In this issue

How to Value Your Damaged Vehicle to Make an Insurance Claim Settlement

• Document your case for additional money with the adjuster
• Reimbursement for Significant Improvements
• Salvage
• Independent Appraiser
• Damaged Personal Property

Settle-It-Yourself Newsletter

Hello!! Welcome to the June edition of Settlement Central’s Newsletter. We are pleased to share this newsletter with you, as our business is helping people get satisfactory settlements for their personal injury claims.

In this issue, we will discuss how to value your vehicle before you start the negotiation process with your insurance adjuster, including tips to understand why it is essential to document your case for additional money, receive reimbursement for significant repairs, hiring an independent appraiser, removing items for salvage, and how to get money for your damaged personal property.

As always, we will post our articles on our website as they are sent out in the Settle-It-Yourself Newsletter. Our readers will have a rich resource available to them that should aid them much more than the Internet advice of some so-called “financial experts”, who have never had to encounter the courtroom-face of the insurance industry. Our hands-on battles with the insurance companies translate into useful and accurate information for our readers.

How Much Is My Vehicle Worth?

So, you’ve just received the news from the insurance adjuster that your car is officially considered “totaled”. A typical assessment these days is to declare a car totaled if the cost of repair equals approximately 75 percent of its pre-accident fair market value. In that case, the car would be written off as a total loss and a check would be issued for the supposed fair market value before the accident. The problem that you face now is agreeing with the insurance adjuster as to what the fair market value for your vehicle should be.

For example, why can't you get the adjuster to budge off $8,200 when all of the cars like yours are advertised around $9,600 or so? The answer is that the advertisements are strictly an asking price. The insurance adjuster bases fair market value on the actual sale price of the vehicles in your area.

So, how do you find out the actual sale price of like vehicles? There are three methods that will cover all the main ways that people buy cars now days. First, get a few of the newspapers from a couple of weeks ago and call the people who advertised to see what they sold their cars for.

Second, you will find a lot of asking prices on the Internet. Take a look at the popular Auto Trader website Used Cars, Sell Your Car, Auto Financing & Insurance - AutoTrader.com Home(http://www.autotrader.com); it allows you to find vehicles like yours on a regional basis. Again, get some information from people who have advertised a car similar to yours.

Last, you can call dealers around your region and check out prices. When you make the calls, be sure to ask advertisers and car dealers the prices for which they had sold, ask about the tires, the mileage, the mechanical condition, whether it had stock or custom stereo equipment, etc.

Document your case for additional money with the adjuster. Clip out the advertisements and follow up with a phone number and selling price. You may find that your adjuster has not done that type of homework. Instead, he has probably relied on a Kelley Blue Book price and/or a computer printout by a regional organization that serves insurance companies in bidding down car owners just like you. Do not be intimidated by the computer printout. It has no more basis in governing this transaction than what is written on this Web page. Instead, do your own homework and convince the adjuster that your price is right. Just remember that when the adjuster states he cannot go any higher, all he is saying is that he needs more information.

For a more thorough discussion of these topics, simply click on the link below.

Click Here: http://www.settlementcentral.com/page8009.htm

New Aid for Subscribers: Starting this month, SettlementCentral.Com will be sending out a “What’s New” email to our subscribers around the middle of each month. This page will show our subscribers a brief summary of (and links to) the pages that have been added to both the free and member’s sites. This should be a big aid to our subscribers because they will get a good summary of all the pages that have been added in the past 60 days.

We will automatically send you a copy of this “What’s New” newsletter, unless you opt out. You can opt out of the "What's New" bi-monthly newsletter by sending us an email at: info@settlementcentral.com any time after you have seen what is covered. Why not take a look at it and see all the new pages at a glance?

Thank you for your interest in our site; we hope you will find us to be an excellent source for your own personal injury needs!!

Jeanine Steele
Publisher, Settle-It-Yourself Newsletter

SettlementCentral.Com has a wealth of information and special tips for members who wish to arm themselves with the best advice for dealing with insurance companies. Our Negotiation section is filled with fresh and effective ideas on how to approach a company to ensure a successful settlement of your case.
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About SettlementCentral.com
http://www.settlementcentral.com
SettlementCentral.Com, Inc. is a Washington corporation providing general educational information, online, to personal injury victims throughout the United States on how to manage their own personal injury claims through the settlement process—from gathering the necessary information (evidence) to submitting claims and demand letters, through engaging in successful personal injury settlement negotiations with insurance companies. Our online instructions and self-help forms and letters are designed to make for easy insurance claims settlements in the areas of auto accidents, pedestrian accidents, dog bites, vicious animal bites, premises liability, and slip and fall accidents.

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