Car Totaled In Wreck - Have A Question

oldfella1962 · May 1, 2018

Okay my son totaled his car (I am a co-owner). A driver a few cars ahead of him came to a dead stop in the freeway while he was merging from the on-ramp. :banginghe

Who knows why? They drove off because they were not in the accident, they just caused the chain reaction behind them.

Anyway the car is still financed but we owe more than it's worth. But we have "gap insurance" for the length of the loan, so that's not a problem. Also the insurance company provides a free rental car.

Here is my question: it takes a couple of weeks for the bank & the insurance company & auto repair shop to settle up among themselves. Should I still make my scheduled car payment to the bank on a car that is totaled until the case is completely settled? Kind of pointless since the car will be completely paid off by the bank very soon, and cease to exist for all intents & purposes. In other words am I still "on the hook" to keep paying until the day the case is completely closed? Neither myself nor my family members have ever totaled a car.

Again to clear up confusion - because I have "gap insurance" through the financer, the car loan will be paid off and I will owe nothing. I'm just wondering if I should make the most recent monthly payment that is due or forget it since the case will be settled in a week or so.

transfixer · May 1, 2018

I would make the payment, you don't want any snags to hold up the process.

Rick Alexander · May 1, 2018

I agree

make the payment - you are still technically still under contract for the payments until they settle the claim. That might take longer than you think. No sense in dinging your credit/

brunofishing · May 1, 2018

Yes you should pay!

mark-7mag · May 1, 2018

Rick Alexander said:
make the payment - you are still technically still under contract for the payments until they settle the claim. That might take longer than you think. No sense in dinging your credit/

^^^ This ^^^

steeleagle · May 1, 2018

If it was me, I would pay until I got notice of a zero balance. I am a big fan of having great credit and not paying would be an easy way to have bad credit.

naildrvr · May 1, 2018

Pay it. The loan institution will refund any overpayment to whomever made the payment if that's the case.

steeleagle · May 1, 2018

A few others things to consider:

1. If you need gap insurance, you may consider buying a less expensive car or putting more money. This will save you money as you may not need gap insurance

2. Shop around for gap insurance. Dealers want to roll this in and give you 1 payment......The probelm here is that you are paying gap insurance over the life of the loan, but you don't need it during the entire life of the loan. Gap insurance outside a dealer is usually less expensive.

king killer delete · May 1, 2018

Make the payment

oldfella1962 · May 1, 2018

survey says.......pay it.

Yeah I guess I'll pay it since it they might not finish the case for a while. My son is definitely getting a small, cheap vehicle. Since his insurance payment will now be sky high he won't be able to afford much else anyway! :huh:

He's single and small in size so why get a big vehicle? I just hope he doesn't get into a pattern of more wrecks - sometimes that happens. Drivers in bad wrecks lose confidence, get paranoid & panicky and get so scared to drive they second guess everything and end up causing wrecks. Kind of like fighting - once you get knocked out you are more susceptible to getting knocked out again.

What :banginghe

me is the terrible drivers around here who cause so many wrecks and there's never a cop around to do anything about it. Apparently there is no law against darting in-and-out of lanes at top speed, never using a turn signal, not turning on head lights until after midnight, camping out in the suicide lane praying somebody - anybody - has mercy on you and lets you out into the road or into that parking lot, slamming on your brakes when you are about to miss your freeway exit, etc. Go two miles over the speed limit though and you'll reap the whirlwind of law enforcement power!

Jim Baker · May 1, 2018

oldfella1962 said:
survey says.......pay it. Yeah I guess I'll pay it since it they might not finish the case for a while. My son is definitely getting a small, cheap vehicle. Since his insurance payment will now be sky high he won't be able to afford much else anyway! He's single and small in size so why get a big vehicle? I just hope he doesn't get into a pattern of more wrecks - sometimes that happens. Drivers in bad wrecks lose confidence, get paranoid & panicky and get so scared to drive they second guess everything and end up causing wrecks. Kind of like fighting - once you get knocked out you are more susceptible to getting knocked out again.

What me is the terrible drivers around here who cause so many wrecks and there's never a cop around to do anything about it. Apparently there is no law against darting in-and-out of lanes at top speed, never using a turn signal, not turning on head lights until after midnight, camping out in the suicide lane praying somebody - anybody - has mercy on you and lets you out into the road or into that parking lot, slamming on your brakes when you are about to miss your freeway exit, etc. Go two miles over the speed limit though and you'll reap the whirlwind of law enforcement power!

You may be reducing the amount the Ins. Provider has to pay. I would call the lender and the Ins. Provider to see when insurance begins to pick up the payments. I was always as soon as the adjuster declared it totaled. If so and you make payments after that time you are just helping the Ins. CO.

K80 · May 1, 2018

jimbo4116 said:
You may be reducing the amount the Ins. Provider has to pay. I would call the lender and the Ins. Provider to see when insurance begins to pick up the payments. I was always as soon as the adjuster declared it totaled. If so and you make payments after that time you are just helping the Ins. CO.

This.

westcobbdog · May 2, 2018

You also may be able to later make a claim vs your ins co. for the diminished value you have suffered. In addition to gap ins and totally different.

Your letter to your insurer would read: I loved my car and babied my car and washed and waxed it and regularly cleaned it and was going to sell on open mkt for retail but now it’s wrecked and I here by make a claim for the diff between wholesale and retail...good luck.

NE GA Pappy · May 2, 2018

I would pay the note.... on the last day I could before I got dinged for a late fee. Give the insurance company all the time I could to pay it first.

xlr8ngn · May 3, 2018

Get a payoff amount for the day the wreck happened. I would think that is how much the insurance owes, plus interest for the time it takes them to settle the claim. I would read your contract and become familiar with the terms, or call the company and have them explain it to you.

oldfella1962 · May 18, 2018

Turns out the car financer will give him some money - about 1800 dollars or something. He already bought a new vehicle, a Jeep Renegade, and USAA didn't raise his auto insurance rate too much - so he comes out okay except now he'll be making a car payment versus not having a car payment since the wrecked car was almost paid for. Hey, idiot drivers will never go away so I'm amazed there aren't more wrecks than there are.

Spotlite · May 19, 2018

oldfella1962 said:
Okay my son totaled his car (I am a co-owner). A driver a few cars ahead of him came to a dead stop in the freeway while he was merging from the on-ramp. Who knows why? They drove off because they were not in the accident, they just caused the chain reaction behind them. Anyway the car is still financed but we owe more than it's worth. But we have "gap insurance" for the length of the loan, so that's not a problem. Also the insurance company provides a free rental car.

Here is my question: it takes a couple of weeks for the bank & the insurance company & auto repair shop to settle up among themselves. Should I still make my scheduled car payment to the bank on a car that is totaled until the case is completely settled? Kind of pointless since the car will be completely paid off by the bank very soon, and cease to exist for all intents & purposes. In other words am I still "on the hook" to keep paying until the day the case is completely closed? Neither myself nor my family members have ever totaled a car.

Again to clear up confusion - because I have "gap insurance" through the financer, the car loan will be paid off and I will owe nothing. I'm just wondering if I should make the most recent monthly payment that is due or forget it since the case will be settled in a week or so.

Continue to pay on time. You’re obligated to the payment agreement.

The way it worked for me was the day of the accident is the day the clock started for my loss. I owed right at $30,000 on the day it was totaled. The car was valued at $25,000. My insurance company sent the bank a $25,000 check. That left a $5,000 balance. I continued to make monthly payments for 3 months totaling around $1100.

Gap sent the bank $5,000. The bank sent me a check for the 3 payments that I made ($1100)

Your Gap policy most likely tells you to continue making your on time payments. You’ll be reimbursed.

Spotlite · May 19, 2018

Keep in mind that Gap doesn’t cover missed or deferred payments. If you’re 40 months into a 48 month loan, and you deferred a payment or you’re a month behind, they don’t cover that month. You’ll still be on the hook for that one.

Havana Dude · May 20, 2018

jimbo4116 said:
You may be reducing the amount the Ins. Provider has to pay. I would call the lender and the Ins. Provider to see when insurance begins to pick up the payments. I was always as soon as the adjuster declared it totaled. If so and you make payments after that time you are just helping the Ins. CO.

This. It never hurts to make a call and ask people who matter, instead of us knuckleheads.

Dialer · Jun 5, 2018

Don’t let the insurance company tell you that any medical bills they pay is your money. They told me they were sending me $11000, what my medical had already paid (and they actually had already paid). A few weeks later, the insurance company wanted to know if this was a car accident, and if so, where the money was. I was honest with them, and was very upset. They told me to just relax, it happens all the time, and to not worry about it this time. They appreciated my honesty...

Car Totaled In Wreck - Have A Question

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