I would not sign anything if they still have NA in the price. It is just being careful and assertive to tell them you want written documentation of the $$ you will receive…not just somebody blabbing on the phone. And, be sure to printout/photo anything on your computer screen related to this.
Agreed with oldnotdeadyet. You say they offered a high settlement price which was in the high range and which I assume was verbally over the phone but can’t be bothered to list it and only enter NA? NA generally means “Not Applicable” on a legal form and that does not mean anything is settled. Amnesia can cause a lot of problems…
What needs to be done is that adjuster needs to haul his hiney to your home with a fully filled in settlement amount that is satisfactory to you along with the personal effects issue. He should hand you a check with that amount on it and you then sign a release form. You sign the title over and that’s the end of that.
At this point those two NA letters were not entered by accident. Keep in mind the adjuster works for the the (and likely more than one) insurance company and their job (if they want to keep it) is to keep his employers off the hook for as much as possible. Do some reading on loss ratios, expense ratios, and underwriting income in regard to insurance polices.
The selling price of your wrecked car is not applicable, this should not affect the settlement amount.
What does your insurer say about this? Have you talked to them?
I sign documents on line at work all the time. I get an Adobe Acrobat document via email and sign it using the certificate feature. No one else can do it.
think we are making this far too complicated. Ya want their money before signing the car over? You aren’t dealing with a private party of unknown credentials but they are. They made an offer. Was it verbal, e mail or what? If you have anything to verify the offer, I would not worry about it. Just remember a contract requires an offer, acceptance, and consideration which is money. If you don’t accept you start over and maybe a lower offer. They deal with this all the time, and people are still avoiding face to face transactions. You think they will risk their business license over a lousy $6000?
Thank you everyone for your input. They did send me the valuation report with the settlement amount, as well as second document from Geico with the settlement amount. I felt pretty comfortable with that, and I did save a copy as well.
These are separate from the documentation I was asked to sign, but I am not too worried at this point since it sounds like this is the typical process. I signed everything yesterday and am waiting for the DMV to process it now. The adjuster said it should be done within a day or so tops and then they can release payment.
I really appreciate everyone’s help as I am very inexperienced with all of this. Ya’ll have been so helpful and reassuring.
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I’m not ready to buy a replacement vehicle yet since affordable options are limited in my area. So I’m considering buying her back as a temporary emergency car - in case we get a fire and I need to evacuate.
My insurance already said they would insure it, liability only of course, but it wouldn’t be driven except in this kind of emergency. Very cheap to insure, only ~$35/mo.
The cost would be $2000. She drives fine - I took her across town one last time before she was towed and didn’t feel or hear anything strange. Also I couldn’t see any obvious undercarriage damage.
Also, insurance said they would cover the tow fees to get it back to my home from the Copart.
Is this a bad idea?
I don’t mind not having a car since I can walk to the grocery store and pharmacy, but I am worried about not having a way to get out of town if we get another really bad fire (last year we had neighboring small towns burned to the ground and I evacuated 3 times).
You are going to get some that it is a bad idea and some that say it is a good idea . I say let it go and move on .You have reached a point where you just make a decision and live with it .
i was at that point until i saw the heat wave coming and red flag warnings into next week.
fire evacuation is really my only concern now. unfortunately a lot of my neighbors refused to evacuate last year (a few even pointed guns at our firefighters during mandatory evacs…) so i can’t rely on a ride out of town
if i want to buy a beater here in town, i’m finding $5K minimum and they’re all from the 80’s early 90’s with salvage titles…so i was thinking my own car would be a better deal for emergencies, for now. and i can sell it for scrap when i’m ready to get a new car
Check your registration requirements. Most states require a vehicle to pass inspection to change the title status from “salvage” to “rebuilt” before registration can be issued.
good call, I just spoke with the DMV and they said they can register a salvage title but it has to pass a brake and light adjustment inspection.
it sounds like the lights and lenses must be intact and repaired before this inspection…in this case i think the body would need to be repaired in order to repair the back left light. so this might be a no-go 
just some thoughts…
For 2 grand plus getting things fixed to use in case of a wildfire to evacuate might be worth the peace of mind.if you have no other way to get a vehicle.
the brake light area does not have to look like it was when it was new. The light just has to be secure and working.
with that said, from those 2 pictures, I would worry if you will be able to put gas in the vehicle and not have any gas or fumes leaking out.
also, you will be getting a lot of water in the trunk every time it rains.
mildew and mold will build up in that area. it will start to smell, and you will have to worry about health problems from the mold. also, you can have electrical problems depending on what gets wet and where the water goes.
Best of luck whatever you decide.
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ah yes i forgot about the fuel door, that is a good point.
i am going to let her go, as i was hoping to not have to do repairs to keep her as my emergency car.
i’m going to get a rental for the red flag days coming up and hope that fire season wraps up soon after.
thanks again for everyone’s input.
It’s hard to imagine what the staff at the insurance company was thinking. After all they deal with this sort of thing every week, and you’ve been paying a lot of premiums, so you’d think they’d at least be considerate enough to phone & ask you to remove the items you want to keep from the car, before towing it away. Sometimes I wonder how businesses who don’t seem to understand even the basic principles of customer service ever stay in business.
This was the insurance company for the driver that hit my son’s car. They actually paid us more than we paid for the car 3 years before, but still I agree with you about the considerate part. We actually got on the highway to try to catch them but we never did. And I agree they should have known better.