I was rear ended rear ended last week and am awaiting a return call from the insurance agent of the liable truck that hit me. My car is a 2000 honda accord ex vtec 4 cylinder with 92000 miles on it. It was in excellent condition which kbb values at about $7000. In the last month i've put well over $1000 worth of audio equipment in it (dvd head unit, nav, new speakers, subwoofer, speaker amplifier, sub amplifier). The two amps are mounted to the sub box in the trunk which i noticed was knocked over after i was hit. I'm asking if anybody who knows about insurance companies or cars could look at the pictures i posted and let me know how much damage there is. It looks like the bumper frame is bent, and who knows if my amps and sub still works. What should I expect to hear from the liable insurance company? Whats the best way to go about dealing with them so I get fair compensation? Totaled or not? A tanker truck carrying milk to a cheese factory hit an suv behind me which hit me when traffic slowed down in a construction zone on the highway. So im dealing with an commercial agriculture insurance rep from nationwide.

Pictures:

View image: honda2 - my car
View image: honda1 - my car
View image: suv front - suv that hit me
View image: suv rear - suv that got hit
View image: truck - truck that hit suv


ive been working on this car daily for the past month.. 3 to 4 hours a day making the interior extremely nice.. replaced all interior lights with leds, rear view camera, dvd nav head unit, new speakers, amps, wired everything nicely, did this for my bionic..

My car dock hack. HDMI out to car audio/video (webtop/mirror/netflix)

I would like to get as much $$ as possible without committing insurance fraud, i loved my car!

 

during my build (400+ hours) i've shared my build log with my insurance company. anything bolted down is covered. anything not bolted down is not covered (if your sub box wasn't bolted down - it may not be covered).

your insurance company will determine value, you won't. you can ask for a second opinion as they will use "shops" and not a Honda dealer. a Honda dealer using new OEM parts will be more expensive than a "shop" using junkyard parts.

You shouldn't have to do anything. Your insurance agent should talk to the necessary parties and work everything out. You may need to bug them to find out who is dragging their feet.

 

I haven't shared any of the added equipment with my insurance company.. It probably all still works and if its totaled I'll be able take it out of the old car and re-install it no problem. What I really want to know is how much money I stand to get from the insurance company, in your opinion, based on the pictures and information about my car. Say you were evaluating the damage, how much would you offer if you worked for an insurance company(based on pics and info i provided)? And whats the best way to make that number as big as possible?

 

My insurance agent (geico) said they could take car of it, which would be when they get to it. Also, geico is not covering the cost as my family has liability only coverage. So nationwide is paying for the cost of repair or for the value of the car if its totaled. I need a vehicle in less than 2 weeks to get back to school so they told me if I want to speed up the process call the nationwide guy myself with the claim #, which i did. Left 2 voicemails and haven't heard back yet im hoping he will call tomorrow morning. I don't know whether to mention the added electrical equipment and the many many hours and money i spent installing and perfecting them.. if that will increase the amount of money i get or not

If your me, and have two weeks to either get the car repaired and rewire all the stuff thats broken, or get a new car and reinstall the equipment i'll take out of the totaled one, what are you doing to make this go as quickly as possible and get the most compensation for the time money and aggravation.

Other people have said on yahoo answers to get a few estimates to repair the damage from local shops and pick the highest and argue until I'm happy with what I'm offered from whoever estimates the damage. Since the car probably isn't driveable, then I'd have to get it towed to each place I want an estimate from which doesn't seem like the best idea since I want to speed this process up not slow it down

 

the pictures don't show structural damage, so it's not possible to guess a value with those two pictures.

i can say, that the entire rear quarter, the trunk lid, the taillight assembly, and the rear bumper are all parts you can get the dealer cost for on hondapartsdeals.com. whatever price you see there, you can double that for the cost the insurance company will have to pay the shop. from there, you're looking at $60-80/hr for labor + painting to match.

My 02 camry was hit by a van. trunk lid, taillight, bumper, rear quarter, and trunk floor pan were damaged, not nearly as bad as yours. $2400 by the toyota dealership.

if the frame is fine, and the suspension is fine, that's probably just under $3500 of damage/repair you have there. if either suspension or frame are damaged, it's totalled.




you really can't make the process go much faster. you can bug people, but they have the power to make it take longer, and no one cares about your own needs. internet insurance companies don't have to worry about you showing up in person.

this is further complected by you not having collision. note that there is a difference between uninsured/underinsured motorist coverages as it relates to medical expenses and property damage (your car). you have to specifically ask for property damage and have that added, most companies will not put that on there because it saves them money. i learned that the hard way.


you can take the car to a Honda dealership, ask them for the quote, give that to the Nationwide agent, and get his approval, then have them fix it. The repair alone will take a few weeks - they have to find and order parts, have them shipped, etc. and they are likely busy and you are not a huge priority if they have to wait for insurance money. Most likely, you won't have your car in time for school, but you could negotiate for a rental in the meantime. ideally, you'll have them bill Nationwide directly. if you need the car fixed sooner, you can pay for the repairs and get a reimbursement.