re: wife's car was struck by another...am afraid her vehicle will be totaled, which

quote:

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.it was their policy holder, in the midst of a temper tantrum, who has potentially altered our standard of living so why should we be penalized

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Legally, the other insurance company is only liable to restore you to the condition you were in before the accident. The hardest thing for people to do in these situations is to detach themselves emotionally. You have a lot of effort and time put into the vehicle, but all they see is a 98 vehicle with a lot of miles on it. Trying to convince them it's worth more than they think it is is tough. Imagine you going out to buy the same vehicle with the same miles.

I mean it sucks for you because you may be losing a car you're very familiar with. You know its faults. You know its strengths. But in the end, as long as they offer you the ACV for your area, they've met their legal obligation.

The worst part, and I say this to prepare you, is the ACV is 9 times out of 10 lower than the retail prices in your area. It's usually somewhere between the trade-in value and the private seller retail price. Go ahead and do some research on Edmunds or TrueCar to get an idea what those prices are, so if they do total it you can counter their offer.