Tough loss, but at least everyone is ok. Good luck with everything, I know insurance can be a b**** sometimes.

 

Amir, I sent you a detailed PM..... Follow it to very closely and do not budge..... Make sure you get checked out also just to be on the safe side.....

 

ahh man that sucks my back and neck is hurting just looking at that and you hit another toyota

 

at least it was a smaller vehicle and not a big dump truck.

 

I would definitely argue fault if they try to pin it on you, 50/50 is the worst I would accept. Simple fact is the other driver should not even have been on the road, if they had not broken the law you would not have had an accident. I know it's never that simple, but that's my thought process.

As for the lowball, just remember, "You're in good hands with Allstate" , what a crock that is!

 

jsut talked to the adjuster, he said to come up with a receipt for the tires and they will reimburse me and the brakes are normal wear and tear. i dont have the receipt for the tires, bought them brand new but off of craigslist. dang!

 

Contact the person you bought them off of and ask them to send you a receipt. Also any email transaction, bank statements, cashed checks, money orders (even if paid with cash you can show the withdrawl amount vs. price), paypal etc.. can be used as a receipt.

Sorry about the accident, glad you were not seriously hurt.

 

You had to get them installed somewhere at a shop right? Any shop would of kept track if they put the tires on for you and had them balanced. Wiite down the contact information of the shop who installed the tires. Go online and find the pricing of the tires, forward that to the Insurance Company. State that you bought the tires from a private party on www.craigslist.com BRAND NEW.

Any tire person can tell if the tires are newer by a tread depth guage... Get a tire depth guage, you can get this at almost any good auto parts store or tire store for a couple dollars. Be more than kind and ask to meet a field agent out @ the site so you both can measure the tread depth together. Along with your information about you purchased the tires privately, paid cash, reciept from where you got the tires mounted/balanced from, and meeting the field agent that should be more than enough facts for them to give you the difference.

As stated above by piratefins, see if the seller will give you a reciept.. If not, go my route..... The insurance company will not like you..... Because it will cost them even more money to send a field agent out.... But hey, remember you are playing "their game" and they do not like it.

 

i cant find the contact info for the dude who sold me the tires. dang. i have no access to the vehicle, the accident happend in boston but they towed it to somewhere in ny. allstate does not operate in mass. im a ny resident.

 

Insurance companies are the best at negotiating. The person that comes with the first offer usually wins a negotiation. They opened with a crazy lowball and for the most part it usually works. They convince you that KBB is wrong (even though everyone sells their cars at KBB, so THAT is the REAL value) and that their "independent" source is right. Make sure that their lowball offer doesn't affect what you really want out of it. You can fight it with a lawyer, but just make sure you don't give up.

If they keep giving you hassles, contact your BBB or a lawyer.

 

sorry to hear about the crash. glad youre ok. im not sure about time restraints. i had a claim in for OVER a year before i finalized it and collected.

someone hit my 91 yota and i still got 5k from insurance and my yota is still drivable (only rear bed damage). fight hard for your money. dont let them get away with robbery!

 

In this part of the world if the intersection is uncontrolled, ie no lights or Stop signs then the rule is give way to the right. In that case you had the right of way and they are totally at fault. I thought rule that was common across North America.

 

I just went through similar, got hit in early December, just got my truck back last week. I got hit by a drunk driver in my truck (1990 with 260k on it) but I have put over $3200 into it in the last 8 months including a 3.4 conversion with only 35k on it, a rebuilt trans with only 1k on it, and a bunch of other stuff. Anyways, the KBB is $4200 for my truck, so add on for the mods, it would easily be considered fair market value of around $6000 or so. According to farmers the truck was worth $2100, and they would give me $800 for the $3200 in receipts i gave them. They were going to give me $3200 for the truck and total it, or $2600 and I retain salvage rights. I refused the offer, and filed a complaint with the department of insurance. I ended up sending about an inch thick packet of papers proving what my truck was worth, what the damages were, comparable vehicles to mine, as well as comparable to what they said my truck was worth (rusted out and non-running vehicles is all that were comparable) to both department of insurance and an identical packet to Farmers addressed to the manager. After talking to numerous managers, and informing them that the department of insurance had been notified, they said it was my right and didnt seem to care. I finally got to speak to the HEAD manager of the San Diego office, and he got ahold of my packet, and received a letter from the department of insurance... He then decided he would work with me. I honestly think they thought I was bluffing about the department of insurance, and wanted to disuade me from filing with the department of insurance. Well the damages were $3000, I asked for $3500. He ended up giving me $3550, and I had the shop fix it and leave it in primer which ended up $2450, prepped it myself and had a friend spray the entire truck which ended up less than a grand, so it all worked out. This was strung out over more than 2 months, and I honestly was worried I would lose my pride and joy (my truck).

Anyways, sorry for the long story but I wanted to let you know what happened to me and what worked for me. DEFINATLY report it to the department of insurance for your state. DO YOUR HOMEWORK and find as much proof as you can that your truck is worth what it is, and that their offer is bullÅÅÅÅ. And whatever you do DONT GIVE UP! If you give up they win, they are going to try and give you as little as possible, after all they are in the business to make money and they dont care how dirty and scummy they have to be to get it. And as for the lawyer, if you were not injured it will be very hard to find a lawyer to represent you, and if you do, they will likely be very expensive and require money up front.

 

thanks for the info. i will definitely contact my state's dept of insurance and file a complaint. does the insurance company get notified of the complaint? because i was just looking at the complaint form and they ask for policy # and claim # and name of person etc.

 

Good luck with the insurance, i'm battling them right now too

 

The department of insurance does not notify them the complaint has been filed, when you talk to the department of insurance on the phone, they advise you to call and inform the insurance company. According to them, sometimes it kinda scares them into working with you, that wasnt the case in my experience, they didnt decide to work with me until they actually recieved the letter disputing the claim. So if you dont inform the insurance company, they will not know until they recieve the letter.

 

Steve, you sent the letter disputing the claim? or through you lawyer?

 

When you file with the department of insurance over the phone, they send you a form to fill out with all of the information. When you send that back to them, they want you to send ALL of your proof (ie. comparable trucks to yours, comparable trucks to what the lowball offer is, and any other proof you have that your truck is worth more than what they are offering you.) After the department of insurance received my packet, they reviewed it, and sent a letter to Farmers disputing the claim. I sent an identical packet to Farmers though, just to try and scare them into working with me. I had a rock solid packet of information though, I had 10 or so comparable trucks advertised for $4000 - $6000, and I called the seller and found out that two of them had sold for $4200, and one for $4900. I also had comparable trucks to the $2100 Farmers said my truck was worth, one was rusted out, and one was a "Great project truck" that the engine did not run. I then had three estimates from local body shops showing that the truck had approximatly $3000 in damage. That was proving that the truck was worth well over $4000, and the damage was only $3000... So my truck was not totaled. It worked, they fixed my truck, and I dropped the claim with the department of insurance. Also, If you call on advertised vehicles, and find out if they have sold already, and find out what they sold for, that is considered "Fair Market Value", which is a better number to go by, rather than going from the advertised cost. The insurance will tell you that just because the seller asks a certain price, does not mean they will get that much. So fair market value is what they will go by. So when you look for comparable trucks, call on them, find out what they sold for if they have sold. And also, request that Allstate send you a copy of their information about your truck, then call and talk to the sellers of the comparable truck they have listed. I called on mine, and one of them turned out to be false information. (It was listed on Farmers sheet as a 1991 Toyota Xtracab V6 5Spd., I called and found out the seller actually sold a 1992 Toyota Regular Cab 4cyl automatic). So I mentioned that in the packet of information as well. So to recap, do all of your homework, gather all of your information in a professional manner, write a cover letter for your packet describing the entire situation, and what a reasonable settlement would be, and hope for the best. If you provide the facts, Allstate can not deny the facts as long as you cover all of the bases, they will get caught with their pants down. I know it is a pain in the ass, and it is a horrible feeling that you are going to lose your yota and get screwed, but you have to fight or they will win.

 

you have to have access to the vehicle untill you sign it over to them... you still hold the title, or if there are payments, you are paying on it to a bank ect....

 

ok, i work for an insurance company, and contrary to popular belief, we arent all devils. they should be willing to work with you. find something comparable in the area, and present that to them. Im not an adjuster, but have worked in insurance for 2 years. the more proof you have that it is worth more, the better. dont let them push you around. so many people just take the check and go, but they will work with you. i know that you can file a claim at least up to 3 years, and still be ok. thats in colorado. it might even be 5 years. you shouldnt have any troubles with that. good luck, and dont back down. i definitely wouldnt "lawyer up" or they will win. insurance companies do this all day long, and getting a lawyer is just going to cost you more, and take twice as long easily. let me know if you have specific questions.