driver changes stories or your claim gets denied, and you have to rely on your insurance company to fix your car.

Most insurance companies will assign an adjuster or investigator to your claim, and give you a claim number to refer to in all future calls. Sometimes there will be two claims handlers, one to handle the property damage and one to deal with any personal injury claim. The adjuster assigned to your claim will complete an investigation of your claim before the company accepts or denies the claim. You may be asked to give a recorded statement, but many lawyers counsel their clients against giving recorded statements to the other driver's insurance company. You should certainly give all the helpful information you can, BUT recording your statement may give the insurance company lawyers something to use against you later.

Of course, if you hire a lawyer, your lawyer can help get the information to the insurance company so that it can either accept or deny responsibility for your claim. If your claim is denied, or it appears that the other company is taking too long, you may want to file a claim under your "collision" coverage of your insurance policy. Likewise, if you discover that the other driver has no insurance, or not enough insurance, your claim may be paid your own "uninsured" or "underinsured" motorist coverage.

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WHAT IF MY CAR IS "TOTALLED"?
If the property damage to your car equals or exceeds 75% of its pre-accident cash value, North Carolina insurance regulations specify that "an insurance carrier shall 'total loss' the vehicle." This means the liability insurance company is required to pay the fair market value (F.M.V.) or pre-accident cash value of the vehicle immediately prior to the wreck.

The F.M.V. is the value a reasonable seller, and a reasonable buyer, would agree upon for the vehicle immediately before the collision. The law does not require an insurance company to pay more than the fair market value of a "totalled" vehicle. This is true even if the balance owed on your car loan exceeds the car's fair market value, or if the car is already paid for and worth more to you than it is worth in the local market. Generally speaking, your car is not worth more because you just bought new tires, had a paint job or replaced the engine. These maintenance repairs usually do not enhance the market value very much, if any. At best, receipts can be helpful negotiating tools. The insurance company should be able to give you reasons for its estimates of the F.M.V., based on local or regional prices for similar vehicles. North Carolina Insurance regulations require that "(if) a written statement is requested by the claimant, a total loss payment by an insurer shall be accompanied by a written statement listing the estimates, evaluations and deductions used in calculating the payment, if any, and the source of these values."

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DO I GET "SALVAGE VALUE" FOR MY "TOTALLED" VEHICLE?
You can choose to keep possession and title to your "totalled" vehicle, but the insurance company will probably deduct "salvage value" for the parts of the car that could be sold and used.

If the vehicle is a total loss, and the insurance company pays the full F.M.V., you must provide an "unencumbered" title to the car (meaning that you actually own it and can legally sign off on the title), and surrender possession of the vehicle.

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CAN I GET THE CHECK?
Is your car paid off? The insurance company must pay the bank or loan company if there's anything owed on your car loan. You will get a check for any amount left. Sometimes a "joint check" from the insurance company may have your name and the name of the bank on the check, which you sign and turn it over to the bank, which will pay off the loan and refund any difference to you.

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WHAT IF THE CHECK ISN'T ENOUGH TO PAY OFF MY LOAN?
Again, the insurance company is only obligated to pay the fair market value of your car. The law really doesn't care about your loan arrangements or balance. If there is not enough money to pay-off your loan, you may be able to "substitute collateral." That is, you get another vehicle with the insurance check, but continue making loan payments on your original loan. Ask the dealer if it would be willing to help you with a substitution of collateral. Usually, the insurance company sends the property check to the loan company, which sends the title to the insurance company. The loan company transfers what you owe on your wrecked car to a new loan on the new vehicle selected by you and the dealer. This procedure allows you to settle the property damage claim as well as provide you with a replacement vehicle. You may not even be required to make another down payment on the replacement car.If your vehicle is paid off and all yours, then the liability insurance company can write a check directly to you.

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WHAT ABOUT TOWING AND STORAGE?
The insurance company for the at-fault driver should pay all reasonable towing and storage charges. It is required to give three days written notice that it will no longer pay for storage.

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CAN I RENT A CAR?
You are entitled to compensation for your "loss of use" of your vehicle, when it is damaged. Whether you actually rent a vehicle (of like kind -- you can't get a limo or S.U.V. if your car was a Honda Civic), is really up to you. The liability insurance company is not technically obligated to pay for a rental car after a reasonable offer is made to pay for your replacement vehicle, but sometimes the insurance company will allow you a few more days. There is no harm in asking for a little time to buy a replacement vehicle. Likewise, a company is not obligated to pay for a rental if your car is driveable, but you are entitled to "loss of use" damages for the period it is out of service due to "reasonable repairs."
Some companies have relationships with car rental agencies. A call from the insurance company to the rental agency will get you a car, and the liability insurance company will usually pay the rental agencies directly.

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DO I HAVE TO PAY FOR GAS AND INSURANCE?
Sure you do. You'd have to pay that anyway for your own car, even if there had been no wreck. If you do not already have collision coverage, you may be required to purchase this coverage prior to obtaining a rental vehicle.

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MY CAR'S BEEN DAMAGED BUT NOT "TOTALLED"... WHAT NOW?
Assuming your car can be repaired (the cost of repairs is not more than 75% of the cash value of your car), then the insurance company of the at-fault driver should pay for your repairs. DO NOT get your car fixed until someone from the insurance company examines it.

Many insurance companies have "drive-in" claims service, but you do not have to use it. On the other hand, it usually speed up your claim. Even if you go to the drive-in service, you can also obtain independent estimates.

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DO I NEED TO GET AN ESTIMATE?
If you don't use an insurance company's "drive-thru" or "drive-in" service (and you don't have to) you may have to get two estimates. If the adjuster wants more than two, the insurance company must pay for them under North Carolina Insurance Regulations. If the adjuster accepts liability and advises you to have your vehicle repaired, you can (and should) request a written statement saying it is okay.

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WHAT ABOUT DEPRECIATION?
It doesn't take a genius to recognize that two cars of the same make, model, year, mileage, options, etc. will nonetheless have different values if only one of them has had significant repairs after a wreck. Depreciation simply is the decrease in the fair market value of your motor vehicle as the direct result of having been significantly damaged. It is a loss over and above the repairs.

Depreciation will vary greatly, depending on the damage done, the year and mileage of the car, the marketplace and other factors.

Again, keep in mind that North Carolina law entitles you to the loss of "fair market value" of your vehicle from just before the wreck to the value just afterwards. Merely paying the cost of repairs, especially to a badly damaged new vehicle, may not be enough.

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CAN A LAWYER HELP?
As we said above, it usually is not economical for a lawyer to handle just your property damage claim. Most lawyers will take care of your car damage claim as part of representing you for any injuries your personally suffered in the car crash. For more information, about hiring a lawyer after an accident, click here.

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