[kyoko]

So say you got into an accident and your car is totaled. Does the insurance company just pay out the current value of your car and you go about getting another car?

Does anything differ if it's your fault vs theirs?

[kscarrol]

As with most insurance threads, the actual outcome will depend on your individual policy....

But in general, yes if the car is totaled (no matter who is at fault), you will get paid the current, depreciated value of the car. Who's insurance company pays depends on whose at fault and other factors. If the accident is your fault then your rates are likely going up or you could be dropped.

You can do what you want with the proceeds but if you owe money on the car, you've got to repay the finance company first. Frankly if there is a lean on the car (outstanding loan), the check will be sent to the finance company and anything left is yours to apply to a new car.

Not an expert at leasing but same basic principle applies. Proceeds first go to BMW Finance (or which ever leasing company used) to make them whole...

[DSB335d]

To add to the above, most lenders offer GAP insurance. If you are leasing/buying and you haven't paid your loan off yet, GAP insurance covers you. You aren't left with a car note in hand on something you can no longer use in the event of vehicle being totaled.

[TXSTYLE]

How does it work? Simple... They F*** us out of hundreds of millions in annual revenue knowing 75% of us will NEVER file a claim. CHA-CHING$$$!!!

[2011CrazE89]

It doesn't

[upstatedoc]

Get into accident, file claim, get paid?

[UncleWede]

2/3 sons totaled their vehicles under my insurance. I can't let them use my vehicles any longer.

At the end of the day, they had to go buy themselves a new car, no insurance money in hand.

[MYovichZ4]

Originally Posted by TXSTYLE

How does it work? Simple... They F*** us out of hundreds of millions in annual revenue knowing 75% of us will NEVER file a claim. CHA-CHING$$$!!!

[jwzimm]

To clarify a bit. In the event of a total loss the insurance will determine the cost to replace your car with as close to an identical one as possible. This includes the costs of tax and title you would have to pay to buy the replacement. If you do not agree with their initial offer you can gather comparable listing for cars in your area and make a counteroffer as well.

[kyoko]

Thanks for the info. I haven't gotten into an accident in all my years of driving, but someone turned left to cross the road and didn't look. I had to slam on the brakes to not t-bone her and then I just started to wonder...

Never had to deal with it so just curious.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by TXSTYLE

How does it work? Simple... They F*** us out of hundreds of millions in annual revenue knowing 75% of us will NEVER file a claim. CHA-CHING$$$!!!

This. And if you do file a claim, your rates go up enough for them to get their money back. My Dad drove 62 years with no accidents or moving violations. A perfect record. He was a professional truck driver for many of those years. He still had to pay an obscene amount for insurance every year. Ridiculous.

[TXSTYLE]

Originally Posted by M_Six

This. And if you do file a claim, your rates go up enough for them to get their money back. My Dad drove 62 years with no accidents or moving violations. A perfect record. He was a professional truck driver for many of those years. He still had to pay an obscene amount for insurance every year. Ridiculous.

Yes sounds about right.

[Taskmaster]

Originally Posted by TXSTYLE

Yes sounds about right.

Depends on location. Long term customers also will have accident forgiveness to prevent rate hikes.

[bbbbmw]

I have found that you can save money if you shop around every few years - I think (but am not certain) that insurers start to hike up your policy price slowly after a couple of years - even without a claim. That said, you have to make sure and get a company that will treat you well if you have a claim - many do not.

[upstatedoc]

Originally Posted by bbbbmw

I have found that you can save money if you shop around every few years - I think (but am not certain) that insurers start to hike up your policy price slowly after a couple of years - even without a claim. That said, you have to make sure and get a company that will treat you well if you have a claim - many do not.

+1
We had travelers for years and noticed our premium doing the slow creep. Found another company for hundreds less with same coverage. The day I cancelled my old agent called me back immediately and offered a lower premium. Sorry, that's what you get for screwing people.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by bbbbmw

I have found that you can save money if you shop around every few years - I think (but am not certain) that insurers start to hike up your policy price slowly after a couple of years - even without a claim. That said, you have to make sure and get a company that will treat you well if you have a claim - many do not.

We've changed companies a couple of times to reduce our rates. Here in IL when you start in with a new insurance company, your previous record is irrelevant to them. I got nailed by a retread when I was with my first company (State Farm). They raised my deductible after that claim, so we moved to AAA and our rates went down considerably with no hike in deductibles. They Wifey got hit in the parking lot where she works. IL law says all parking lot accidents are 50/50, so her rates went up. We jumped again to Geico and we're back down where we were when we started with AAA. When I told my AAA agent to cancel the policy because I moved to Geico, he told me it was a good move and that after 6 months Wifey's accident would be off her record and we could come back to AAA. He promised me he could beat our Geico rate.

Seems more and more like a scam to me. They charge you what they think they can get away with.

That said, insurance here in downstate IL is way, way cheaper than it was in MA. I pay less than $900/yr for full coverage and 100/300 limits with tiny deductibles on 2 cars.

[Ben2k9]

Originally Posted by TXSTYLE

How does it work? Simple... They F*** us out of hundreds of millions in annual revenue knowing 75% of us will NEVER file a claim. CHA-CHING$$$!!!

seems to me like they are making a reasonable profit by providing an essential service. Without insurance, hardly anyone would own BMWs nor live in anything much fancier than a mud shack, since the financial loss from an accident would be too catastrophic.

Insurance is the glue that holds the world as you know it together. If you think they are too profitable you can always invest in the company as a shareholder to benefit there.

[TXSTYLE]

Originally Posted by Ben2k9

seems to me like they are making a reasonable profit by providing an essential service. Without insurance, hardly anyone would own BMWs nor live in anything much fancier than a mud shack, since the financial loss from an accident would be too catastrophic.

Insurance is the glue that holds the world as you know it together. If you think they are too profitable you can always invest in the company as a shareholder to benefit there.

Keep telling yourself that. For those of us like myself who average 4-5k miles of diving and have no accidents in over 2 decades of driving, and have the means to pay cash for repairs or buy another car if the one I'm driving breaks... No I don't empathize with big insurance one bit. I've earned the right to drive insurance free and have them pay for any liability or repairs that may or may not ever happen.
Which insurance company you work for by the way?

[dtwyim]

Insurance companies...make $...off the drivers...by paying some claims out....that is less than premiums collected.

[ddk632]

After dealing with the scam which is Florida home insurance, I have no complaints about car insurance, ever again.

[M_Six]

I'm not sure if it still works this way, but back in the 80's when I was in Germany the German system had new drivers paying a king's ransom for insurance and as you drove more and more years accident free, your rates dwindled away to practically nothing. That's the way it should be. New and/or bad drivers pay more, good drivers pay less. It's sort of that way in some states with surcharges, but those don't really benefit the good drivers. They just penalize the bad ones.

[TXSTYLE]

Originally Posted by M_Six

I'm not sure if it still works this way, but back in the 80's when I was in Germany the German system had new drivers paying a king's ransom for insurance and as you drove more and more years accident free, your rates dwindled away to practically nothing. That's the way it should be. New and/or bad drivers pay more, good drivers pay less. It's sort of that way in some states with surcharges, but those don't really benefit the good drivers. They just penalize the bad ones.

That's how it should be! I don't mind paying say $25 a month. But I've paid these shysters by my estimates over $50,000 over the years! Think I've had them replace a bumper and maybe a couple windows in that time.
Look, it doesn't take a genius to realize the sheer $$$$$ ALL insurance companies make. If you've even dabled in finance/investments, you know how rock solid investing in insurance is. That shit is automatic like a money printing machine.