My car is a 2004 S60 2.5T. I was rearended by a 2008 Ford F150 in January of 2008. My car was in the shop for over a month to be repaired.

To make a long story short I’ve been fighting with Allstate about a depreciated value claim. When the wreck happened I was told by Allstate that the damage wouldn't decrease the value of my car and that they didn't have to pay out any depreciated value. When I tried to trade my car in for a new one I was told by the dealer that Allstate had mislead me and that my car was worth substantially less after a wreck - reguardless of the repairs being done. I called Allstate who agreed that there is depreciated value. Allstate had me get a 3rd party appraisal (actually I got two) and after doing so they said my claim was worth about 12.5% of what the appraisal came back. (both appraisals I got were around $6k, Allstate said $750.)

The sticking points I have will Allstate are as follows. Any comments about any of these would be great. I ask this forum for help because I believe you make up what we could consider the “Volvo buyer”.

1. Volvo’s are sold because of their safety record. (In my opinion). I have stated that your average Volvo buyer wouldn’t be interested in a car which had over $6000 worth of rear-end damage which also included structural damage. Allstate said that the damage would reduce the value of my vehicle by 0-5%. ($0-$750). Both of the appraisals I got said the number was somewhere between 35-40%. What do you think?

2. Allstate claims that a unibody constructed vehicle, such as my S60, is just as strong after a collision where structural damage is repaired. In my case the back of the car had to be rebuilt. The shop I got the work done at said that because of the kind of high strength steel they use that once repaired it is never as strong as it was before the wreck. What is your opinion of this? Can anyone site anything which states that repaired unibody vehicles are not as strong as vehicles which have never been repaired? (This seems like common sense to me but Allstate said that a repaired vehicle is just as strong and safe as one which has never been wrecked).

Thank you all for your help. I’ve had to get the Arizona Department of Insurance involved in this now. Before I got the DOI involved Allstate wouldn’t return my calls for weeks at a time. Now they have called me and have said “we want to make this go away” but they don’t want to raise their offer. I don’t want to have to hire an attorney but I will if I have to. Thank you!

Dan

 

Damn Dan..what a mess. A wrecked car is never as strong as it was before the wreck...that's common sense. I've never been insured with Allstate, but I'm sure I won't be in the future after reading this post either...

 

You are not kidding! I've had to fight them over EVERYTHING. The repair, the rental car, and now this. All I was doing was driving my girlfriend and son to Ikea and WHAM... rear ended!

I just wish I had some of the HUNDREDS of hours I've spent on this back. Missed days at work, missed time with my family. What a pain.

Daniel

 

I would never buy a wrecked car ... that was one of my criteria when I bought by used '06 S6. I am not alone with this opinion. This is what I would recommend to you. In my state, we have an "Insurance Commissioner" who wields lots of power and will make any insurance company, body shop, or repair shop buckle at the knees if you inform them that you will "go to the commissioner". Look into this, it may be an option for you in your state.