Our Faithful Ram was Totalled by Reckless Uninsured Motorist

[GsRAM]

Is that from the adverse parties carrier/adjuster? If so that's not surprising. If not, you do not have a good carrier. VThat's why I usually go through my own carrier upfront, then if the adverse is at fault, they can try to recover through the subrogation process, but I know I'll be taken care of. Yes it's a claim against your policy, but its worth it to me not to have to deal with the adverse carrier

 

[KenOfAZ]

I had an uninsured illegal alien woman turn left in from of my Jeep Wrangler a few years ago. The Jeep was only about 2 years old at the time. It did about $3K damage to my Jeep, that my insurance covered. But I had to pay the $500 deductible.

 

[Regcabguy]

We just got word that our loaded 2009 Ram that we just renovated with new LED headlights, taillights, trim, some suspension components, wheels, front camera, fresh tint, etc was totalled out. I was hoping we'd get several more years of service out of her.

Luckily we have uninsured motorist coverage, as the guy that rammed the Ram spoke no English and had no insurance, but luckily was found 100% at fault since all the vehicles he hit were at a stop. Haven't heard back yet what their lowball offer is going to be, but I hear they don't take any of that into account and just give you the same KBB value as another poor condition truck that is half rusted through. Maybe they'll let us at least take the wheels off, as they were untouched by the rear-end. Appreciate everyone's time and assistance repairing and modding the Ram over the years! With gas prices and wanting to fit in the garage again and used Ram prices being pretty high, looking to stay in the Dodge family but with a little crossover instead of a Ram, and placed an order for a Dodge Hornet. Hopefully it doesn't suck, but will pop-in to the other car section and what not to update.

Thanks again all!
Edit: Oops, I meant "reckless" not "wreckless"... if anything the guy that hit everyone was "wreckfull"!

if the guy had anything you can initiate a civil lawsuit in California and clean him out. Driving is a privilege not a right. Blue states issue driver's licenses to illegals everyday.

 

[sandawilliams]

Jessica,

I see that you are a fellow Houstonian. I feel your pain. I have been hit twice by uninsured motorists. One took out a Jaguar XJ8 Vanden Plas (I was stopped at a red light) and the other took out a Porsche Boxster (ran a red light). Unfortunately, if you live in Houston, uninsured motorist insurance is a must. Knock on wood, I am still driving the 2016 Ram 2500. I do NOT want to buy a new vehicle until the supply / demand curve balances out.

Used to be un-insured motorists got a expensive ticket and vehicle was impounded. Not so much anymore.

 

[sandawilliams]

I had an uninsured illegal alien woman turn left in from of my Jeep Wrangler a few years ago. The Jeep was only about 2 years old at the time. It did about $3K damage to my Jeep, that my insurance covered. But I had to pay the $500 deductible.

When I point things out like that I get banned from this forum. Be careful.

 

[turkeybird56]

He got a ticket for failure to control speed, and that's it I think. Well, and his vehicle is dead. I was going to try to take him to small claims court for the $500 deductible when done. The police report has all his info on there and those that had insurance their companies agreed he was 100% at fault, so should be an easy win I hope.

WHY in TX U make sure on your Insurance Policy that you Have Underinsured/Uninsured Motorist Coverage. Unless he committed some type of crime, they not gonna arrest, citable offense. They should cite for:

1) Traffic Violation
2) No Insurance Coverage
3) Status of vehicle, cite if Registration/Inspection out.
4) If alcohol/drugs/impairment involved, that be different.

 

[PGTB]

Our 2017 1500 Limited was totaled about a year ago. A teenager pulled out of a driveway right in front of me. It completely destroyed the Accord, but only the right front corner of our truck. His insurance said there was frame damage and totaled it. We had ordered the truck with everything we wanted before I retired. It was in immaculate condition. I was shocked it was totaled, I was not injured and the airbags did not deploy.

 

[crownest5]

mine got totaled in driveway by drunk at 8 am no ins or papers

 

[Danny Phillips]

Sue him in civil court and attach any wages he might receive. I sued a woman in small claims court over her burning down a mobile home I sold her. She was supposed to have insurance on it, went to the insurance co and he said she came and talked to him but didn't even put a binder on it. She didn't even show up to court.

 

[rvance]

Jessica,

I see that you are a fellow Houstonian. I feel your pain. I have been hit twice by uninsured motorists. One took out a Jaguar XJ8 Vanden Plas (I was stopped at a red light) and the other took out a Porsche Boxster (ran a red light). Unfortunately, if you live in Houston, uninsured motorist insurance is a must. Knock on wood, I am still driving the 2016 Ram 2500. I do NOT want to buy a new vehicle until the supply / demand curve balances out.

My 2013 RCSB got totaled by an uninsured woman on 1960 @59. I had planned to keep that truck for the rest of my life. It was in perfect shape and the insurance compared it to 2009s with 200k miles and rust. 2 years with a lawyer and I got another $14k from the insurance company total $27600. But I had to wait. Had to go to several chiropractor appointments but I would have done that anyway. I was hurt and everything seems healed now.

 

[RamDiver]

I was rear-ended during a white-out snow squall in April, decades ago, while sitting as far off the highway as I could get. The truck was my off-road Toy, a 1987 Toyota extended cab 4X4.

I just wanted about $1000 to fix up the step bumper and I would have been happy. The insurance company said it's too old, we consider it a write-off.

The insurance company's first offer was about $1500, a fraction of my improvement costs although I had already decided to retire the truck from off-roading due to rusted frame cross-members (they didn't know that).

My broker advised me to present similar trucks from AutoTrader and I found about 5. The final offer was $3200 and I bought back the truck for $50. Then I took all the good stuff off and sold the truck for $1200.

I don't know if you are able to do such a thing in your area but how can they argue if you locate similar conditioned trucks listed in AutoTrader for much more money than they're offering?

Don't forget to investigate the buyback price, it might be insanely low and you can sell the parts to make money. Or, if you have the time & resources, fix it up and sell or keep it.

Sorry for your loss, I know it sucks.

 

[GTyankee]

The insurance adjuster makes a guess at what damage is visible

Then the body Shop submits a damage report on a PRE Inspection
Once they tear into the damage, they often find more damage & make an adjust to the cost.
Usually the adjuster will approve what ever is submitted

 

[Fatbob Frank]

Thread locked out in 3,2,1...

 

[rule18]

Thread locked out in 3,2,1...

Nah, the political posts have been removed and we're not going to close a legit thread over a few Forum Rules violators.

 

[Jeepwalker]

I guess if one takes the silver-lining approach, the OP got out of an '09 Ram ..where he might have been posting about 'worn cam' engine replacement issues this winter, and into a newer vehicle. Just as gas prices seem like they're going to stay somewhat high for a while.

But nobody likes it when fools throw a monkey wrench in your life (been through something similar).

 

[Jessica Smith]

The insurance adjuster makes a guess at what damage is visible

Then the body Shop submits a damage report on a PRE Inspection
Once they tear into the damage, they often find more damage & make an adjust to the cost.
Usually the adjuster will approve what ever is submitted

Yeah, which I could understand some things aren't clear on external inspection, but some of the really obvious damage wasn't even on the quote, and nothing for example for the fact that the bed and cab were clearly no longer parallel and were bent up nor touched on the exhaust for example that should have been obvious was not meant to be folded up and sticking at weird angles with crushed tips, lol! The lady at the shop that did the walkaround said its normal, they often only list half the damage that is even plainly visible but accept whatever they show them on teardown.

One other thing we were talking about over dinner, is I wonder in small claims in addition to the deductible if we can request say a year of insurance difference if we can show that our rate was increased because of the claim compared to the prior month. Because fault or not, I've heard sometimes your insurance can go up making any claim.

I was rear-ended during a white-out snow squall in April, decades ago, while sitting as far off the highway as I could get. The truck was my off-road Toy, a 1987 Toyota extended cab 4X4.

I just wanted about $1000 to fix up the step bumper and I would have been happy. The insurance company said it's too old, we consider it a write-off.

The insurance company's first offer was about $1500, a fraction of my improvement costs although I had already decided to retire the truck from off-roading due to rusted frame cross-members (they didn't know that).

My broker advised me to present similar trucks from AutoTrader and I found about 5. The final offer was $3200 and I bought back the truck for $50. Then I took all the good stuff off and sold the truck for $1200.

Wow, that's a big increase, we offered a bunch of documentation but also what we expected which was probably low-balling ourselves still, but at least better than their first offer. *fingers crossed*

I'll still miss the truck either way, but water under the bridge as they say.

 

[Fnjoey]

Yeah, some jackals totaled my 14 ram 6 months ago, going into work he decided he wanted to cross over a three lane wide road and be in my lane.. fractured sternum, badly bruised ribs, concussion, and some whiplash. Bent the frame in two places, front clearly, and in the middle.. h just went to court because he wanted his minor tickets reduced and he also wanted to make sure I couldn't use his ****** driving record against him in civil court.. fun times.

 

[B250]

In Rhode Island he would probably be able to get any tickets dismissed by a judge, unlesshe was stoned or drunk.

If they give you KBB value, and you spent a lot on the extras, you can usually buy the vehicle at scrap value from the junkyard and get your parts back that way.

 

[GTyankee]

Just think what parts are going for, even good used parts

If i had a fenced 1/4 acre that i was not using

I would buy a couple of vehicles that Insurance companies had declared Totaled. Preferably rear end damaged.

 

[Fatbob Frank]

I'm afraid some idiot is going to total my Power Wagon too.
Even if the insurance gave me what I paid for it, trucks have gone up considerably since I bought mine 2 years ago.
And the 6-9 month wait would be a killer too...