un/underinsured coverage is your best friend, make sure you have it on your policy with sufficient amounts to cover you.
Same! In fact itās how we got into our Rivian. Our XC90T8 was damaged in a second collision (this time a complete fluke/actual accident) that involved our own trailer. We were coming down a mountain and hit big undulations as the elevation leveled out. Our camping trailer came off the ball and smashed into the lift gate at the base also damaging the body. This time our insurance declared it a total loss. It was going to be another $24k to fix and during the negotiation phase learned that the basis their declaring it a loss was that they valued the salvage at $15k with a total initial offer was $32K (taxes included). With those values it met the threshold of a loss. Only they grossly undervalued it and in the end we settled for $46k. It was 6yrs old with 76k miles. I hope they regretted that decision, and in turn we applied that towards our R1T. Still sucked cause we would have rather fixed the XC90T8 (2017) and replaced our 2010 XC90 instead. We still have our 2010 with 200k miles and keep eyeing replacing it but cringe at the idea of having two concurrent payments.
Absolutely agree. The first consideration is, is everyone ok. Then you start worrying about the money. But we overlook another factor- all the time and energy you have to put in to solve something that was not your fault. My R1 is about 1.5 years old with about 13k miles on it. It looks new. Not a scratch on it. The most important thing for me is that it has been trouble free. Not exactly sure that I could replace the exact vehicle because I certainly will not be compensated with a new car (which might not be trouble free) and a used one will most probably be lacking.
Yeah, I used to work as an adjuster. I do understand policies. Fortunately I got the best price on a R1T since I put my deposit down in February of 2020. So I'm fine financially...I think/hope. The real issue is the hassle of going through the process.
So right on all accounts!!
Even with insurance being required by law, the wreck can leave you in debt. The fine print or the end result is in the favor of the largest player in the deal, (Insurance Industry).
I was thinking the same thing today. Seems like an unusually high number of R1ās getting rear-ended.
I get what you are saying, but seems that if I carry high coverage insurance but someone who hits me (they are at fault) carries minimal coverage, given the high cost of Rivian repairs it could easily ālimit outā on the at fault driverās coverage. Yes, my insurance company can then go the subrogation route and go after the other insurance company. But wonāt they be limited to the total (minimal) coverage the other driver has? If the other driver has minimal assets (and there were no injury claims), then my insurance company seems unlikely to be able to get anything more than that minimal coverage amount, right? And if that minimal coverage amount wonāt even cover my Rivian repairs, much less my deductible, my rental car expenses (I donāt have rental car coverage on my policy), the diminished value on my Rivian, etc., where is all this payment to me going to come from? Answer: from MY insurance coverage. You can not typically get diminished value coverage from your own insurance company. And if I donāt carry rental coverage, why would my insurance cover it for me on their dimeā¦ or cover my deductible, if they are not going to be able to get reimbursed by the at fault driver/insurance company?
Youāve hit on precisely why itās better to go with your own insurance. If your coverage is appropriate for your Rivian (high value) and youāre hit by someone with lesser insurance then your insurance will cover your repairs and then is up to them to negotiate recovery from the at fault partyās insurance. Your Rivian will be repaired correctly and not nickel & dimmed by the other party. The deductible included - youāll not have to cover out in the end since theyāll go after the other party. As for rental coverage - youād have to pay out of pocket and when youāre done with the rental submit the receipt to your insurance to pass onto the other partyās insurance. Theyāll need to cover it as well. As I mentioned in my example, although I have rental coverage on my policy I realized I didnāt have a high enough rental rider given our circumstance of 3 kids a $30/day 30 coverage wouldnāt be enough to provide an adequate substitute for our needs. Given the other party was at fault theyāre obligated to provide reasonably comparable (in our case a midsize SUV -XC90 - I rented a CX-9). If I recall the 45 day rental worked out to about $1300. Since I rented it on my own and paid out of pocket I got my corporate rate rather than the higher rates insurance companies have negotiated with Enterprise (I went with Avis). My insurance said they would only cover up to my $30 x 30days but since I presented them with a bill at the end rather than have them pay they instead took the whole bill and sent it to the other insurance company. I got fully reimbursed. They have to provide for substitute while yours is in the shop. It doesnāt matter what their rental coverage is. That only applies for their own rental. The thing to keep in mind though is that the cost of repair plus rental gets used to assess the total cost of repair. It may impact whether your car is considered a total loss for example. As for diminished value. You could still pursue, your instance company would submit the claim for you to the other party.
I went through this same thing when someone rear ended my dad's Lincoln Towncar. It was totaled and the insurance company wanted to give 8k under the average replacement car. My dad's not great with computers, so he was having a hard time showing the difference in prices, so I pulled a few listings from Autotrader and we sent it over to the agent - 4 weeks later they adjusted up beyond what my dad was actually looking for, because the local replacement value was higher than the national average. It was painful, but persistence was key.
I really appreciate the feedback, but I still donāt think I understand the reality of this. As I said previouslyā¦
As someone who is an attorney that did quite a bit of insurance coverage law at one point in time, I'm not seeing where you two are disagreeing with each other. Basically, what each of you are saying is right.
Ok. So I have āNew Car Replacementā coverage that is in effect. So do you believe that if my vehicle is totaled that I SHOULD expect MY insurance company to pay me out for the replacement cost of a NEW Rivian with all the same OEM features mine had, plus taxes, fees, delivery, etcā¦ PLUS the cost of a rental car (even though I don't have rental car coverage)ā¦ PLUS the cost of my deductibleā¦ by going after the other insurance company even if the property damage limit the at fault driver carried was only $25K? Or if NOT totaled but has $50K in repair costs, to cover all that plus the above itemsā¦ PLUS a certain amount of diminished value? That just seems really unlikely to me, but I really hope you are right!
