If you have been Involved in an accident lately and have damaged or totaled the vehicle you drive each day, you may be wondering what you will be doing for a ride. You also may still owe on your vehicle and now don’t know If you should keep paying for the auto loan or if you have other choices.
If you have had a vehicle financed, here are some of the key aspects you should know:
• The vehicle’s actual cash value, or ACV, is the worth of your vehicle on the day that the accident happened.
• The insurance company will decide If a vehicle is considered a “total loss” or if it can be repaired. If the repairs total to higher than the vehicles value on the day that the accident occurred, then they may decide to total it.
• When you crash a vehicle that you are still paying on, you may still be liable for the remaining loan on your vehicle
• If you have gap insurance, it may help with the difference between the vehicle actual cash value and the amount you are still legally responsible to pay the loan.
Total Vehicle Loss
A total loss car that your insurance company determines isn’t worth fixing back up because it will cost too much. Most states have a certain way to determine the amount the car will fall into the totaled category. Stay law may want the insurer to have the car totaled when the repair of the vehicle Is more than eighty percent of the value of the car on the day of the accident.
If your vehicle is more than the cost of the vehicle, the insurance company basically buys the vehicle from you. You provide the Insurance company with your title and the vehicles cash value is then paid to you, releasing you further from the vehicle.
What Happens to My Loan If I Am at Fault and I Don’t Have Insurance?
If you are the driver found to be at fault in an accident, and you don’t have any insurance coverage, you will be responsible for paying your payments on your vehicle loan until it is paid in full.
If you are in an accident with an uninsured driver, you might need to call on your insurance company and your lawyer to handle it. You an always buy UNI or uninsured motorist coverage to pay off the loan on the totaled car to ensure you can pay off on the totaled car and get it replaced.
Your injury lawyer in Milton will file a claim against the other driver but unless the at-fault driver has other assets to pay off damages to you, it might not be worth it.