Yup. When my Datsun Roadster was run over(rear-ended) by a jacked-up,
big tired F250, their insurance totaled it and offered me $1500.00. I
just hinted that I was considering suing the driver for reckless
endangerment for not paying attention when behind a vulnerable little
convertible sports car in that truck, and also noted I could have sold
it on Ebay for $6K before the accident. They coughed up the $6K
promptly, and made me sign a release promising not to sue them.
JR

Arcadefreaque wrote:
The last insurance dispute I had that was like this was with someone
else's insurance that didn't want to pay replacement cost for an older
car that just had the engine and transmission replaced (receipts
provided for complete engine rebuild and transmission replacement -
cheap shadetree job actually) within 1500 miles of the event. A semi
trailer decided to drive over the hood of my car - thus making it
impossible to repair, and impossible to find a replacement car with the
same qualities as the car that was damaged.

Here's how I fixed the issue - we're not talking about 10's of
thousands of dollars in my case - I filed a case against them in court
for the entire cost of repairing the vehicle as estimated by repair
shops in my area + rental car. They settled with me to avoid the
expense of going to court - total cost to them was under 5 grand (more
than I asked for to begin with though, and definitely more than the
$250 that they wanted to give me).

They argued with me many times during this process. They assured me
that they would win. And I assured them that I obviously have no money
to lose by going forward and would enjoy the opportunity to see what
the judge said. I believe that the eventually realized that there was
a remote possiblity that they would have to pay somewhere near what I
was asking + court costs + legal fees + publicity issues in my small
town. With only a few grand on the line, they folded and paid up after
about 2 weeks of harrassing me and threatening me with retribution
(like I cared - I was broke and ticked... court would have been
entertainment for me at this point).



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