Insurance company won't total car...what to do.

[bear down]

My sister got into an accident last week. Pretty good one too. A car turned left in front of her going about 50mph. Its a ford fusion but has about 13-14k in damage, but insurance is willing to pay that rather than totalling out the car. She does not feel safe in the car if it gets repaired. Any ideas what she can do?
Thanks!

[ratso]

My sister got into an accident last week. Pretty good one too. A car turned left in front of her going about 50mph. Its a ford fusion but has about 13-14k in damage, but insurance is willing to pay that rather than totalling out the car. She does not feel safe in the car if it gets repaired. Any ideas what she can do?
Thanks!
What the heck is the car worth? Sounds like you might have to keep at them to total. We just finished up on a deal with a customer that needed his boat totalled, but the insurance company was being stubborn. Took two months to get it done...

[OGShocker]

Sneek into the impound yard with a gallon of gas and a road flare.
j/k
Have you looked into a Lawyer? I am quite sure your Insurance company consulted their's. Just a thought...

[Cole Trickle]

Ins company typically looks for 80% damage ratio before they will total a car.
What does the Fusion book at?
If it's within a grand or two you should be able to convince them that there will be undiscovered damage once they tear into it.
If the Fusion is brand new and books at 7K over damages there not gonna total it.

[IMPATIENT 1]

ask for value depreciation if they do that in your state. here they have to pay you what it loses in resale due to it being major damaged before. i got into this 10yrs ago with a insurance company(shelter) , they wanted to give me 5k for my little work truck(i t-boned a drunk driver who ran a stop sign) and i asked for depreciation, they decided to go ahead and total when i asked them for that and mentioned my back hurt

[YeLLowBoaT]

did the air bags blow? if they did its almost always a total as they are $$$$$ to repair. remember to take it too your body shop, not the INS companys.
sadly 10k+ damage is not alot of damage on most new cars on many infact thats well under a 10 mph crash.

[pw_Tony]

Did they already write an estimate on it? Is the car at a body shop yet?
Body shops don't like to total cars unless it's an obvious total loss. And unfortunately the insurance company doesn't like to give away free money. If the estimate doesn't reach 70% of it's value, maybe as low as 60%, then they probably aren't going to total it.
Being an appraiser myself I have had many people try to get me to "total" their car cause A)It will depreciate in value or B)They don't feel safe driving the car after repairs. But for either reason it's just not going to happen, cause the insurance company won't have it. I'm not sure where you live, but here it's a pretty straight line. If it's under 70% then you get it repaired, over 70% then it's totaled

[pw_Tony]

Oh yea, 13-14K in damages on a Ford Fusion doesn't really sound like that much damage. Did her fusion hit her car dead on at 50mph? Because if it really was that fast I would expect the car to total.
I hope your sister is ok as well

[ULTRA26 # 1]

Brandin is right with regard to the 80% of value total loss threshold. In CA diminished value is not a consideration if 1st party losses. A quality repair facility can repair the vehicle correctly and safely.
The insurance company will not recommend a shop unless the use of Direct Repair Facilities is stipulated in the policy.
did the air bags blow? if they did its almost always a total as they are $$$$$ to repair. remember to take it too your body shop, not the INS companys.
sadly 10k+ damage is not alot of damage on most new cars on many infact thats well under a 10 mph crash.
Not sure where you are getting your info but it is not accurate.

[pw_Tony]

Brandin is right with regard to the 80% of value total loss threshold. In CA diminished value is not a consideration if 1st party losses. A quality repair facility can repair the vehicle correctly and safely.
Exactly, that's what I try to tell people but some don't understand