[BavarianFanatic]

Originally Posted by Kabrich

Those are considered part of the car when settled with Insurance as they were attached to the car.

Not an issue if he puts the stock components back on the car. Insurance doesn't take into consideration the value of owner-added accessories. Unless of course you have a rider to cover the value of the modifications you added, such as high dollar wheels, which would be far more to replace than stock components.

[Kabrich]

Originally Posted by BavarianFanatic

Not an issue if he puts the stock components back on the car. Insurance doesn't take into consideration the value of owner-added accessories. Unless of course you have a rider to cover the value of the modifications you added, such as high dollar wheels, which would be far more to replace than stock components.

I have seen it happen.

The salvage company gives a price of what they are willing to give for the totaled vehicle. The Insurance Company will use that figure with the cost of repairs to see if it makes sense to total the vehicle vs repair it.

If the salvage company spots added on parts on the photos, they have been known to take those into account. If missing, it can blow up the entire deal.

Unless the Insured has written permission to strip parts of the car, they could be charged under law.

[1.fresh.f30.335]

Originally Posted by Kabrich

I have seen it happen.

The salvage company gives a price of what they are willing to give for the totaled vehicle. The Insurance Company will use that figure with the cost of repairs to see if it makes sense to total the vehicle vs repair it.

If the salvage company spots added on parts on the photos, they have been known to take those into account. If missing, it can blow up the entire deal.

Unless the Insured has written permission to strip parts of the car, they could be charged under law.

Well I was upfront that the car was a lease and that all of these parts were mine and I would be removing them before they hauled the car away... The Ins company was the one that gave the 'OK' so I'm pretty sure I'm good... I also work in the auto industry so I usually know what what's ok and what isn't. Thanks for the concern though, I appreciate that your trying to look out for me but in this case I think we're good.

[BavarianFanatic]

Originally Posted by Kabrich

I have seen it happen.

The salvage company gives a price of what they are willing to give for the totaled vehicle. The Insurance Company will use that figure with the cost of repairs to see if it makes sense to total the vehicle vs repair it.

If the salvage company spots added on parts on the photos, they have been known to take those into account. If missing, it can blow up the entire deal.

Unless the Insured has written permission to strip parts of the car, they could be charged under law.

This doesn't sound like a typical scenario. I've been through this process several times and in all instances the carrier used average wholesale salvage values, not quotes from specific salvage companies. They also used a 3rd party appraisal company to assess the damage, repair costs and replacement value of the vehicles.

It's my understanding that there have been changes in the industry recently that mandate the vehicles be sent to random auctions for disposal to eliminate the potential for collusion with vehicle damage being artificially inflated and salvage values being artificially low. The classic scenario would be an auto body shop reporting that a vehicle had more damage than it truly did, then they buy the vehicle directly from the insurance carrier and repair/flip it for profit. This may be unique to my state, I'm not certain.

As an aside, one word of advice for anyone unfortunate enough to have a wreck, always have the vehicle towed to your home if at all possible. This affords you the ability to remove whatever modifications you've installed if you think it's likely the vehicle might be a total loss. It also allows you to clean the vehicle if necessary to show its true condition in the event you need to battle for an accurate condition assessment. Finally, it will save storage fees that might accrue during the negotiation process.

[Kabrich]

Originally Posted by BavarianFanatic

As an aside, one word of advice for anyone unfortunate enough to have a wreck, always have the vehicle towed to your home if at all possible. This affords you the ability to remove whatever modifications you've installed if you think it's likely the vehicle might be a total loss. It also allows you to clean the vehicle if necessary to show its true condition in the event you need to battle for an accurate condition assessment. Finally, it will save storage fees that might accrue during the negotiation process.

Agreed that towing it home would allow one to remove add ons.

However, this has also been known to cause issues, especially if the Insurance Company views photos of the car at the accident scene and see parts have been changed. At that point, they suspect that you have done things to the car to make it worse going for a totaled car - or commit Insurance Fraud.

That - or in other rare instances - the Insurance Company claims that all the damage was not caused by the Insured - and some was done after the fact by you.

Towing it to a neutral 3rd party eliminates that possibility.

[finaloption]

OP, glad to know you weren't seriously hurt

just curious.. why the change to a 5er? simply for the size?

[BavarianFanatic]

Originally Posted by Kabrich

Agreed that towing it home would allow one to remove add ons.

However, this has also been known to cause issues, especially if the Insurance Company views photos of the car at the accident scene and see parts have been changed. At that point, they suspect that you have done things to the car to make it worse going for a totaled car - or commit Insurance Fraud.

That - or in other rare instances - the Insurance Company claims that all the damage was not caused by the Insured - and some was done after the fact by you.

Towing it to a neutral 3rd party eliminates that possibility.

I think you're giving the insurance companies far more credit than you should. The case managers deal with dozens and dozens of claims every day. There is no way they're scrutinizing photos from accident scenes looking for alterations to the vehicles after the fact. I'm also not certain how they would even have access to photos from an accident scene.

[Kabrich]

Originally Posted by BavarianFanatic

I think you're giving the insurance companies far more credit than you should. The case managers deal with dozens and dozens of claims every day. There is no way they're scrutinizing photos from accident scenes looking for alterations to the vehicles after the fact. I'm also not certain how they would even have access to photos from an accident scene.

Well, I've seen it happen twice to friends of mine. I suspect that they supplied photos of the wrecked cars to the Salvage Company for bids on Salvage Value - and it is the Salvage Company spotting the difference when the car shows up.

As for photos, perhaps you did not see the first photo in this thread (and the other accident thread).

People usually take pictures of the accident scene these days with their smartphones. It is not uncommon to give these to the Insurance Company, especially when you are the Insured and they ask you for any photos you took at the scene.

[JN1]

Originally Posted by Kabrich

Well, I've seen it happen twice to friends of mine. I suspect that they supplied photos of the wrecked cars to the Salvage Company for bids on Salvage Value - and it is the Salvage Company spotting the difference when the car shows up.

As for photos, perhaps you did not see the first photo in this thread (and the other accident thread).

People usually take pictures of the accident scene these days with their smartphones. It is not uncommon to give these to the Insurance Company, especially when you are the Insured and they ask you for any photos you took at the scene.

Wow. I'd like to know what insurance company that is so that I can avoid them.
I have on a couple occasions been given permission by insurance companies/auction yards to remove aftermarket parts from a totaled vehicle with the agreement that I would replace the parts with OE replacements.

[BavarianFanatic]

Originally Posted by Kabrich

Well, I've seen it happen twice to friends of mine. I suspect that they supplied photos of the wrecked cars to the Salvage Company for bids on Salvage Value - and it is the Salvage Company spotting the difference when the car shows up.

As for photos, perhaps you did not see the first photo in this thread (and the other accident thread).

People usually take pictures of the accident scene these days with their smartphones. It is not uncommon to give these to the Insurance Company, especially when you are the Insured and they ask you for any photos you took at the scene.

I can't say that I've ever heard of such a thing (nor have I ever experienced it). Yes, people love to whip out their phones and take photos. But I don't see the relevance or rationale for providing them to the insurance company. When you have a wreck, the settlements are all the result of the ability to place the blame on one party or the other. The police take care of this in their report. If a citation is issued to one party, they are the at fault party by default. If the police are unable to definitively place the blame (no 3rd party witnesses for example), it's a no-fault claim and everyone settles on their own. The only possible time I could see an insurance company legitimately asking for photo evidence or a deposition is if there is an suit in process. I too would love to know what carriers have done this in the past so they can be avoided. I would argue that you're doing little more than opening the door to incriminating yourself if there's anything they identify in the photos that they don't like. About the only thing worse than this would be buying into the Progressive Insurance OBD dongle that is basically a data recorder that trends your driving habits.

[mike@x-ph.com]

[Kabrich]

Originally Posted by JNLBC

Wow. I'd like to know what insurance company that is so that I can avoid them.
I have on a couple occasions been given permission by insurance companies/auction yards to remove aftermarket parts from a totaled vehicle with the agreement that I would replace the parts with OE replacements.

Agreed that every case is different.

Different Salvage Companies look at different things when determining what they will offer for the car. Some will part it out. Others will repair it.

If one wants to part it out, the aftermarket parts could play a part.

If the Insurance Company Adjuster sends pictures of the car to Salvage Companies and they bid according to what they see and then a car arrives with parts missing, they have a legal right to have an issue as that was not what was presented. Would not matter who the Insurance Company was as they did not sell the car as shown in the photos to the salvage company.

If you towed a car to your house and swapped parts of the car after an accident and then had the adjuster look at the car, technically they could claim the car had been materially changed between the time of the accident and the time the adjuster looked at it which could open up a can of worms.

"If this was changed, what's to say this was not also changed?"

However, in your case, if you had written permission to remove the parts after the Adjuster looked at it, you are clearly covered.

It's better to cover your a.. than to open up anything that can cause a potential issue.

You did it correctly.

[1.fresh.f30.335]

She's Here!!! Arrived this afternoon from the VPC.

[BavarianFanatic]

Very nice!