Call Vintage Motor Cars. They are a little bit out of town-north of Dripping Springs. Mike and his sons do excellent work. They know old cars. He will give you an estimate for the insurance co.
hey now cut THAT out...WE ARE LOVABLE HAMBERS TOO he swerved to miss the cat but did not swerve to miss the riv thats all ask him if the HUGE GPS SCREEN DISTRACTED HIS DRIVING MINE SURE COULD ....
i'll add to that a # 6 is not insurable. Cannot have a ***le transfered ( in Minn.. Any way) .. And most likely not licenseable either 1-3 have zero rust ! Send it out to be fixed right away ... Research the best parts for it and let the insurance man or your attorny handle alll communications ... Being in the fray / fight is not for you .. Be ware what you say and how you say it will be do***ented
Had a similar situation when an off topic car of mine was rear ended by a drunk and pushed into another vehicle. Because it was a 1981 vehicle they tried to low ball me. Luckily the appraiser that came out was a cl***ic car guy and I had kept every receipt for everything (I mean everything including each drop of gas !!!) for this car. Even though it was not a _____________ (fill in the blank with any high dollar and/or rare vehicle you like) I loved this car and the appraiser could see that. After dealing (of lack of) with the adjuster and receiving his 4th way too low offer I sent him a registered letter with a copy of the Police report. It simply said " In reference to your companies current and subsequent offers to settle the claim # ***************** I find that you have not adequately met my acceptable losses. Might I point out that it was never my intention to part with this vehicle, that was a decision that was taken from my hands when your insured decided to operate his vehicle at over 3 times the legal limit for Blood Alcohol Content (ref: attached Omaha Police Department report # **********) I will give you 3 business days to met my requirements otherwise I will have you deal with my Lawyer on all further negotions, up to and including litigation " I had a chech FedExed to me 2 days later for the full amount, and they let me keep the car so I parted it for almost $3000.00 more !!! Hope this helps, I apologize for being a bit of a rant, it just upsets me when I think about it !!!
I will ***ume that you have a good Cl***ic Insurance Policy. As mentioned above, you pay your company to be astute in handling cl***ic auto damage settlements. If the other company is clueless, use your own collision coverage and have your company subrogate against the other company. They owe you 100 % of your damages up to the established value (hopefully you have some sort of appraisal), minus any salvage value. Finding parts might be the most pressing issue that you'll have. Sounds like you have a good reference in Vintage Motor Cars. Good luck with the Rivv. VR&C.
From my experience with insurance companies get a Lawyer immediaty, he will no how to procede and make sure your interests are covered. Im not suggesting you try to get rich, just treated fairly. Dealing with an insurance company without representation is like walking into a *****house without a rubber...your gonna get burned!
Agreed - get your own appraisels. Also, prepare any old pics, reciepts, etc that you have to shown what you had into your car. Good luck - that ****s, but at least the driver probably has decent insurance. I've been screwed by un-insured motorists...
Damn Derrick, sorry to see that. Yes use your insurance company to deal with his insurance company. Do you think there is any frame damage or is it all body? Going to be fun going shopping for usable body panels... Good luck man.
If you have a vintage car insurance, make the claim with your own company. They will handle the estimate and can help with the repairs. The other guys insurance company will have no idea how to write an estimate on that car. If you have regular insurance on the Riv, your company may be no better at handling the claim than his. Estimates on these cars are usually 'hand written'. Most of the Crash Estimating books for that car haven't been printed in 40 years (I have a copy). Parts shouldn't be that hard to locate. Some parts are reproduced, most are not. The car in this loss isn't a car. Because it was parked, it's a chunk of property. If this is your daily driver, the other insurance company owes you car rental for loss of use as long as it takes to fix. They will push to fix the car as quickly as possible. Be realistic on the value of the car. One picture doesn't really show the condition. If the car is a #3, it'll be worth about $15K. The car should be repairable for that. Do not sign a release. There is always the possibility of additional damage. Also keep in mind that if the car is silver, and the paint is faded, the paint won't match. And the insurance company does not owe to paint your whole car. They just owe for reasonable and customary. If the car isn't painted with a base coat-clear coat paint job, they'll only cover single stage like the original paint. Watch the labor rates for a shop. Many shops won't touch that car because of it's age. I usually start my estimates at $50 where the normal rate is $42. Check some of the restoration shops, but also check some of the better 'production' shops. They do not owe to 'restore' your car, they owe to repair it. Many restoration shops bill their own labor time. Insurance companies won't pay this. Heck, Hagerty & Grundy won't pay it. And last, don't get an attorney unless you really are not getting anywhere. The money for the attorney will come out of your pocket, not the insuance company's. Do it as a last resort. I do work for Hagerty and Grundy here in FL. I've been in the insurance biz for 26 years. If you end up stuck, PM me and I'll help you if I can.
I had the Rivi towed to Don Twomey at his shop here in Austin. I see many cl***ic cars at his shop. The adjuster is scheduled to meet with him tomorrow so we will see what happens. Keep you fingers crossed. I will keep you updated here on the HAMB.... Again, thanks for all the advise. Derrick
When my wifes '63 Falcon got hit by somebody who was insured by Allstate, we had to go to one of their locations to get the damage appraised. The "lady" who did that, found it neccesary to kick the bumper, appearently as part of her appraisal. But she was a real expert. She looked under the car, and could tell that the Ch***is wasn't bent... She also mentioned that the bumpers were non original/aftermarket, because they were chromed. They gave the shop that repared the damage an enormous amount of grief too... This might be the kind of stuff you'll have to deal with.
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