Making sure my family doesn't get screwed over.
 

My sister was recently hit by a woman who ran a stop, and the damage was pretty severe.
Today, I checked the phone messages and ICBC notified us that they would not repair the car because repairs would cost more than the car itself, but send us a cheque with the value of the car.
Is there a way for me to know if ICBC undervalued the car, or is that totally up to ICBC and there is nothing i can do about it?

Can i get a second opinion and negotiate how much we get with ICBC?
It was a 2004 Mazta 6, 53xxx KM's. We owned it since new and no prior accidents.

Since this is the case, we are also now looking for a used car to replace our Mazda 6. Are there any pointers people could give me to make sure I don't make a mistake?

Also, some good places to look for used cars if possible.

Cheers!

I would suggest getting legal advice from a Lawyer before accepting anything from ICBC.

Unless things have changed recently... when I had my car written off in 2003, it was up to me to go down to the ICBC claim centre and sign a release form stating they could sell my car for scrap (it was torched... doubt they got much..).

Until I signed the release form, they weren't even going to give me the cheque. Nor the amount... that discussion came afterwards.

Could you point me in the right direction as to where i could find the right type of lawyer?

^
wow, that's retarded. can u debate the amount on he cheque even after u signed the release form?

Yep, that's what I had to do.. but why leave it to chance? ICBC can't do squat with your car until you sign the release form.

Try talking to the adjuster about the amount before you sign it. I didn't know what I was doing back then... first time I'd had a car written off after all...

yeah, this is the first time for us as well.
i'm not the car owner.. but i like to be on top of things so i wanna make sure we cover all grounds.

I did a search on google for ICBC lawyers, but I'm looking for a different kind, so I can't really help you all that much. I just know that the one we spoke to told us not to sign anything from ICBC until you speak to a lawyer (which we didn't, lesson learned).

I believe you can negotiate with ICBC if you are not happy with their offer. They are not authorized to do anything to the car unless you sign their papers.

Make sure you have credible reasons as to why you should be receiving more than they're offering.

I'm in the same situation as you are right now. My car got into a hit and run accident. ICBC decided not to pay for the repairs, wrote it off and instead gave me the value for my car. It was a lowball value, which was literally a shot in the nuts to me.

Currently, my adjustor is telling me to email her links of similar cars of the same model/trim with around the same kms on the market right now (buysell, autotrader, craiglist) and to present my case to her.

I did that yesterday, and today she says she cant open then..ugh. I think they're wasting my time and delaying it making me wait until I get desperate for money and thinking i'll give in to their lowball value.

Anyways. yeah as far as i know, don't agree on anything or sign anything yet. Just send them links or email the ads to your adjustor and just talk to them. Thats all I can say so far.

Good luck!

^print off the ads and take them in instead.

egh i didn't bother with emails. just get them printed them out and see them in person... but i had a big fight with them because they said "but you would most likely haggle the price down at least $2-3k so we will adjust our payout accordingly"... that's when i went ballistic :flamemad:

dont accept it right away. for 53000km thats considered low for a 2004. check the bluebook (or i forgot whats it call for canadian cars), they should at least be paying 2-3k more than the suggested blue book price, cause thats the price of what dealer usually give u.

as for used cars, thats a different issue, im guessing she wants a japanese car so is more reliable and a 4 door sedan?

compare prices on craigslist. my uncle is in the same situation as you. his car is a write-off and he came to me so i can look up what dealers or private owners are selling their cars for. So he can have an idea what to ask from ICBC.

yep, that's what my friend did. in the end he got over what he was expecting so he didnt need to argue

Their first offer is almost always going to be blue book value, not market value. Insurance is supposed to give you enough money to go out and buy the same car on the used market. You can keep arguing with them until you're happy. When I wrote off my car, their initial offer was like $3500 and I talked my way up to $16,000 because that's what the cars were going for. A lawyer isn't necessary for this, they're usually pretty compliant with this.

like others have said and from personal experience, grab ads of similar cars out in the market and present them to the adjustor/icbc rep. I had mine faxed, they called me within 20 minutes with a new value.

Initial $4900
Final $7500

Legal advice is never a bad idea, especially if you've never done it before. You don't necessarily have to hire the lawyer, but it doesn't hurt anyone to talk to them about what to expect and what happens if ICBC decides not to go any higher.