The OP did not mention, Have you gone back to Geico with a counter offer yet? Find comparable cars in your area and document why you find their offer is not acceptable.

Until they reject your reasonable counter offer there is no reason to get excited yet. If they have then you are probably left with talking to a lawyer but over 2k will you really come out any better off in the end? If they meet you halfway how much of that will you end up paying the lawyer?

Micropterus Had some good ideas abought asking Geico for their report on how they came up with the offer.

I didn't read all the replies above, so this has probably already been said:
GET A LAWYER....NOW.
Do exactly what he says.

You are trying to be "reasonable".
The insurance company is trying to minimize their payout.
The insurance company has lots of experience and professionals working to minimize this payout.
You don't even know what it is that you don't know.

Not a hit and run, as OP asked about, but a stolen 1972 Porsche 911 (this happened in 1974), so still a total loss.

Allstate Insurance made an unacceptable low-ball offer. The car was financed through Allstate. I stopped making payments, and when Allstate Finance got testy, I told them to talk to Allstate Insurance. Or, they were welcome to repo the car, if they could find it.

I had no luck negotiating with Allstate Insurance, so I got my friendly agent involved. He pointed out to the adjuster that Blue Book or whatever other references the adjuster was using, were not catalogs. A replacement car could not be ordered via these publications.

Between the agent, who was on my side, and me, we raised hell all the way to Allstate Corp's executive offices.

It ended up with Allstate Insurance telling me to find what I considered an equivalent replacement and they would evaluate buying it for me. I found a same year Mercedes 280SL / 4.5 in very nice condition, told Allstate, they went to the Mercedes dealer to do price negotiation, and bought the car for me. I still kick myself in the ass for selling it a few years later.

I would wonder what the source of all the market value sales is.

In this age where lying and cheating have been elevated to an art form, it would strike me as improbable that used car sales figures would be pure as the driven snow.

Moreover, we know that the selling price of a vehicle can vary depending on the terms, trade ins, financing and other factors not reflected in the raw number.

quote:

GET A LAWYER....NOW.
Do exactly what he says.

You are trying to be "reasonable".
The insurance company is trying to minimize their payout.

The only problem here is that he's talking about a $2,000 difference.

How much will a lawyer cost? There's no sense in paying $3,000 to recover $2,000.

quote:

Originally posted by Micropterus:
As an insurance adjuster, I will tell you that GEICO, and most other insureres, evaluate the value of your car by doing a market survey. In other words, checking the various books is one way to get your vehicle's value, but typically the insurer will find similar vehicles in your economic region that are close to yours to see what they are selling for. That is the principal way an insurer arrives at your vehicles value. You need to ask them precisely what vehicles they found upon which they based your value. If they are substantially different or aren't availabe, they should reperform their evaluation.

Most insurers won't negotiatate a total loss offer. They know they have you over a barrel. So most will stick with their offer, or change it very little. You need to ask them for their "Valuation Report" and make sure they are comparing your car to similar others. If they haven't, emphatically point it out to them. Don't be afraid to tell them that you have no compunction about reporting the dispute to the insurance commission.

Micropterus,

Thank you for the insight.

After getting the wife to settle down last night, we looked (online) for similar models with the expectation that is what will happen when we ask "where are the vehicles in that price range in similar condition?" We found one, ~90 miles away and about $700 more than their offer.

The ones in a 50 mile range are in the $1,000 - $1,500 range. If we can get them to come up 6.5% - 8.0%, it will likely be the best we can hope for.

quote:

Originally posted by SpinZone:
The OP did not mention, Have you gone back to Geico with a counter offer yet? Find comparable cars in your area and document why you find their offer is not acceptable.

Until they reject your reasonable counter offer there is no reason to get excited yet. If they have then you are probably left with talking to a lawyer but over 2k will you really come out any better off in the end? If they meet you halfway how much of that will you end up paying the lawyer?

Micropterus Had some good ideas abought asking Geico for their report on how they came up with the offer.

Just replied to Micropterus' reply.

We received the offer about 1400 yesterday and last night was the first chance to do a compare.

you won't find an attorney that specializes in increasing values paid for property by insurance carriers for losses on a commission basis.

What you should do as advised is follow any laws or rules in CA in regard to personal injury, as in FL you have a very specific amount of time in which you must have a medical review and file an action, out side that time frame, your option to do so is forfeit...

I'm sure your radio and tv is plastered with "for the people" attorneys, get the best known one and let them handle it. Fact is a high speed rear end collision may cause some PI to you and your spouse that will come up in the future.

You pay for PI coverage, there is no reason not to claim on it and it will help cover the losses you are experiencing which is you now have to replace a fully paid off vehicle with a new vehicle, take on debt, based on the value of your car which was hit by someone else who's not going to pay.

Give the information on the hit and run driver to your carrier, if your law enforcement won't chase him, they will, if only to find out if he has coverage and to subrogate against his carrier for recompense.

IT's not a time to be nice, fair and just get what they offer, two people in a vehicle that is rear ended in a hit and run at high speed will get the attention of the attorney.

At this point do no interviews with the insurance company, they are recording everything you say in order to combat any actions you may contemplate.

Get a lawyer, don't threaten the insurance commission or lawsuits, they'll just shut down all communication until you do so.

Can you take the other driver to small claims court for diminished value claim? If the police have located him shouldn’t it be his insurance (if he has any paying this?) likely Geico will go after them when the dust settles.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
you won't find an attorney that specializes in increasing values paid for property by insurance carriers for losses on a commission basis.

But from the original description of the accident:

quote:

Looked up to see the 2004 Jeep then wham!!

Even with no serious lingering injuries, just having to go get checked out and this becomes a "personal injury case".

As I try to point out, people speculating about this stuff don't even know what we don't know.
Hence: Lawyers.
I include myself in the "not knowing". But, for example, when my daughter was in an accident, our medical expenses were covered by insurance, so I didn't think much about it. The lawyer pointed out that the guilty party was not allowed to benefit from the fact that I had insurance, so they had to pay me all medical expenses even though it had actually been no out-of-pocket from me.That was a HUGE chunk!

My one son had just gotten his car paid off, when someone creamed it while sitting in front of his house, they then drove off. His insurance company said he did not have any coverage for that.

My brother had just bought a new F250 some years ago. Only 2 months old. when a woman ran a stop sign(in the city) and hit my sister in law while driving it.
The truck rolled over and was totaled. The other woman's car was totaled as well.
The insurance company gave my brother 5K less than he owed. He had a 2K$ trade in and he got it at my employee discount.
He could not get them to come up any on the truck without a lawsuit. My sister in law spent 3 days in the hospital, so the woman must have been going more than 25mph.

I've gone to battle with GEICO twice - both times hit by their insured. Worked with State Farm (my insurance) when a car was totaled in a flood.

Insurance company will say that what you're looking at is the 'ask price' and when you make an offer the selling price will be lower.

You can ask GEICO for detail on how they came up with the number. When I dealt with GEICO they had a list of cars and actual sales price that they were using as comparables. I called on every one. Found out that some had body damage so they were discounted. Built a detailed report on each car and then did a spreadsheet showing what I though was appropriate adjustment. My notes were very detailed (spoke with John by phone on date phone number xxx-xxx-xxxx. Indicated right quarter panel had extensive damage and tires were bald. John said they discounted the car by $2,000 for body damage and $400 for tires). At the end of the day we got GEICO to budge - but they were not pleasant people to deal with and it took more than a week of back and forth. That was almost 20 years ago and my blood pressure still spikes when I think about dealing with them. I should have filed a compliant with the Insurance Commissioner.

Incident with State Farm about 7 years ago. I googled prices from dealers and provided that to State Farm and they reduced the ask price a little bit. Got an increase over their initial offer. We had it settled in a day or so. They were very professional and fair.

Settlement with State Farm was fair.

Settlement with GEICO was not but difference was not worth litigating.

quote:

Originally posted by SR:
I've gone to battle with GEICO twice - both times hit by their insured..

I did battle with GEICO one time. My claim against them (client) was denied. I hired a Philadelphia Attorney to represent me and a year later after the lawyer got his cut, I pocketed a very nice settlement from GEICO.

I was a long time GEICO member years and years ago, before USAA. Currently battling with GEICO because their covered driver blew through a red light, across one full lane of traffic and into the driving lane that had the green on a divided (median) road. GEICO didn't wait for the statements of drivers, or witnesses, or the police report. They issues their finding "from looking on Google Maps we have determined our driver to be 60% at fault and your driver 40% at fault". I called and raised hell. They said "we don't change our determinations", though when their letter arrived it was "80-20". USAA has paid in full for totalled vehicle and is taking GEICO to arbitration.

I had been considering shopping insurance but no way I'd go with GEICO now.

A couple years ago I had a woman in a parking lot back into me, with nowhere I could go and in spite of laying on the horn. She was driving her husband's F150 to move her daughter into college and had the back window obliterated with pillows and bedding. I was a bit worried about how insurance etc would go since she was backing up and the damage was on the front of my vehicle. State Farm agent called me and said "I understand that our policy holder hit you". I said, "Yes, that is exactly what happened." Zero problem from there on out getting the full repairs taken care of.

quote:

Originally posted by Crom:
I didn't read all the replies above, so this has probably already been said:
GET A LAWYER....NOW.
Do exactly what he says.

You are trying to be "reasonable".
The insurance company is trying to minimize their payout.
The insurance company has lots of experience and professionals working to minimize this payout.
You don't even know what it is that you don't know.

SMH... Geico would LOVE for the OP to get an attorney on a vehicle damage claim. They are relatively objective claims where the attorney can't argue and negotiate much so the insurance company is happy to explain their supporting documents to a reasonable person who knows the law and how claims are settled and leave it up to him to explain it to his client.

quote:

Originally posted by Dusty78:
Can you take the other driver to small claims court for diminished value claim? If the police have located him shouldn’t it be his insurance (if he has any paying this?) likely Geico will go after them when the dust settles.

Diminished Value on a total loss...smh

quote:

Originally posted by SpinZone:
The OP did not mention, Have you gone back to Geico with a counter offer yet? Find comparable cars in your area and document why you find their offer is not acceptable.

Until they reject your reasonable counter offer there is no reason to get excited yet. If they have then you are probably left with talking to a lawyer but over 2k will you really come out any better off in the end? If they meet you halfway how much of that will you end up paying the lawyer?

Micropterus Had some good ideas abought asking Geico for their report on how they came up with the offer.

By far the most reasonable reply so far.

You catch more flies with sugar than honey. Be polite, explain your position and do your research. Present them with comparable vehicles in the area. Call the dealers and get 'cash take prices' from them to include along. Build a good, reasonable case and present it to them with why you feel like your number is more accurate than theirs.

If you act like a jackass and complain and yell and scream and demand supervisors, they are just going to dig their heels in. Make their life as easy as possible and you'll have a better chance of getting what you want.

Meet with the adjuster today. He provided the basis for our car's value and 13 examples (3 sold) within a range used to value the car.

From there we need to find a car but... to do so, we need the $$. Kind of a catch 22 for us. Accept the offer, deal is complete but don't accept and how can a buyer make a honest "we have $XX,XXX in cash right now" offer to get the best deal when we don't have that much on hand.

Going to do the county drive to locate some of the vehicles and do the "If you'll take $Xx,XXX in cash, $100, I'll be here tomorrow" routine.

He did mention it would be much easier to extend the rental 10 days than to increase the payout $400 - $1,000. (He currently gave us to the end of the month)

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