Insurance pay off amounts?

[Trouble Maker]

I check every once in a while to see what the pay off amount is for the loan on my car. Just to see if I'm flipped over or not. Well I just kind of compared it to both the dealer (retail) amount for my car and the private party (usually check on Edmunds and KBB, sometimes NADA). If your car is totaled, which one do they usually use? I can assume the dealer/retail cost, and I've also heard they usually use KBB. But I just wanted to know for sure.

[Ziggy1647545504]

I am an insurance estimator for a large insurance company. We use the NADA guide and adjustments for milage and options for a base line figure, but when it comes to settlement, we use the ACV or actual cash value. The ACV takes into consideration any pre-existing damage on the vehicle, milage, and overall vehicle condition. The ACV is usually pretty close to the NADA adjusted figure unless you have unrepaired collision damage, or really bad paint, etc...

[Clifford Automotive]

hmmm

[Trouble Maker]

Originally posted by 360 IROC:

hmmm

 

Originally posted by Old Diesel:

We use the NADA guide and adjustments for milage and options for a base line figure, but when it comes to settlement, we use the ACV or actual cash value. The ACV takes into consideration any pre-existing damage on the vehicle, milage, and overall vehicle condition. The ACV is usually pretty close to the NADA adjusted figure unless you have unrepaired collision damage, or really bad paint, etc...

The ACV thing makes perfect sense.

 

Which NADA value do you use? I'm assuming retail, but would like to know for sure just for future reference. Weird, Edmunds is really good about having every option that was actually available for my car, no more, no less, called by what it was actually called when it was sold. But NADA is horrible from that aspect. Oh well, NADA is a little higher anyways.

[verse]

Wow, I actually thought that if I checked NADA on my car it would say it's worth like $800, but it's about right, $2000.

[Mark1647545493]

I just went thru this with State farm and the adjuster told me that they use the "Red" book. The way the red book works is they research what cars are worth in your region and then adjust accordingly. Also he said that the red book is for insurance companies. State Farm's adjuster told me my 89 GT conv. with 110K miles is still worth $4500. I thought that sounded fair.

[Alex1647545498]

Gap insurance is good.

[Clifford Automotive]

the hmmm was for a statement i made but edited it

 

i have never heard of the stated practices with any adjuster

 

two post above i have heard of, i didnt want to start an argument over anything. i deal with insurance companies on a daily basis and have never heard of such a thing. i know for a fact the dont give you actual cash value. mustang nutt has got it to a tee though. this is the way its done

 

hmmm

 

the

[ancientmysts]

I got a really good deal on a car I bought, and totaled. I bought a 91' Geo Storm GSI (My first car, so don't hate it) for $2,500. About a month later I totaled it, and after my deductable ($500) I still got about $3,200. I didn't understand it, because I thought it was also based on the price that you paid for the car. But I got more than I paid, good for me I guess.

[GRN96WS6]

I know none of my ins comapnies have asked me how much I paid for my car. I had a 94 Accord Ex sedan that someone totalled that I bought for $4900. When I got the money after buying it back for $800 I stil got $4300 so I made out.

[Trouble Maker]

Originally posted by Mr. 2:

Gap insurance is good.

According to 'retail' on most sites, I'm about $1-2k up right now (I owe that much less than the car is worth). My car seems to be holding value right now too, over about the last six months.

 

Where do I find said red book? I searched online and the only thing I could find was some Austrian website.

 

I should just call my insurance guy. I figured someone on here would have a straight answer.