91 Lebaron Totaled by insurance

I was in an accident around Cinco De Mayo. The impact was a low
impact 5mph type of accident. I reported to my insurance company and
they totaled it and said I had to register it as salvage in CA, but I
could keep the car. I have replaced the windshield straightened out
the hood and dents. All that is next is the airbag.
When I register it again. Is it going to be on the record as
salvage since the insurance company totaled it?

[posted to rec.autos.makers.chrysler and mailed to Nomen Nescio
>]

On Sat, 11 Jun 2005 02:00:05 +0200 (CEST), Nomen Nescio
> wrote:

>You should not carry collision and comprehensive on old cars like your
>LeBaron. It is a poor return on premium.
>
>Instead, take the same money and increase public liability. A $1,000,000
>umbrella costs about $200 a year, about the same money as for $1,000 1st
>party personal property insurance you had on your car. Total loss of your
>LeBaron will not break you, but a big property damage or injury accident
>will; reevaluate your insurance.
>
>Bottom line is buy public liability and public property damage. Do not
>insure your old cars.

A better question is when I report the accident to the insurance
company and they total a car like mine. Does the insurance company
report the accident to the state?

"John Bolton" > wrote in message
...
> [posted to rec.autos.makers.chrysler and mailed to Nomen Nescio
> >]
>
> On Sat, 11 Jun 2005 02:00:05 +0200 (CEST), Nomen Nescio
> > wrote:
>
>>You should not carry collision and comprehensive on old cars like your
>>LeBaron. It is a poor return on premium.
>>
>>Instead, take the same money and increase public liability. A $1,000,000
>>umbrella costs about $200 a year, about the same money as for $1,000 1st
>>party personal property insurance you had on your car. Total loss of your
>>LeBaron will not break you, but a big property damage or injury accident
>>will; reevaluate your insurance.
>>
>>Bottom line is buy public liability and public property damage. Do not
>>insure your old cars.
>
> A better question is when I report the accident to the insurance
> company and they total a car like mine. Does the insurance company
> report the accident to the state?

That is a mystery? Sometimes they do, But most of the time they do not.

On Sat, 11 Jun 2005 04:34:15 GMT, John Bolton > wrote:

>[posted to rec.autos.makers.chrysler and mailed to Nomen Nescio
>]
>
>On Sat, 11 Jun 2005 02:00:05 +0200 (CEST), Nomen Nescio
> wrote:
>
>>You should not carry collision and comprehensive on old cars like your
>>LeBaron. It is a poor return on premium.
>>
>>Instead, take the same money and increase public liability. A $1,000,000
>>umbrella costs about $200 a year, about the same money as for $1,000 1st
>>party personal property insurance you had on your car. Total loss of your
>>LeBaron will not break you, but a big property damage or injury accident
>>will; reevaluate your insurance.
>>
>>Bottom line is buy public liability and public property damage. Do not
>>insure your old cars.
>
>A better question is when I report the accident to the insurance
>company and they total a car like mine. Does the insurance company
>report the accident to the state?
Yes.
As said before, do not put coverage on an old car - and if you do, do
NOT report damage less than a (in YOUR opinion) total loss to the
insurance company. If you fix it without insurance co involvement, the
car is not "branded"

> wrote in message
news
> On Sat, 11 Jun 2005 04:34:15 GMT, John Bolton > wrote:

> >A better question is when I report the accident to the insurance
> >company and they total a car like mine. Does the insurance company
> >report the accident to the state?
> Yes.
> As said before, do not put coverage on an old car - and if you do, do
> NOT report damage less than a (in YOUR opinion) total loss to the
> insurance company.

If you lie to the insurance company your opening yourself
up for all kinds of exposure. You get into a collision and the accident is
your
fault, you try to avoid reporting it to the insurance company and suddenly a
year later right before the statue of limitations runs out your slapped by a
million buck medical lawsuit by some ambulance chaser. Now your screwed
because your insurance company investigates and finds out you didn't report
it
to the insurance company, or lied about the damage,
and they cancel the policy under the terms of the contract, perfectly
legally, and
you now are fighting the ambulance chaser lawyer on your own.

If you are going to not report an accident, your far better off not filing a
police
report if it's just property damage. Most states have a dollar limit that
you
are required to file a police report at, and if asked you just tell them
that
the damage was underneath the limit, and the other driver's insurance
carrier
wouldn't give you the dollar value they paid out on their car. They can't
prove
otherwise on a property claim of this nature. Medical, of course, is a
different
story. But you should -never- not tell your insurance company if your in
an accident with another car, or your in an accident where you have a
passenger.
The only ones that you can keep secret are the dumb ****ups like when
you drive into the ditch at 2:00am in the morning by yourself, then come
back
the next day with a chain and pull it out.

> If you fix it without insurance co involvement, the
> car is not "branded"

No. If having a no salvage title is that important to you, you can simply
not cash the check from the insurance company, or take less than the
book value as compensation. If the insurance company doesen't pay
out book value on your claim, they cannot total the car.

Ted

On Sun, 12 Jun 2005 01:42:46 -0700, "Ted Mittelstaedt"
> wrote:

>
> wrote in message
>news
>> On Sat, 11 Jun 2005 04:34:15 GMT, John Bolton > wrote:
>
>> >A better question is when I report the accident to the insurance
>> >company and they total a car like mine. Does the insurance company
>> >report the accident to the state?
>> Yes.
>> As said before, do not put coverage on an old car - and if you do, do
>> NOT report damage less than a (in YOUR opinion) total loss to the
>> insurance company.
>
>If you lie to the insurance company your opening yourself
>up for all kinds of exposure. You get into a collision and the accident is
>your
>fault, you try to avoid reporting it to the insurance company and suddenly a
>year later right before the statue of limitations runs out your slapped by a
>million buck medical lawsuit by some ambulance chaser. Now your screwed
>because your insurance company investigates and finds out you didn't report
>it
>to the insurance company, or lied about the damage,
>and they cancel the policy under the terms of the contract, perfectly
>legally, and
>you now are fighting the ambulance chaser lawyer on your own.
>
>If you are going to not report an accident, your far better off not filing a
>police
>report if it's just property damage. Most states have a dollar limit that
>you
>are required to file a police report at, and if asked you just tell them
>that
>the damage was underneath the limit, and the other driver's insurance
>carrier
>wouldn't give you the dollar value they paid out on their car. They can't
>prove
>otherwise on a property claim of this nature. Medical, of course, is a
>different
>story. But you should -never- not tell your insurance company if your in
>an accident with another car, or your in an accident where you have a
>passenger.
>The only ones that you can keep secret are the dumb ****ups like when
>you drive into the ditch at 2:00am in the morning by yourself, then come
>back
>the next day with a chain and pull it out.
>
>> If you fix it without insurance co involvement, the
>> car is not "branded"
>
>No. If having a no salvage title is that important to you, you can simply
>not cash the check from the insurance company, or take less than the
>book value as compensation. If the insurance company doesen't pay
>out book value on your claim, they cannot total the car.
>
>Ted
>
I did not say do not report the accident to police. The insurance
company will STILL know of your driving record - but there is no law
saying you have to let the insurance company look at the damage on
your car, see an estimate of repairs, or pay anything for damages to
your car. The liability side is a different situation.

You are free to repair your car, or not repair it, any way you wish.
You can scrap it for a broken headlight if you like.Or you can spend
$20,000 rebuilding a $500 peice of trash. As long as the repairs are
properly done, the insurance company, or the law, can do nothing about
it. Period.