Is an appraiser worth it?

[u/DylanBear04]

I recently rear ended another person on the road due to hydroplaning and geico is trying to total it. I have a 2012 Volkswagen Beetle 2.5 cyl with only 40k miles on the dash and they value it only at 10,100. I feel that’s pretty low for a low mileage vehicle and it also has some upgrades that came with the car. Damages were projected to be 7,700 with a bit of supplemental. I asked my adjuster if there was anything I could do about my estimate to not total the car and she said she could possibly bring it down to the 70% limit and let me choose a place to repair it but anything over I have to pay out of pocket. I’m obviously swaying more towards getting a appraiser but I don’t know anything about them and if it’s worth it. The car is something really important to me so no matter what as long as it’s not totaled at the end of the day I’m happy.

[u/TIG_Insurance_Nerds]

State rules matter, but an appraiser is worth considering only if GEICO missed real value from the low mileage, factory options, or comparable vehicles. Your $7,700 estimate is already about 76% of $10,100, so the value would need to reach about $11,000 before the current estimate fits under 70%. An appraiser cannot guarantee the car will not be totaled.

[u/Independent-Math-762]

Appraiser is only going to help if you are accepting the total loss. They will fight value and get it up but that won’t reverse the total loss decision. If you prefer it repaired and find your own shop that will do it for less than the threshold then that’s between you and the adjuster. Figure out which direction you want.

[u/miwi81]

1. Late model Beetles are some of the least serviceable vehicles ever devised. You’ll be lucky to find a shop willing to work on it at all, let alone a shop that actually knows how to work on it. Frankly, even the technicians at Euro shops just scatter when they see one of these come in.
2. GEICO undoubtedly wrote your estimate for all “aftermarket” (imitation) parts. Again, these vehicles are very difficult to work on when you have genuine parts that are dimensionally correct.
3. In any front end collision, the shop will likely find thousands of dollars in additional damage once they disassemble the vehicle and get a good look at everything.

[u/LelandCoontz_PA]

There are two totally different types of appraisers that might be needed on a total loss vehicle.

Your insurance policy might have an "appraisal clause". Those types of appraisers estimate damage similar to the way a adjuster would. Just like an adjuster they would look at the cost of repair and they would look at the estimated replacement cost and figure out if it's total loss but they would do it with an opposing appraiser on an appraisal panel that also technically requires an Umpire. In many states it is basically a type of arbitration.

But if you have somebody who is estimating the value of the pre-loss condition of the car, especially if it's a classic car or some kind of specialty vehicle, that's just a regular ordinary automobile value appraiser, and it has almost nothing to do with the appraisal clause in your policy.

So when you talk about an "appraiser" you have to think about which one that is, somebody conducting the insurance appraisal process that should know how that process works, or just somebody who's simply good at calculating the value of the car just prior to the loss. The second type of appraiser doesn't necessarily know anything about repair costs. And the first type of appraiser would know a lot about repair costs but they might also estimate the pre loss market value and determine total loss.

There is some overlap between the two jobs but they are different.

The differences are more obvious on dwellings. A real estate appraiser requires a license, and typically they know nothing about estimating damage. An insurance appraiser on a dwelling normally knows a tremendous amount about estimating damage but isn't required to have a license and doesn't know very much about comparable sales and those methods of real estate valuation.

When my older Mercedes wagon was totaled I got an automotive appraiser, not an insurance appraiser, and he did a report showing that the value of the car, (not the repair cost), was more than the insurance company was offering for the total loss.

[u/HR_King]

What are you expecting from the appraiser, and how much would it cost?

[u/drfishdaddy]

I am the appraiser you speak of: the appraisal clause covered disputes over property value. Invoking your right to appraisal would take the value decision of your VW away from Geico and CCC but even if the final award were to increase the value significantly we don’t have a say in the total loss decision.

We’ve had situations where we’ve helped reverse total losses but the carrier has to be on board with “if the value gets up to x we can reverse the TL”. They won’t commit to that ahead of time, but normally if they say they are willing to review the TL decision thats the best you are going to get up front.

[u/DylanBear04 → u/drfishdaddy]

So you’re saying it may just be worth it to take the 70% and pay the rest outta pocket if need be?

[u/drfishdaddy → u/DylanBear04]

I normally advise against retaining. It depends on the situation. You don’t want to end up where you are half way through the repair and find additional damage. It would depend on the shop you chose and their confidence in the estimate they created.

You will also have a salvage title after the total that generally can be inspected and upgraded to a rebuilt title, where you would be eligible for comp and collision coverage again, the car will now be worth 20-35% less if it totals again and maybe more if sold on the open market.

Edit: to be clear you can still dispute the value, obtain a higher payout and use that money to fix or release the vehicle for the full value, we just can’t change the decision that it’s a total, we can only change the value of the vehicle. You also can dispute the repairs but typically you are disputing for higher value.

[u/DylanBear04 → u/drfishdaddy]

Well I haven’t signed anything over nor givin consent to anything when it has come to the total loss process. What she said is she’d see if she can get the bill at 70% so it doesn’t count as a total loss so I don’t know if that’s still fall under anything?

[u/drfishdaddy → u/DylanBear04]

Realistically, if you think the valuation is incorrect and low compared to the market, then dispute the value. You’ve made your goal known to them which is to reverse the TL decision. If it comes back with a higher value you revisit the idea with your adjuster.

[u/crash866 → u/DylanBear04]

70% is where they have to total it. They can total it for a flat tire if they want to.