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How Can I Get The Best Insurance Settlement on my Car When my Insurance Company Won’t Budge on the Appraisal?

Written by Michele Wilmonen. Posted in Ask An Insurance Question Last Updated: 03/25/2012

Standing firm and doing your research is the best way to increase the insurance settlement.

Your insurance company is all about the bottom line. They are in business to make money; and they do so by collecting your premium, not from paying out on claims. This means that when it comes to paying you for the total loss of your vehicle, most insurance companies are going to try and pay as little as possible.

To be able to get the true value of what your vehicle may be worth from the insurance company, be prepared with information to back up what you believe is the worth of your vehicle.

First, find out what the Blue Book value is for your vehicle, so you know what value your insurance company is using. Blue Book values have different levels of how much a vehicle is worth and you want to make sure that the insurance company isn’t using the lowest one listed. This will also give you a starting point of what to request for the insurance settlement amount.

You also need to find out what similar vehicles are selling for in your area. You will want to make copies of the sales ads for the vehicles, as proof to send to the claims adjuster working your case. Use this information to back up what you claim is the value of the vehicle.

Most of all, never take the first offer that the claims adjuster presents to you. You need to stand your ground and negotiate until it reaches a reasonable, insurance settlement amount that you can live with for the value of your vehicle.

 

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Michele Wilmonen

Michele's first introduction to insurance was working for a major insurance company as a file clerk and a mailroom supervisor in a regional office. She learned insurance directly from underwriters and claims adjusters from questions and also watching them do their job. Since then, she's earned a number of insurance certifications from the Insurance Institute of America and also a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Idaho. She blogs at Car Insurance Guidebook.

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