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While I feel your pain, you are getting a check for $8000, which is what you and the insurer agreed to. Beyond that you are at the mercy of the good graces of an insurance carrier, which - is NOT a place one wants to be. If they flatly refuse to sell back to you, that's a damn shame, but not against any laws, or gen accepted accounting principles as far as I know.
You have to be very careful about the terms Stated Value vs Agreed Value. The OP's first post references Stated Value, but as it turns out in following the other posts his policy is for Agreed Value and what this company writes, which is the better of the 2 types, and what Hagerty also offers (I have 3 cars with Hagerty). The difference is that Agreed Value means you and the insurance company have agreed on the value of the car and this is the number that they will pay you in the event the car is a total loss - you're policy was for $8,000 Agreed Value and they are paying you $8,000 - that's not a rip-off - that's the terms of the contract you entered into.
Stated Value policies mean you "state" your car is worth more than the normal Blue Book value for that year, model, & mileage for some reason, but in the event of a partial or total loss, the insurance company's claims administrator and or adjuster will actually do market research to determine if you Stated Value is accurate or not. They may or may not pay your claim at the Stated Value, so obviously, a Stated Value policy is not nearly as good as an Agreed Value policy.
Still seems odd to me they won't sell it back to you, deducting some amount from the claim payment. Maybe they'll change their mind once they look into 928 market values for normal 928s. Keep in mind that they will probably not reinsure the car for you since they consider it totalled and it may also have a Salvage Title once you buy it back, which means other insurance companies may also not be willing to insure it with any collision coverage, just liability and comprehensive coverages.
I feel your pain, and get your point although have others have pointed out, not really a "rip-off" per-se, but still unusual. Bybacks are common and frankly a good way for the insurance company to recoup the $$, although at that point you have a salvage title car. So it IS strange they won't do it.
However, I'm still curious on the original question - does the car actually have more than $8K in damage? Where did the adjuster take the car? Have you looked into other options? This is the part of the story that's still unclear.
Sounds like someone at the insurance company likes your car and knows where to get it fixed! Regardless, your deal with the insurance company was exactly as it is playing out..... They choose not to pay for repair (or repair cost exceeds agreed value), you get paid the agreed amount.
Not to be harsh but the only ripping off here is you asking them to total it out, pay you and then let you buy it back.
Should be a lesson for everyone on agreed value. Good luck with a challenging situation.
For those mentioning Hagerty, do they allow buy backs and if so, what percentage do you pay?
I dropped Hagerty after 20+ years as their rates were getting ridiculous. I was at $700 a year for $15K on the Weissach and two vintage motorcycles at $11K. I knew something was up when they sent out their video Christmas card link and there were a number of angry comments about rates skyrocketing.
I switched to AMI and the same agreed value was $277 a year with fewer restrictions.
I got a wake up call after seeing two Weissachs (not nearly as nice as mine) hit ~$30K on BAT, so I upped the policy to $35K when I renewed this month. I had to justify the value by sending links to BAT, photos and a scan of its certificate and they were fine with it.
That brought me up to $379 a year. With Hagerty, it probably would have been nearing $1,000.
If there's enough damage to total it at $35K, I doubt I'd want it back.
Interesting comment regarding Hagerty. They are now insuring my 86.5 for $48k. My '80 at $15k and my Sunbeam for $22k My premium is $1100 per year for all three cars. Of course I live in the land of pot holes and they know we can't drive over 25mph without major damage.
Interesting comment regarding Hagerty. They are now insuring my 86.5 for $48k. My '80 at $15k and my Sunbeam for $22k My premium is $1100 per year for all three cars. Of course I live in the land of pot holes and they know we can't drive over 25mph without major damage.
What are your liability limits? I have a $1 million umbrella policy with my main carrier and it requires all my vehicles to have $500,000 in liability coverage.
Hagerty did not care for that and it wasn't even an option on their website at the time...some combination of 300K/100K was their highest. After going a few rounds with them on the phone, they upped it to $500K along with a jump in premiums.
I just went through an emotional ordeal after my nearly mint '88 e30 convertible 5 speed was totaled by another driver earlier this year. Unfortunately I didn't have collision. I drove it carefully after all. No way it would ever get totaled. Wrong! My company graciously stepped away from the situation. Fortunately, the other driver admitted fault and was cited at the scene, so I thought I was going to be okay in being 'made whole' by his insurer. Not the case, and the battle begun. It was like pulling teeth to get the other company to move off of comparing automatic hard tops from upstate New York. I finally got the low end of fair market value, but what a pain. There are only so many threats you can levy on an insurance company when there are no injuries reported.
The last glimpse of my Beemer:
A souvenir chunk from the front fender:
Lesson learned: for your less-than-conventional classic, maintain an up-to-date* agreed value collision insurance or risk the likelihood of a painful negotiation.
* I say up-to-date, because like most classics, our cars are appreciating in value - not holding the line or depreciating like some adjusters would like to claim. Like Pete says, Agreed Value is just that...the insurance company's obligation to pay an agreed amount - regardless of what the market says. But what if you don't periodically adjust that amount? My BMW experience reminded me to check the AVs on my GT and my S4. I had stated both values several years ago and they were well under what the cost for a like replacement would be. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but the way I see it, had I not raised the AV on either car, the insurance company would only have to pay out what they were obligated to - even if the market value were higher! Brad, if the market solidly showed the value of your car at $12k, but your agreed value was $8k I believe that you'd have a hell of a time getting a penny more than $8k.
As far as being able to buy back a totaled car, I agree with nosnow's point. A buddy of mine was able buy his car back after being totaled by the insurance company, but no matter how much he begged and pleaded to keep title in his name, they insisted on reissuing the title as salvage.
Brad, I'm not at all surprised that your insurance company is looking to recoup whatever they can from what they paid you by selling your car to a dismantler. If I specialized in parts for classic cars and there was a strong market for repaired hail damaged cars with salvage titles, I'd be ready to pay good money for a documented car and would want to be the first guy called by the insurance company after they total a classic. I am surprised that you weren't offered a buy-back figure for your newly salvaged-titled 928.
I'm curious - what kind of car was your neighbor able to buy back, and were they able to keep their title as non-salvage?
Texas won't let insurance issue a branded title for hail damage. I bought our CLK back (same storm) for $1400.00 and the title is still in my name. According to the insurance it was a total loss.
Another option for insurance is State Farm. I have an agreed value policy on my 84 for $12,000. I'd guess that's about what it's worth. It's $150/6 months on the road and $70/6 months of storage. Having a historic plate on it massively dropped the cost of insurance in MI.
A friend is insuring his 348 with them for an agreed value of $70,000 and is paying $225/6 months. Also has a historic plate.
Well, after a few weeks dealing with the insurance company they are still refusing to sell the car back to me for salvage cost. The adjuster called today and asked "is the car ready to be picked up or do you want to cancel the claim?" I was taken back by the rude demeanor and bluntness in his voice. I am just absolutely floored that buying a car back for savage cost is not a option. It is sad that this will go to a salvage yard and stripped when I could put it back on the road with some TLC and $$$.
04-24-2017, 09:26 PM
