044 Property Damage Claims

VERONICA: Hey, welcome to Lawyers in the House with Montlick. You’re in the house with me, your host, Veronica Waters, and I’m here with one of my faves. One on one with Alyssa White from Montlick Injury Attorneys. I’m so excited. This is our first one-on-one show.

VERONICA: Alyssa.

ALYSSA: Yes. We’ve had many, but this is our first one on one.

VERONICA: I know, that first solo adventure together. So, listen, I have to tell the audience first off. I gotta let you guys know. This episode was inspired by yours truly. Now, don’t panic, I’m not hurt. I’m not hurt. But that is what the show is about because when I was coming here to be on the air with Alyssa one day, somebody kind of vroom-vroom-ed into my car.

ALYSSA: No, of course. That’s not true. That’s not true at all.

VERONICA: I’m kidding, but she really… she was a lot calmer when she realized that I was okay.

ALYSSA: Yep, almost ten years. October will be ten years.

VERONICA: Oh my gosh, you’re coming up on your ten-year anniversary. Are you going to take a trip and do something special? What do you are you going to celebrate?

ALYSSA: I don’t know. Maybe I’ll take the day off.

ALYSSA: Yep.

VERONICA: And Liberty for your law degree, right?

ALYSSA: Correct.

VERONICA: Your JD?

ALYSSA: Yep.

VERONICA: And I remember that your bio said that you were committing yourself to fighting for others when you were growing up. Please tell me how that manifested itself when you were little.

ALYSSA: Well, you know, I grew up in a very small town, farmland.

VERONICA: When you became an attorney, was that immediately the right fit for you?

ALYSSA: Yes. I’m a rule person. I really like rules in everything that I do. If there’s a little sign that says, don’t step on… don’t walk on the grass, I don’t walk on the grass.

VERONICA: Are you also yelling at the people from the sidewalk? It says –

ALYSSA: Like, get off the grass! So, I like rules. It creates structure, and I’m a very type A personality person when it comes to that. And so, the law was just a really good fit for me. I started out doing bankruptcy law, which is very much rule and code based. And so, as my career has transitioned into personal injury law, it still… it’s very much these are the steps you follow, and this is the result.

VERONICA: All right, you served as your own attorney, a handful of years ago, because you actually had an accident. And you had to be your own lawyer in advocating for yourself and your own personal injury. What did you learn about yourself in that time?

ALYSSA: So even though that’s what I do all day every day, it was still an added stressor for me.

ALYSSA: Yeah. And it happens on a daily basis. And we talked about this the day that you were in your accident was even if you have an accident, you don’t think you’re hurt that moment, you might wake up the next day, sore, or two days from now, sore, you might take Tylenol before you go to bed that night, and the next day you wake up and you’re like, holy cow, this is not what I thought it was going to be.

ALYSSA: And that was good. And I think you knew to take pictures from some of our shows.

VERONICA: Because I was paying attention. How often do you see like, you know what? I’m not even going to say that.

ALYSSA: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Most cases that we pursue on behalf of clients, there is some damage to the vehicles. Whether it’s minor, moderate, severe, completely totaled with airbag deployment, most cases have property damage. The ones that don’t are a little more difficult because if there’s not any visible damage to show what happened, it makes it a little more difficult to show that there is an injury involved, but every case is different.

VERONICA: So, a lot of these are car accidents, right? So, when we’re talking about car accidents, your car could be a little dinged up, it could be… maybe have some sort of more noticeable damage.

ALYSSA: Yes.

VERONICA: Right? So, there’s a whole range of how that can look. What happens in those situations? That’s got to be the first, one of the first things that you’re asking somebody like…

ALYSSA: Well, and usually, the calls are a little more intense when you’ve completely lost your transportation. So usually the first thing that we look at is the car drivable, or is it not drivable? Because those two cases are handled differently.

ALYSSA: So, if your car is drivable, you have a little bit of time to get the police report, find out who the other driver has for insurance, get a claim set up, get an estimate made, and then take the vehicle in for repairs once the proper parts have been ordered. If it’s totaled and you have no way to get to the doctor, you don’t have a family member close by that can take you. The lack of transportation is a huge deal.

ALYSSA: Yeah, because, you know, there’s different things we would say for each scenario. So, you know, if it is minor, we would go down the path of waiting for the police report and getting the insurance claim set up. If it’s totaled and you’re in a more desperate situation for transportation, we start to look at your own policy first. If you have rental car coverage, or a very low deductible that you can afford, it’s a lot faster to handle it with your own insurance at the beginning.

ALYSSA: And a lot of people do. And so, your insurance company cannot raise your rates because of an accident that’s not your fault. So, and this is one of the biggest pushbacks we get from people. You’re like, I don’t want to make a claim on my insurance. It’s not my fault. You know, why does my insurance have to be involved? Well, the short answer is you need a car. You need to get around. And it’s not going to hurt you if you have these coverages.

ALYSSA: Yeah, so let’s say you are a plumber. And you have all of your tools, parts, supplies in your van that has now been totaled in a… sitting in the tow yard. Well, even if you couldn’t do the job, but you could hire someone to do it, you can’t go to the job because you have no tools. And so, there is a loss of use component with some property damage claims where because of the loss of the vehicle, you have lost the use of the vehicle, you are also losing money.

VERONICA: Would never think about that. I would think, oh my gosh, what bad luck that I left my tools in the car when I was in the ambulance, you know. Well, what about if I’m… I’ve got other stuff in the car? I’m not a plumber, but I am a reporter. So, I would have my phone, my laptop, a lot of electronic equipment in there. What about that?

ALYSSA: Yes. Yeah, yeah.

VERONICA: All right, we’re going to get into that. Coming up, fair market value as we talk about property damage here on Lawyers in the House with Montlick injury attorney Alyssa White. Don’t go away.

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VERONICA: Welcome back to Lawyers in the House with Montlick, I’m your host Veronica Waters here with Montlick injury attorney Alyssa White and both of us will tell you that no good lawyer worth her salt is going to tell you on your first call just how valuable your case is. Right?

ALYSSA: In a way it is. But you still can dispute it. So, let’s say your vehicle’s totaled.

ALYSSA: And the insurance company typically runs the vin number, and it gives you all the basic features. But there’s a lot of things that go into it that you may need to compile yourself and advocate for yourself whenever you are being offered an amount for the fair market value of your total car.

ALYSSA: Yeah, well, you would think.

VERONICA: That’s what I’m thinking.

VERONICA: That’s really true.

ALYSSA: Yeah. And so, it puts people in a very bad position often, because people don’t do a large down payment, or they have a high interest rate, or they add on all of the extra warranties and things that really pile on what you have to pay off on your car. And whenever it comes to a total loss, fair market value, and what features your vehicle have can really come into play whenever you’re negotiating with the insurance company for you.

ALYSSA: Specialty rims that you had put on aftermarket. Yep. ‘Cause you want your money back for those, right? And by putting the vin number in on your car, the insurance company wouldn’t know that you had a specialty rims.

VERONICA: Wow, have you seen that in real life?

ALYSSA: Yes. It’s actually comes out quite often.

VERONICA: Are you serious?

ALYSSA: Yeah, yeah.

VERONICA: Wow.

ALYSSA: Because people are really upset about it. You know, they have custom rims, and they hate to lose them.

VERONICA: Oh my gosh. And so, then you have to fight… again, it’s with the receipts and the documentation, right?

ALYSSA: Documentation is key.

VERONICA: I’m learning so much here.

You’re listening to our podcast, Lawyers in the House with Montlick. Join us 8 a.m. every Sunday on 95 .5 WSB.

VERONICA: Welcome back to Lawyers in the House with Montlick. I am Veronica Waters here with Montlick injury attorney Alyssa White.

VERONICA: And I understand when a vehicle is considered totaled when the cost of repairs is considered above the fair market value of the actual vehicle.

VERONICA: So how do you figure out what that is? Because I’m going to think it’s one thing and you were saying earlier that somebody might dispute that.

ALYSSA: Yeah, and there’s a lot of things that come into play. So, like we were saying earlier you know, the insurance company is going to come to you with an offer to compensate you for the fair market value. And there may be things that the insurance company doesn’t know that only you know.

ALYSSA: And a big part of what we do is educating people on insurance coverages and one of the most important things, especially if you buy a brand-new car is to purchase gap insurance.

VERONICA: Gap insurance?

VERONICA: It kind of makes me think, though, if I’m selling a car… this is what I’m thinking. Let’s say I was going to sell that car. It hadn’t been in an accident, but I wanted to sell it. I would be thinking that I would be selling it for closer to the amount of money that maybe I still owe on it, right?

ALYSSA: Yeah but, there’s a lot of things that people take out car loans that is more than the value. So, you add a warranty provision on your plan. And the tire protectant. And the seat cover protectant. And all of these added fees to your loan that are not necessarily reflective of the value of your vehicle at the time of purchase. Also, if you don’t do a very large down payment on the vehicle, it can quickly turn upside down. And we see a lot of people that are underwater on their vehicle loans.

ALYSSA: It’s typically offered when you purchase a vehicle at the onset. There may be some car insurance companies throughout the country that allow you to add it when you put your vehicle on your car insurance policy. I’ve seen it that way a few times, but it varies from state to state and company to company.

VERONICA: Now, I had to get a rental car when my car was being repaired.

ALYSSA: Yeah yeah. So…

VERONICA: They gave me a big old SUV. I drive like a little tiny two-seater, right? So, you should see me. I was on the interstate like looking around like, hey, is this what it looks like way up here? Anyway…

ALYSSA: That’s funny you say that because a lot of times people complain about the opposite. They have a big SUV and they’re given a little rental car to get around. So, the rental car is a courtesy that the insurance company provides while your vehicle is being repaired.

VERONICA: You know, it occurs to me that one of the things that and I told you guys this show was inspired by me and all the questions I had and, you know, trying to figure out what to do before I thought to call somebody at Montlick and actually ask some questions. But the first thing that I wanted to do was report this accident that was the fault of the other driver to my insurance company and get the claim started that way because my assumption was that they were going to take care of everything and then they would go after the at fault driver for the, you know, for the money.

ALYSSA: Well, and this just bolsters the point of call us first. Because really, I mean…

VERONICA:  I’m all over the map.

ALYSSA: The body shop…

VERONICA: Playing Monopoly from the, you know, backwards going around the board.

VERONICA: All right, question for you about something that you brought up early in the show a couple of times. And I think this is like heavy on your mind. So, we need to make sure that people understand what this issue is all about: car seats in accidents. Apparently, there are some really specific rules from the national highway traffic safety administration about what to do with car seats after accidents.

ALYSSA: So once the other party’s insurance has accepted liability and they were taking care of the claim, even if your car is not repaired, you still need a car seat to put in the rental car if your car is getting repaired. But one thing that people don’t know is just because the car seat appears intact doesn’t mean that the internal mechanisms are still fully functioning. And you have no way to know. And the last way you want to find out is another severe accident and you find out that your child wasn’t properly restrained.

ALYSSA: And it’s something that you might overlook because you’re like, man, I was just in an accident. I’m missing time from work. I don’t want to go spend three or $400 on a new car seat, but it is so important. And the last thing we want to see is an inoperable car seat still being placed in a car and a child unsafe.

VERONICA: We talked about rental cars. Can you rent car seats?

ALYSSA: You can, actually. We just went on vacation, actually, out of state, and we rented a car seat for our rental car. You can.

VERONICA: If I’m settling and tell me if settling is the right word… if I’m settling a property damage case, and let’s say it is a personal injury case. Does that mess up my personal injury case if the property damages so quickly taken care of?

ALYSSA: No. And you can resolve your property damage claim while holding open your bodily injury claim.

VERONICA: Got it. But I understand that you need to always consult with an attorney before you sign anything, so you don’t sign away any of your claims without even realizing it.

VERONICA: So, who’s fighting whom in a case like this? Again, I have to say that the driver who hit me was completely up front. She didn’t even let me tell the story basically. She told the officer right away what happened, and the citation was pretty quick.

ALYSSA: A lot of times it’s word versus word. And we told you whenever you were in your accident, take pictures, you’re calling us from the scene, like take pictures of where the cars are located. Because it’s very interesting how quickly stories can change once they’ve talked to someone or start to think about the ramifications of their actions. So always document as much as you possibly can.

VERONICA: You know, I didn’t even ask her if it was okay to take pictures of her car. I just started snapping away. And she was like, oh, that’s a good idea. Maybe I should take some pictures too. So, she was very nice. But I… do I need to ask the other driver?

ALYSSA: No, I mean, you’re at the scene, you’re in a public place.

VERONICA: All right, I’ve got a question for you that deals with my loving husband, who is amazing with fixing cars and stuff.

ALYSSA: You can. And it happens sometimes. There’s a lot of things that go into what’s called purchasing the salvaged title. So, if the insurance company deems your vehicle to be a total loss, you have the right to take the fair market value offer from the insurance company, but you also have the right to purchase a salvage title.

VERONICA: Is it expensive getting the salvaged title or is it sort of a nominal? Would you say it’s or in between?

ALYSSA: Well, it depends. If you think you can fix the car based on the resources that you have available to you or the body shop that your husband works at, for example, then yeah, it would probably be worth it, but then you still have a salvage title, a wrecked totaled car.

You’re listening to our podcast, Lawyers in the House with Montlick. If you want to listen to our radio show live, you can hear it every Sunday, 8 a.m. on 95.5 WSB.

VERONICA: Welcome back to Lawyers in the House with Montlick. I’m Veronica Waters here with Montlick injury attorney Alyssa White.

ALYSSA: Well, a good lawyer makes all the difference. Even if we don’t formally handle your property claim, we can walk you through every step of the way. What needs to happen. We can answer your questions and there’s so much that goes into a case and there’s so many things happening very quickly after an accident that you want to be careful that whenever you’re accepting the money for your vehicle damages, that you’re not accidentally also settling your bodily injury claim. Believe it or not, it happens often, and there’s a lot of ways that insurance companies try to trick you.

VERONICA: I can’t tell you… I mean, it’s obvious, right? But the night and day difference between when I was trying to flounder around and handle my case on my own… case, I call it a case, it’s not really a case… But handle my incident on my own.

ALYSSA: You know, it clarifies it. Yeah, and the thing is, even though it’s a traumatic situation, if you know where you’re going and have some guidance, it helps relieve some of that stress that you’re handling and going through right after an accident.

VERONICA: Is it at this point sort of like second nature to you to be able to sort of fire off the answers to these questions? I mean, I know by now like ten years in, you’re like, hey, I got this.

ALYSSA: We often say, you know, how many clients we have spoken to over the course of ten years?

VERONICA: Did you estimate?

ALYSSA: Oh my goodness. Thousands and thousands and thousands. Yeah. So, we know what we’re talking about and we’re happy to help you through it.

VERONICA: What is the last time that you hung up from a consultation with a client whose case you didn’t take, but you felt really good about that conversation?

ALYSSA: It happens almost every day.

VERONICA: They remember it. There is more to life than stuff, Alyssa White with Montlick Injury Attorneys, but when your stuff gets damaged, you have rights just like when your body does.

You’re listening to our podcast, Lawyers in the House with Montlick. Catch us live every Sunday, 8 a.m. on 95.5 WSB.