John:

The insurance company (sounds like it should ultimately be the cited
driver's) is certainly not obligated to pay any more that "fair
market value" no matter how much you want it repaired instead of
totaled.  So you need to arm yourself with as much ammunition as possible
to push that "fair market value" as high as possible.  List every
possible addition you've made to the car, list every option, etc.  You
can start with the Kelly Blue Book online (I'd assume you'd start with
the top retail value) and add on everything you legitimately can.  Also
try and run down as many comparible actual sales for a similar vehicle in
your area.  Don't forget to add sales tax if that's charged in your state.

In your first conversation with the insurance company you casually
mention that you might like to retain the salvage vehicle.  The insurance
company should then come with an offer (lowball) of "so much for FMV less
so much for salvage."  If you're happy with the salvage figure (that is,
you think it's low) just leave it alone and negotiate only on the FMV number.

In the best situation, you'll get a nice high FMV number and a low
salvage number (here's where the insurance company's use of averages can
work against them).

On Sat, 2 May 1998, John C. Villines wrote:

> [snip]
> Anyway, when I went to pick
> it up I discovered that an out of control vehicle had come around the
> curve at the detail shop while the Westy was being moved and...yup,
> slammed into the passenger side, rolling it over and sliding it along
> the driver's side and roof  for quite some distance.  The driver was
> uninjured.  The most extensive damage was done to the sliding door and
> right rear quarter panel, with no apparent frame damage but lots of
> scrapes, broken glass, dash damage, etc.  It is quite a sad sight and my
> concern is that I will probably have to engage in protracted litigation
> with the various insurer's (detail shop, mine, and the cited driver of
> the other vehicle) to force repair as opposed to accepting a check for
> the estimated book value (which will obviously not reflect the unique
> nature or relative scarcity of these vehicles).  I would be very
> grateful for any advice from list members who may have encountered
> similar struggles in dealing with insurers.
>

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Tom Young                young@sherlock.SIMS.Berkeley.EDU
Lafayette, CA  94549     '81 Vanagon
---------------------------------------------------------------------