Legal Question in Insurance Law in New York

Auto Insurance Claims

I was recently in an accident that was the other drivers fault; my vehicle was totalled by his insurance company we had a verbal agreement to settle the claim, I was going to take what they offered me for the value of my car and deduct from that the salvage cost so I could keep my totalled vehicle to which I had recently done quite a bit of work and wanted to keep for parts; I asked the claims agent what a salvage title meant and he took that to mean that I wanted to repair and resell my vehicle which was not the case, he now insists on not allowing me to buy back my salvaged vehicle...he claims that it is New York State Law...is this true, is there anything I can do to get this worked out, I am the innocent party in this case but he is making me feel like I did something wrong.


Asked on 2/28/08, 10:12 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Kevin Connolly Kevin J. Connolly

Re: Auto Insurance Claims

There is no law that forbids settling an auto collision based on Total Value - salvage.

Best guess is you have a corrupt adjuster who wants to get his hands on the car for junk value so he can take the parts for himself.

You need to file the lawsuit, since you're dealing with a crooked adjuster. The law says that the measure of damages for a destroyed car is the market value of the car immediately before the accident minus its value after the accident.

It's still your car. You are entitled to keep the parts as salvage. (Heck, weld the frame and you can put the car back on the road after any DMV-licensed repair shop signs off on it.)

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Answered on 2/28/08, 1:42 pm


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