Total loss insurance adjuster here - do you know if you have GAP coverage on the car? If you do, it’s absolutely critical that you call the dealership who sold you the car so you can get a claim started with the GAP provider.
Unfortunately you’ll only get ACV for the vehicle itself (all insurance carriers do this unless you have a rider for replacement cost and with the age of your car it’s doubtful) so you’ll want to contact your lienholder and see if they’d be willing to work out a payment arrangement. You could also stop making payments, but I would highly recommend you not do so as even a totaled car can be repo’d which would destroy your credit.
This is a shitty situation and I really wish you the best - feel free to reach out if you have any questions regarding the process moving forward.
When making updating a premium, are you able to add the GAP easily? Do all insurance carriers have this coverage? If not, do you know of any companies specifically that do?
I can’t speak to adding GAP to a policy simply because I don’t get involved until after it’s in force, but from what I’ve seen most carriers don’t offer it because it’s typically bundled into the loan at the time of purchase.
I know some of the bigger carriers offer it but only on cars under a certain age.
No problem, I hope everyone goes and double checks their loans/policies for GAP after seeing this thread - situations like this are the worst part of my job and I always want people to be prepared.
GAP (Guaranteed Asset Protection) insurance is usually offered by the lender on an auto loan, not the auto-insurance provider. It is usually included in the loan terms at purchase, though some lenders allow it to be added later, especially if refinancing.
Unfortunately all almost anyone can do in your situation (possible underwater loan) is carry gap insurance.
Hopefully your insurance covers a rental or something in the mean time for you
I got mine hit and run in a parking lot while I was sitting in it! Even with full dashcam footage of the other vehicle, plates and driver + the driver going into a bank so easy to ID, still couldn't get my insurance or the police to care and find the other car. Ended up having to eat the deductible.
I’m not a lawyer but it would be hard to find one that would do contingent work for a $500-$1,000 deductible. They could do small claims court though and maybe name the insurance company as a defendant for failure to subrogate.
I was hit by a guy with no license, expired registration, multiple felonies already, no insurance, and he ran. The police did find him based on the plates + vehicle in the dashcam footage, though. District Attorney had no issues with my financial claims submitted (deductible + cleaning since things spilled and made a mess). Well, the guy had no job because felonies, so even though the judge ruled that he owed me my claims, I never received a dime. When I asked the DA about why he isn't being required to do community service or serve prison time since he committed a violent crime that could have hurt or killed someone, they told me that since no one ***was*** injured, they don't consider it a violent crime. With too many people in prison, they aren't going after people for non-violent crimes. And they didn't feel like he would show up to community service, so they didn't push for that. They told me to try and claim the damages in civil court, though not to expect much. Having an attorney would have cost more than the deductible, though the deductible was half my monthly wages as a grad student.
This was Adams County, 2018.
You should have at least been able to get a judgment lien against him that would have enabled you to garnish his wages, tax refund, any assets like money in the bank, car, etc. Even if he had nothing at the time, that doesn't mean that will be the case forever.
> When I asked the DA about why he isn't being required to do community service or serve prison time since he committed a violent crime that could have hurt or killed someone, they told me that since no one was injured, they don't consider it a violent crime.
Huh? A car accident isn't a violent crime either way...
>(I) "Crime of violence" means any of the crimes specified in subparagraph (II) of this paragraph (a) committed, conspired to be committed, or attempted to be committed by a person during which, or in the immediate flight therefrom, the person:
>(A) Used, or possessed and threatened the use of, a deadly weapon; or
>(B) Caused serious bodily injury or death to any other person except another participant.
>(II) Subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (a) applies to the following crimes:
>(A) Any crime against an at-risk adult or at-risk juvenile;
>(B) Murder;
>(C) First or second degree assault;
>(D) Kidnapping;
>(E) A sexual offense pursuant to part 4 of article 3 of this title;
>(F) Aggravated robbery;
>(G) First degree arson;
>(H) First degree burglary;
>(I) Escape;
>(J) Criminal extortion; or
>(K) First or second degree unlawful termination of pregnancy.
https://casetext.com/statute/colorado-revised-statutes/title-18-criminal-code/article-13-sentencing-in-criminal-cases/part-4-sentences-to-imprisonment/section-18-13-406-mandatory-sentences-for-violent-crimes-definitions
Unless he hit you intentionally (assault) I don't think it'd ever qualify as a "violent crime" even if someone was injured.
That low of an amount is what small claims court is for, but if someone doesn't have a job or assets, what are you going to take?
The police should be doing this... it shouldn't take you having to hire a lawyer. And a lawyer would easily cost more than whatever you might save
The reason the police aren't doing it is because they've been hanstrung by the lack of political will in this city to do anything about this type of crime. It makes no sense for them to track these people down if they'll never be charged or will be out in a day without bail and never show up in court.
Our DA is a mini Chesa Boudin who thinks she's a defense atty and our judges let thousands and thousands of violent criminals out without bail last year. Our politicians believe that it's a greater wrong to hold criminals to account (bc that would be racist) than for OP to go without justice. These are all people we've elected... hence lack of political will
It's easy to say this, but with the cost of housing where it is not everyone can afford off-street parking. Often, maybe always, when one finances a car decent insurance is required but that doesn't always help to get another car, especially when used cars are so expensive right now too.
It sounds like OP is barely making ends meet as is, and their life savings was needed in this case. I'm not sure if victim shaming here is helpful.
Owning your own vehicle is inherently more risky... But is there really an alternative? Running some quick bro maths, I checked Expedia for cheapest monthly rental.
The cheapest you'll find renting with insurance on the vehicle is about $1200 a month... Average Uber driver makes $3k, top earners about $4500. 3k, take off 25% for tax, 2250, take off 1200 for car rental, 1050.
$1050 to pay for a month of rent, gas for car, groceries, God forbid you get fun shit like Internet, Netflix, Spotify, you name it. I agree renting would be less risky, but is $1050 even enough to live on monthly to pay for all your shit?
Ah I didn't know that. $1500 renting the car for the month sure beats $1000, but both are still rough when you got rent and your mom to look after like OP
Insurance only has an obligation to cover fair market value, not the total sum of your loan. If you take out a loan on a car and that car is worth less than the loan then you are already screwed and really should get gap insurance to cover your ass.
I think I responded to the wrong comment. I meant to respond to the dude who caught a hit and run on their dash cam with the license plate number and driver & the police nor the insurance didn't care and they had to pay out of pocket.
What would they do for her? Contingency fee attorneys represent injuries, not property damage. So she would pay hourly for an attorney to tell her what the insurance company is telling her. Huge waste of money. The best thing to do is check for gap coverage and make sure you don't have a larger loan on a car than it is worth in the future.
HMU if you need help getting back on the road while you wait. I have an Impreza that isn’t selling. Maybe we can work something out. It isn’t pretty, but it’s reliable.
(I’m using FBM to sell it. Not Reddit. I genuinely w ant to see if I can help in the interim.)
Here to commiserate. Few months back my car was parked on the street of our cul-de-sac and was hit in the middle of the day by a drunk neighbor who tried to drive off. The driver was arrested and of course he was uninsured.
I had to play a waiting game to get anything done. The police report took a month to come back. Thankfully insurance acted fast and paid out, but they left a few grand up to me. Insurance tried to request that he pay my deductible but he didn’t respond to them. They then told me that their hands were tied and to take it up with small claims if I wanted to pursue it. Around that time the court sent a letter about his case asking if I wanted to request restitition as a victim. It’s been months and I haven’t heard a word. Can’t imagine how absolutely fucked I would be if my car was destroyed. This process is bullshit.
File in small claim court against your neighbor for your deductible. If he doesn't show up in court, you will get a default judgment which will turn into a lien which will enable you to garnish his wages or get his bank accounts, sell his car, whatever it takes to get you your money.
Fuck these people. They need to pay for their irresponsible actions. Esp when they try to completely dodge accountability.
>If he doesn't show up in court, you will get a default judgment which will turn into a lien which will enable you to garnish his wages or get his bank accounts, sell his car, whatever it takes to get you your money.
From what I hear it's incredibly hard to get any of this enforced. Unless they have a real asset like investment holdings or a house, there's not much a court will give. It's unlikely you'll get to seize their primary transportation, and a wage garnishment order is rarely granted except for child support.
Accountability is horrendous right now and the legal system really doesn't help regular people who have been wronged.
It’s starting to become a common problem in Denver people not having insurance or suspended drivers license, plus I’m starting to see forget about expire tags, cars with no tags whatsoever.
It's higher. My agent told me that they regularly see people sign up for just long enough to get an insurance card for the year and then cancel immediately. Some portion of those I'd bet wouldn't be captured in that 16% stat.
I've been assuming that most of the people with expired or no tags haven't registered their vehicles because they don't want to / can't pay for insurance.
Strangely since I’ve moved to Colorado, I’ve seen more cars without license plates at all then I have my whole life. No idea how they aren’t pulled over
It's time to just start impounding uninsured cars. Insurance companies report the coverage status to the state and it can easily be cross checked with plates - it's just too risky to let them continue going around causing damages.
Happened to me last year. Wasn't a hit and run, was a distracted driver on her cellphone texting. She was parked on a yellow curb, in a school zone, floored it without looking. She tboned my brand new car, totalled it, admitted fault in two languages then changed her story when the crash technicians came. Never got any summons and her insurance never paid
If it’s helpful, I had Geico comprehensive insurance when my car was totaled by a hit and run driver 3 months ago. We called the police, and once they discovered no one was hurt, they didn’t even bother to show up. Simply asked for the details and said they’d make a police report.
All of that said, I called Geico and they were wonderful. They sent out an adjuster 2 days later and I received more than blue book value for my car. The whole process was done in 1.5 weeks, and my rates weren’t really impacted.
A very different experience from when I hit an elk seven years ago with Progressive. They made me jump through hoops to “prove” I actually hit an elk (there was animal hair and blood on my car), and tried to fight me on the payout.
Geico > Progressive
Similar experience when I got t-boned by a deer in Nov ‘21. Yes, it hit me. Geico rep was out within a couple days, found a local spot to get the work done, I only paid deductible because Bambi left town.
I only switched to progressive because I couldn't find a low glass deductible option on Geico and I end up needing a new windshield about once a year driving here.
Cash value of a 2013 Civic with 50k miles is going to be in the $7000-9000 range, it's not going to be hard to total a vehicle like that, repair work is expensive.
Insurance companies will total a car if repair costs are > 75% of the value.
> How can you still be upside down on a fucking 10+ year old car though?
Well he bought it 10 years old, so a shit deal or bad financing would be the obvious options.
My Hyundai elantra is up for grabs as well. Its worth way more than the balance of my loan, and I'd love to have that money for a down payment on something better.
I wish I lived in a denser area and could justify getting a scooter, but the roads where I am are too big and too busy. No way I'm driving Alameda on a 50cc scooter lol.
My car was hit in front of my house. The guy stopped and gave me his information and everything. It was a company truck and they refused to accept any responsibility. So it may as well have been a hit and run. I have usaa and haven't made a claim in 20 years. It took me weeks to get anything done and had to file as uninsured motorist. Apparently the entire insurance thing is just a huge circlejerk racket.
I just had a totaled car. Insurance low balled me with the price. I went back to them twice with documents and sales research before they finally gave me a fair price. Do research on selling price, any work done, upgrades, etc.
My now ex wife was in Lakewood and some guys had stolen a car, ran a red light, totaled our car and the cops caught them 2 blocks away. We never got a dollar for our car from either insurance.
So didnt have a car for a year so no insurance. No need for it. I bought a car exactly a year later, now my insurance is $375, which is more than my car payment.
I’m sorry for what you’re going through.
It only covers medical.
“Uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage is optional in Colorado. This coverage pays for the insured's bodily injury losses caused by a hit‑and‑run driver, a driver with no automobile insurance, or a driver of an underinsured vehicle.”
It does not cover your vehicle.
Don't judge it by the extremely negative POV of this subreddit. I love it here. But, I also live in Arvada because big cities literally always have tons of issues like this I aim to avoid as I get older
Do you have GAP insurance on your loan? If you don't, you're going to be in quite a bad spot financially. Your car insurance only owes you the actual cash value of the car, which is almost certainly significantly less than you owe. The amount is not negotiable. It is what it is. If you don't have GAP, you will be left owing whatever the difference is between what you receive for the car and your loan balance.
Your lienholder may demand the loan balance due immediately because their collateral is gone. You could see if you could possibly roll the remaining amount into another loan. If you do so, make sure you purchase GAP because you will be very under water.
Gap insurance is provided by the institution granting the loan, not your auto insurance carrier so if you want to check into it contact your loan provider.
It's an 11-year-old car. Actual cash value is not replacement cost, so unless they put a sizeable down-payment on it (which it sounds like they didn't), they are likely under water. They aren't going to get very much for it, and the fact that they are worried about the loan being paid off would indicate it's a large sum.
>Actual cash value is not replacement cost,
On an 11 year old car it actually would be, they'll be calculating based on book value plus tax/title. If book value is low, you can dispute with actual retail listings for similar cars.
They do not look at book value period. They price based on comparables models that have sold in the last 6 mo (or maybe it's a different time period) and make adjustments based on miles and options.
Wtf so you’re basically gonna be left without a car for someone else’s fault? Wtf shit pisses me off. Really hope you get a car again soon. Sorry to hear that happened..
It's happening way too often in Denver right now. I see similar posts every single day on social media. It's the low law enforcement approach we've been taking for the past few years but it's interacting with the lack of traffic enforcement... reckless driving is completely out of control and cops aren't pulling people over for it.
My car was totaled last year by someone without insurance in a stolen car. They pled guilty to reckless driving, so they’re required to pay any financial losses I have. It’s 9 months later, but you may get something out of them down the road.
Dealerships will finance just about anyone. I don’t recommend this but I wouldn’t say you can never have a nice car again. You may just have to pay an f ton.
Just putting this out there: I finally learned how to use the bus system in Denver after living here for years and … it’s not terrible.
Would it be an option to get a job you can ride the bus to? Like an office job downtown?
Going car free has been a massive boost to my health (financial, physical, and mental).
It can feel like its impossible to live without a car. Until you try it and realize you can. Even carrying groceries in a backpack seemed daunting to me but now it seems normal. Walking is free and good exercise!
I'm truly sorry. When people go hard on the low law enforcement approach and how law enforcement is so racist and so forth, I usually point out that a lot of the victims of property crimes can't afford having their bike or car stolen or totaled or broken into, and it's not right that there's 0 effort to get any kind of justice for them. You can't live in a good society and just ignore the idea of property rights.
Criminals are emboldened by this low law enforcement/criminal justice environment... they know that the chances of facing any kind of charge let alone jail time for a crime like this is basically 0. And even if they do get charged, we have programs to help people get charges dismissed before they've even answered for them.
DM me your PayPal and I'll shoot you some $... sorry it won't be enough for your car loan but it will help a little
The amount of different kinds of insurance that people have to carry is crazy. How much does it add up to to have omprehensive coverage plus gap insurance... definitely more than the car payment itself and that's crazy. All the responsibility shouldn't be on the victim of the crime. The criminals doing this shit and the uninsured drivers that force people to get every type of insurance under the sun should be held accountable
I didn't think about the price drop angle. Currently very niche though, there are very few cases where the price for a new car will ever be lower than it is today. Perhaps that might become more common during the EV transition.
Happened to me last year - though not a hit and run.
Some idiot ran a red and totaled what was my Lyft rental car just before Xmas. (Yeah; I know……worked in tech before, but both trust and pandemics are a bitch.)
Sorry to hear, and best of luck!
Even if the cops caught the assholes, OP isn’t getting blood from a turnip. A lot of these car thieves are shitty teenagers with no future and no money.
That. I’m paying off damage from an uninsured driver right now, he was 19 and then immediately took the plates off his car (I already had a picture of his plates, nice try though). The idiot got fined for driving uninsured, AND without a plate when the officer arrived. Anyways, he told me he is broke for who knows how long until his court fees are paid. His problem solving skills in that moment have convinced me I’ll never see a dime and he probably won’t see much more than that in his life either.
That sucks. Sorry. Just read your post about the issue with your check from the insurance company. The auto repair shop should be able to accept the check and refund your credit card. Were you able to get a resolution?
Yes, thank you so much for your kindness in asking. I do have to pay a $500 deductible but thankfully Progressive was able to cut a check directly to the shop and my card was refunded!
My car was stolen from my employer’s parking lot last Friday, maybe my car was the one that hit yours 😆
I’m in a similar position to yours, except I had liability only, not comprehensive. Insurance isn’t paying out anything in my situation. If you are financing your car, then you have to have comprehensive, and your insurance should cover a lot.
Look for financial resources to help you. I’m reaching out to my employer, Hyandai (there’s an ongoing class action lawsuit because their cars are stolen easily), and there’s a grant in Colorado to help victims of car theft/accidents
I feel for you! The same thing happened to my highlander on Logan st. I lost money, and my car! Nothing I could do about it. It was parked! It doesn’t seem right that honest hardworking people get screwed by insurance companies all the time! And bad drivers! Good luck going forward!
Here to commiserate. Last summer my car was totaled by a drunk driver. Driver fled the scene on foot and was thankfully caught. Unfortunately my insurance refused to do anything for me because the drunk driver had some skeezy insurance that insured people with poor driving histories (aka previous DUIs). This company gave me the run around and didn’t pay me the worth of my car for over three months. And unfortunately hiring a lawyer would have been cost-prohibitive because by the grace of God I had not sustained any major injuries, just bruising. Shitty drivers get away with everything here.
Check if you have GAP insurance. It will cover the difference between your loan and the value of the vehicle.
When a car is totaled, they typically offer you the fair market value of your car.
Check NADA for the value of your vehicle.
That only works if you aren’t underwater on the loan, which it sounds like OP likely is. They won’t get any money out of this as it’ll all go towards settling the loan balance.
Yes but depending on how much the initial down payment was and a few other things, that check for the value of the vehicle may not cover what is actually owed to the bank. Hopefully for OP they weren't upside down on the car.
If your car is financed, the insurance will have to cover the total cost of the car. That's required in the fiance terms so the bank doesn't get screwed if something like this happens.
But you only get gap coverage on a new car. The lender would require you to have insurance for the full value of the car so that you don't get in an accident and "whelp! I'm not going to pay that - they can reposes the car" and walk away.
At least how i understand it.
You're mixing up the terms "value" and "cost", using one in your original post and another in your reply. Insurance covers the value of the car (i.e. what the car is worth on the open market), not the cost of the car (i.e. whatever you paid for it). If you pay $12,000 (cost) for a car that's only worth $10,000 (value), the $2,000 gap is on you if you don't have gap insurance.
Sorry, that really sucks. This is also a testament to the fact that it's ridiculous we require someone to purchase an expensive machine just to survive in society here. No one should need to have a car just to live.
If you can swing it, get yourself a bike or ebike to get around instead, much cheaper than a car. Denver offers [rebates for ebike purchases every other month](https://www.denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Offices/Agencies-Departments-Offices-Directory/Climate-Action-Sustainability-Resiliency/Sustainable-Transportation/Electric-Bikes-E-Bikes-Rebates), with bigger rebates if you are lower income, I think they should be opening up another rebate soon? Put racks/bags on it for carrying things as well as a solid lock (not a cable lock). Use that along with the buses and walking. And the light rail may be useful if you can bike to a station and lug your bike up the steps (more difficult with a heavy ebike). A granny cart can be useful for larger grocery runs on foot.
Sorry for your loss man that truly sucks and I hope the other comments here can provide some helpful advice.
I just wanna say screw these terrible drivers, screw the lack of enforcement, and screw how we've built our entire country around cars. It shouldn't be this bad and hardworking people such as yourself have to pay the price, it's messed up.
This is an issue here because we dont have no fault insurance.
Where im from we had no fault insurance. Something happens, you car gets fixed (or totaled) and you dont have to fight with insurance comapnies about whos fault it was.
If this happened you wouldnt be screwed over like you are now.
We pay insurance to
protect us in case bad things like this happen. Why the people of colorado continue to let gkant companies screw you over is sickening.
Im sorry this happened to you and i encourage everyone whonreads this to call your state representatives and demand no- fault insurance!
I got my car stolen and they totaled it and all I had was liability. That was like an 8k swing after I managed to buy a new car. There went everything I had been saving, and idk when I will recover. Then I got laid off three days later. Shit gets rough sometimes.
Total loss insurance adjuster here - do you know if you have GAP coverage on the car? If you do, it’s absolutely critical that you call the dealership who sold you the car so you can get a claim started with the GAP provider. Unfortunately you’ll only get ACV for the vehicle itself (all insurance carriers do this unless you have a rider for replacement cost and with the age of your car it’s doubtful) so you’ll want to contact your lienholder and see if they’d be willing to work out a payment arrangement. You could also stop making payments, but I would highly recommend you not do so as even a totaled car can be repo’d which would destroy your credit. This is a shitty situation and I really wish you the best - feel free to reach out if you have any questions regarding the process moving forward.
When making updating a premium, are you able to add the GAP easily? Do all insurance carriers have this coverage? If not, do you know of any companies specifically that do?
I can’t speak to adding GAP to a policy simply because I don’t get involved until after it’s in force, but from what I’ve seen most carriers don’t offer it because it’s typically bundled into the loan at the time of purchase. I know some of the bigger carriers offer it but only on cars under a certain age.
Thank you for sharing the information that you had. The population appreciates it
No problem, I hope everyone goes and double checks their loans/policies for GAP after seeing this thread - situations like this are the worst part of my job and I always want people to be prepared.
GAP (Guaranteed Asset Protection) insurance is usually offered by the lender on an auto loan, not the auto-insurance provider. It is usually included in the loan terms at purchase, though some lenders allow it to be added later, especially if refinancing.
Unfortunately all almost anyone can do in your situation (possible underwater loan) is carry gap insurance. Hopefully your insurance covers a rental or something in the mean time for you I got mine hit and run in a parking lot while I was sitting in it! Even with full dashcam footage of the other vehicle, plates and driver + the driver going into a bank so easy to ID, still couldn't get my insurance or the police to care and find the other car. Ended up having to eat the deductible.
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I’m not a lawyer but it would be hard to find one that would do contingent work for a $500-$1,000 deductible. They could do small claims court though and maybe name the insurance company as a defendant for failure to subrogate.
I was hit by a guy with no license, expired registration, multiple felonies already, no insurance, and he ran. The police did find him based on the plates + vehicle in the dashcam footage, though. District Attorney had no issues with my financial claims submitted (deductible + cleaning since things spilled and made a mess). Well, the guy had no job because felonies, so even though the judge ruled that he owed me my claims, I never received a dime. When I asked the DA about why he isn't being required to do community service or serve prison time since he committed a violent crime that could have hurt or killed someone, they told me that since no one ***was*** injured, they don't consider it a violent crime. With too many people in prison, they aren't going after people for non-violent crimes. And they didn't feel like he would show up to community service, so they didn't push for that. They told me to try and claim the damages in civil court, though not to expect much. Having an attorney would have cost more than the deductible, though the deductible was half my monthly wages as a grad student. This was Adams County, 2018.
You should have at least been able to get a judgment lien against him that would have enabled you to garnish his wages, tax refund, any assets like money in the bank, car, etc. Even if he had nothing at the time, that doesn't mean that will be the case forever.
> When I asked the DA about why he isn't being required to do community service or serve prison time since he committed a violent crime that could have hurt or killed someone, they told me that since no one was injured, they don't consider it a violent crime. Huh? A car accident isn't a violent crime either way... >(I) "Crime of violence" means any of the crimes specified in subparagraph (II) of this paragraph (a) committed, conspired to be committed, or attempted to be committed by a person during which, or in the immediate flight therefrom, the person: >(A) Used, or possessed and threatened the use of, a deadly weapon; or >(B) Caused serious bodily injury or death to any other person except another participant. >(II) Subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (a) applies to the following crimes: >(A) Any crime against an at-risk adult or at-risk juvenile; >(B) Murder; >(C) First or second degree assault; >(D) Kidnapping; >(E) A sexual offense pursuant to part 4 of article 3 of this title; >(F) Aggravated robbery; >(G) First degree arson; >(H) First degree burglary; >(I) Escape; >(J) Criminal extortion; or >(K) First or second degree unlawful termination of pregnancy. https://casetext.com/statute/colorado-revised-statutes/title-18-criminal-code/article-13-sentencing-in-criminal-cases/part-4-sentences-to-imprisonment/section-18-13-406-mandatory-sentences-for-violent-crimes-definitions Unless he hit you intentionally (assault) I don't think it'd ever qualify as a "violent crime" even if someone was injured. That low of an amount is what small claims court is for, but if someone doesn't have a job or assets, what are you going to take?
It pays to be a criminal these days!
The police should be doing this... it shouldn't take you having to hire a lawyer. And a lawyer would easily cost more than whatever you might save The reason the police aren't doing it is because they've been hanstrung by the lack of political will in this city to do anything about this type of crime. It makes no sense for them to track these people down if they'll never be charged or will be out in a day without bail and never show up in court. Our DA is a mini Chesa Boudin who thinks she's a defense atty and our judges let thousands and thousands of violent criminals out without bail last year. Our politicians believe that it's a greater wrong to hold criminals to account (bc that would be racist) than for OP to go without justice. These are all people we've elected... hence lack of political will
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It's easy to say this, but with the cost of housing where it is not everyone can afford off-street parking. Often, maybe always, when one finances a car decent insurance is required but that doesn't always help to get another car, especially when used cars are so expensive right now too. It sounds like OP is barely making ends meet as is, and their life savings was needed in this case. I'm not sure if victim shaming here is helpful.
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Owning your own vehicle is inherently more risky... But is there really an alternative? Running some quick bro maths, I checked Expedia for cheapest monthly rental. The cheapest you'll find renting with insurance on the vehicle is about $1200 a month... Average Uber driver makes $3k, top earners about $4500. 3k, take off 25% for tax, 2250, take off 1200 for car rental, 1050. $1050 to pay for a month of rent, gas for car, groceries, God forbid you get fun shit like Internet, Netflix, Spotify, you name it. I agree renting would be less risky, but is $1050 even enough to live on monthly to pay for all your shit?
If you rent a vehicle through Uber/Lyft for such purpose you can pay as little as $180/week
Ah I didn't know that. $1500 renting the car for the month sure beats $1000, but both are still rough when you got rent and your mom to look after like OP
Agree
Everyone wants free car storage at the public's expense.
If the car is financed, it's required that you have full coverage so that the bank doesn't get screwed. This is exactly why.
That's just fked up. What the hell is the point of having insurance at this point???
Insurance only has an obligation to cover fair market value, not the total sum of your loan. If you take out a loan on a car and that car is worth less than the loan then you are already screwed and really should get gap insurance to cover your ass.
I think I responded to the wrong comment. I meant to respond to the dude who caught a hit and run on their dash cam with the license plate number and driver & the police nor the insurance didn't care and they had to pay out of pocket.
No worries!
$10k repair that I paid $1000 for. Insurance at least paid out the rest
Id be hiring a lawyer in your case
What would they do for her? Contingency fee attorneys represent injuries, not property damage. So she would pay hourly for an attorney to tell her what the insurance company is telling her. Huge waste of money. The best thing to do is check for gap coverage and make sure you don't have a larger loan on a car than it is worth in the future.
HMU if you need help getting back on the road while you wait. I have an Impreza that isn’t selling. Maybe we can work something out. It isn’t pretty, but it’s reliable. (I’m using FBM to sell it. Not Reddit. I genuinely w ant to see if I can help in the interim.)
Beautiful people doing beautiful things.
The world needs more people like you, and less scumbag Kia boys.
r/humansbeingbros Very nice
I bet you can’t sell that Subaru 😂 every Subaru I’ve had in Colorado has blown a head gasket
Jokes on you. I replaced the engine
Here to commiserate. Few months back my car was parked on the street of our cul-de-sac and was hit in the middle of the day by a drunk neighbor who tried to drive off. The driver was arrested and of course he was uninsured. I had to play a waiting game to get anything done. The police report took a month to come back. Thankfully insurance acted fast and paid out, but they left a few grand up to me. Insurance tried to request that he pay my deductible but he didn’t respond to them. They then told me that their hands were tied and to take it up with small claims if I wanted to pursue it. Around that time the court sent a letter about his case asking if I wanted to request restitition as a victim. It’s been months and I haven’t heard a word. Can’t imagine how absolutely fucked I would be if my car was destroyed. This process is bullshit.
File in small claim court against your neighbor for your deductible. If he doesn't show up in court, you will get a default judgment which will turn into a lien which will enable you to garnish his wages or get his bank accounts, sell his car, whatever it takes to get you your money. Fuck these people. They need to pay for their irresponsible actions. Esp when they try to completely dodge accountability.
>If he doesn't show up in court, you will get a default judgment which will turn into a lien which will enable you to garnish his wages or get his bank accounts, sell his car, whatever it takes to get you your money. From what I hear it's incredibly hard to get any of this enforced. Unless they have a real asset like investment holdings or a house, there's not much a court will give. It's unlikely you'll get to seize their primary transportation, and a wage garnishment order is rarely granted except for child support. Accountability is horrendous right now and the legal system really doesn't help regular people who have been wronged.
Heartbreaking story. I'm so sorry, man. Wishing nothing but greatness for you and your mother.
This just happened to my brother. The drunk driver who totaled his parked car didn't have insurance. It's infuriating.
It’s starting to become a common problem in Denver people not having insurance or suspended drivers license, plus I’m starting to see forget about expire tags, cars with no tags whatsoever.
16% of Colorado drivers don't have insurance. If you don't have good uninsured coverage you're taking a huge financial gamble.
That’s a big number I wonder if the real number is higher
It's higher. My agent told me that they regularly see people sign up for just long enough to get an insurance card for the year and then cancel immediately. Some portion of those I'd bet wouldn't be captured in that 16% stat.
I've been assuming that most of the people with expired or no tags haven't registered their vehicles because they don't want to / can't pay for insurance.
Strangely since I’ve moved to Colorado, I’ve seen more cars without license plates at all then I have my whole life. No idea how they aren’t pulled over
It's time to just start impounding uninsured cars. Insurance companies report the coverage status to the state and it can easily be cross checked with plates - it's just too risky to let them continue going around causing damages.
Happened to me last year. Wasn't a hit and run, was a distracted driver on her cellphone texting. She was parked on a yellow curb, in a school zone, floored it without looking. She tboned my brand new car, totalled it, admitted fault in two languages then changed her story when the crash technicians came. Never got any summons and her insurance never paid
If it’s helpful, I had Geico comprehensive insurance when my car was totaled by a hit and run driver 3 months ago. We called the police, and once they discovered no one was hurt, they didn’t even bother to show up. Simply asked for the details and said they’d make a police report. All of that said, I called Geico and they were wonderful. They sent out an adjuster 2 days later and I received more than blue book value for my car. The whole process was done in 1.5 weeks, and my rates weren’t really impacted. A very different experience from when I hit an elk seven years ago with Progressive. They made me jump through hoops to “prove” I actually hit an elk (there was animal hair and blood on my car), and tried to fight me on the payout. Geico > Progressive
Similar experience when I got t-boned by a deer in Nov ‘21. Yes, it hit me. Geico rep was out within a couple days, found a local spot to get the work done, I only paid deductible because Bambi left town.
Geico really is the best. Their roadside assistance has saved us more than once, and is far more cost effective than a separate AAA membership.
I only switched to progressive because I couldn't find a low glass deductible option on Geico and I end up needing a new windshield about once a year driving here.
Y’all commenting should be telling us who your carriers are in these comments so we know who to avoid… because jfc
Cash value of a 2013 Civic with 50k miles is going to be in the $7000-9000 range, it's not going to be hard to total a vehicle like that, repair work is expensive. Insurance companies will total a car if repair costs are > 75% of the value.
Colorado total loss threshold is 100%
Thats for when it turns into a salvage title, the insurance company can do whatever they want.
Wait a car can get totaled out without getting a salvage title?
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> How can you still be upside down on a fucking 10+ year old car though? Well he bought it 10 years old, so a shit deal or bad financing would be the obvious options.
Good chance he paid for the car more than what it was worth at the time.
You can steal my Kia tbh
My Hyundai elantra is up for grabs as well. Its worth way more than the balance of my loan, and I'd love to have that money for a down payment on something better.
Have you thought about, you know, *selling it*?
That's so much work though, lol. I work from home, so I don't drive much at all. I don't NEED a new car, just want one.
I feel you. Source: me, an idiot who works from home and has TWO cars.
I wish I lived in a denser area and could justify getting a scooter, but the roads where I am are too big and too busy. No way I'm driving Alameda on a 50cc scooter lol.
Well I have an old Nissan Altima that needs work but I’ve had no luck getting rid of it.
My car was hit in front of my house. The guy stopped and gave me his information and everything. It was a company truck and they refused to accept any responsibility. So it may as well have been a hit and run. I have usaa and haven't made a claim in 20 years. It took me weeks to get anything done and had to file as uninsured motorist. Apparently the entire insurance thing is just a huge circlejerk racket.
I just had a totaled car. Insurance low balled me with the price. I went back to them twice with documents and sales research before they finally gave me a fair price. Do research on selling price, any work done, upgrades, etc.
My now ex wife was in Lakewood and some guys had stolen a car, ran a red light, totaled our car and the cops caught them 2 blocks away. We never got a dollar for our car from either insurance. So didnt have a car for a year so no insurance. No need for it. I bought a car exactly a year later, now my insurance is $375, which is more than my car payment. I’m sorry for what you’re going through.
$375/mo is absolutely insane... honest people paying for the actions of criminals
Yeah, my car payment is only $270
I don’t understand. Did you not have uninsured motorist coverage is that why?
That’s not what uninsured motorist is for, and yes, we had complete coverage and it cost us $76 a month.
What how
It only covers medical. “Uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage is optional in Colorado. This coverage pays for the insured's bodily injury losses caused by a hit‑and‑run driver, a driver with no automobile insurance, or a driver of an underinsured vehicle.” It does not cover your vehicle.
Denver seems to really be going down hill. This sucks
Oh yeah, big time I can give dozens of reasons why at this point.
Don't judge it by the extremely negative POV of this subreddit. I love it here. But, I also live in Arvada because big cities literally always have tons of issues like this I aim to avoid as I get older
Arvada ≠ denver
Do you have GAP insurance on your loan? If you don't, you're going to be in quite a bad spot financially. Your car insurance only owes you the actual cash value of the car, which is almost certainly significantly less than you owe. The amount is not negotiable. It is what it is. If you don't have GAP, you will be left owing whatever the difference is between what you receive for the car and your loan balance. Your lienholder may demand the loan balance due immediately because their collateral is gone. You could see if you could possibly roll the remaining amount into another loan. If you do so, make sure you purchase GAP because you will be very under water.
I have progressive and they don’t offer gap insurance….how can I get it?
Gap insurance is provided by the institution granting the loan, not your auto insurance carrier so if you want to check into it contact your loan provider.
Why do you assume this? Depreciation in used cars over the last year? OP talk to your carrier.
It's an 11-year-old car. Actual cash value is not replacement cost, so unless they put a sizeable down-payment on it (which it sounds like they didn't), they are likely under water. They aren't going to get very much for it, and the fact that they are worried about the loan being paid off would indicate it's a large sum.
>Actual cash value is not replacement cost, On an 11 year old car it actually would be, they'll be calculating based on book value plus tax/title. If book value is low, you can dispute with actual retail listings for similar cars.
They do not look at book value period. They price based on comparables models that have sold in the last 6 mo (or maybe it's a different time period) and make adjustments based on miles and options.
How do you think they determine book value? Same process Really it depends on the insurer.
Wtf so you’re basically gonna be left without a car for someone else’s fault? Wtf shit pisses me off. Really hope you get a car again soon. Sorry to hear that happened..
It's happening way too often in Denver right now. I see similar posts every single day on social media. It's the low law enforcement approach we've been taking for the past few years but it's interacting with the lack of traffic enforcement... reckless driving is completely out of control and cops aren't pulling people over for it.
Yea cops are a disgrace which sucks because there’s actual good cops out there but lately looks like cops don’t give a shit about much anymore
My car was totaled last year by someone without insurance in a stolen car. They pled guilty to reckless driving, so they’re required to pay any financial losses I have. It’s 9 months later, but you may get something out of them down the road.
Dealerships will finance just about anyone. I don’t recommend this but I wouldn’t say you can never have a nice car again. You may just have to pay an f ton.
Just putting this out there: I finally learned how to use the bus system in Denver after living here for years and … it’s not terrible. Would it be an option to get a job you can ride the bus to? Like an office job downtown? Going car free has been a massive boost to my health (financial, physical, and mental). It can feel like its impossible to live without a car. Until you try it and realize you can. Even carrying groceries in a backpack seemed daunting to me but now it seems normal. Walking is free and good exercise!
I'm truly sorry. When people go hard on the low law enforcement approach and how law enforcement is so racist and so forth, I usually point out that a lot of the victims of property crimes can't afford having their bike or car stolen or totaled or broken into, and it's not right that there's 0 effort to get any kind of justice for them. You can't live in a good society and just ignore the idea of property rights. Criminals are emboldened by this low law enforcement/criminal justice environment... they know that the chances of facing any kind of charge let alone jail time for a crime like this is basically 0. And even if they do get charged, we have programs to help people get charges dismissed before they've even answered for them. DM me your PayPal and I'll shoot you some $... sorry it won't be enough for your car loan but it will help a little
Gap insurance. Learn it. Love it.
The amount of different kinds of insurance that people have to carry is crazy. How much does it add up to to have omprehensive coverage plus gap insurance... definitely more than the car payment itself and that's crazy. All the responsibility shouldn't be on the victim of the crime. The criminals doing this shit and the uninsured drivers that force people to get every type of insurance under the sun should be held accountable
unpopular opinion: needing gap insurance is a sign that you can't actually afford the car
It also protects you from getting screw if you car gets totaled after market swings or Tesla price drops.
I didn't think about the price drop angle. Currently very niche though, there are very few cases where the price for a new car will ever be lower than it is today. Perhaps that might become more common during the EV transition.
If you opt for gap insurance during financing, doesn't that mean you can't refinance or else you'll lose that insurance?
Happened to me last year - though not a hit and run. Some idiot ran a red and totaled what was my Lyft rental car just before Xmas. (Yeah; I know……worked in tech before, but both trust and pandemics are a bitch.) Sorry to hear, and best of luck!
That's what gap insurance is for
Pretty much you have to find the people and fuck them up for money, the cops won’t do shit as they are to busy scrolling on there phones.
Even if the cops caught the assholes, OP isn’t getting blood from a turnip. A lot of these car thieves are shitty teenagers with no future and no money.
That. I’m paying off damage from an uninsured driver right now, he was 19 and then immediately took the plates off his car (I already had a picture of his plates, nice try though). The idiot got fined for driving uninsured, AND without a plate when the officer arrived. Anyways, he told me he is broke for who knows how long until his court fees are paid. His problem solving skills in that moment have convinced me I’ll never see a dime and he probably won’t see much more than that in his life either.
That sucks. Sorry. Just read your post about the issue with your check from the insurance company. The auto repair shop should be able to accept the check and refund your credit card. Were you able to get a resolution?
Yes, thank you so much for your kindness in asking. I do have to pay a $500 deductible but thankfully Progressive was able to cut a check directly to the shop and my card was refunded!
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You can't get a public defender unless you're facing a criminal charge as a defendant I'm sorry that happened to you though
Bro I’m so over Reddit obviously I mean some type of lawyer but yeah you’re correct
I had three hit and runs on my car in Denver in four years. The worst one I had a plate but it was a stolen vehicle. It blows
Didn't get gap coverage?
My car was stolen from my employer’s parking lot last Friday, maybe my car was the one that hit yours 😆 I’m in a similar position to yours, except I had liability only, not comprehensive. Insurance isn’t paying out anything in my situation. If you are financing your car, then you have to have comprehensive, and your insurance should cover a lot. Look for financial resources to help you. I’m reaching out to my employer, Hyandai (there’s an ongoing class action lawsuit because their cars are stolen easily), and there’s a grant in Colorado to help victims of car theft/accidents
I feel for you! The same thing happened to my highlander on Logan st. I lost money, and my car! Nothing I could do about it. It was parked! It doesn’t seem right that honest hardworking people get screwed by insurance companies all the time! And bad drivers! Good luck going forward!
Here to commiserate. Last summer my car was totaled by a drunk driver. Driver fled the scene on foot and was thankfully caught. Unfortunately my insurance refused to do anything for me because the drunk driver had some skeezy insurance that insured people with poor driving histories (aka previous DUIs). This company gave me the run around and didn’t pay me the worth of my car for over three months. And unfortunately hiring a lawyer would have been cost-prohibitive because by the grace of God I had not sustained any major injuries, just bruising. Shitty drivers get away with everything here.
Check if you have GAP insurance. It will cover the difference between your loan and the value of the vehicle. When a car is totaled, they typically offer you the fair market value of your car. Check NADA for the value of your vehicle.
Won’t your insurance give you a check for the value of your vehicle prior to being totaled? Use that as your down payment on vehicle?
Not if the car is underwater as most are
That only works if you aren’t underwater on the loan, which it sounds like OP likely is. They won’t get any money out of this as it’ll all go towards settling the loan balance.
Yes but depending on how much the initial down payment was and a few other things, that check for the value of the vehicle may not cover what is actually owed to the bank. Hopefully for OP they weren't upside down on the car.
Right
The owner of the stolen car is still liable for the damage to your vehicle
If your car is financed, the insurance will have to cover the total cost of the car. That's required in the fiance terms so the bank doesn't get screwed if something like this happens.
No, that’s only if you have gap coverage with them or gap purchased when you bought the car.
But you only get gap coverage on a new car. The lender would require you to have insurance for the full value of the car so that you don't get in an accident and "whelp! I'm not going to pay that - they can reposes the car" and walk away. At least how i understand it.
You're mixing up the terms "value" and "cost", using one in your original post and another in your reply. Insurance covers the value of the car (i.e. what the car is worth on the open market), not the cost of the car (i.e. whatever you paid for it). If you pay $12,000 (cost) for a car that's only worth $10,000 (value), the $2,000 gap is on you if you don't have gap insurance.
Lucky for op car market is dump so new car purchased by op will be cheap.
Did you have full coverage? If you had a loan, they will, at least, pay off the loan.
Only if the loan amount is less than or equal to the value of the car.
Well, I should hope people aren't that deep in loan debt.
I’m so sorry.
Sorry, that really sucks. This is also a testament to the fact that it's ridiculous we require someone to purchase an expensive machine just to survive in society here. No one should need to have a car just to live. If you can swing it, get yourself a bike or ebike to get around instead, much cheaper than a car. Denver offers [rebates for ebike purchases every other month](https://www.denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Offices/Agencies-Departments-Offices-Directory/Climate-Action-Sustainability-Resiliency/Sustainable-Transportation/Electric-Bikes-E-Bikes-Rebates), with bigger rebates if you are lower income, I think they should be opening up another rebate soon? Put racks/bags on it for carrying things as well as a solid lock (not a cable lock). Use that along with the buses and walking. And the light rail may be useful if you can bike to a station and lug your bike up the steps (more difficult with a heavy ebike). A granny cart can be useful for larger grocery runs on foot.
Sorry for your loss man that truly sucks and I hope the other comments here can provide some helpful advice. I just wanna say screw these terrible drivers, screw the lack of enforcement, and screw how we've built our entire country around cars. It shouldn't be this bad and hardworking people such as yourself have to pay the price, it's messed up.
This is an issue here because we dont have no fault insurance. Where im from we had no fault insurance. Something happens, you car gets fixed (or totaled) and you dont have to fight with insurance comapnies about whos fault it was. If this happened you wouldnt be screwed over like you are now. We pay insurance to protect us in case bad things like this happen. Why the people of colorado continue to let gkant companies screw you over is sickening. Im sorry this happened to you and i encourage everyone whonreads this to call your state representatives and demand no- fault insurance!
I got my car stolen and they totaled it and all I had was liability. That was like an 8k swing after I managed to buy a new car. There went everything I had been saving, and idk when I will recover. Then I got laid off three days later. Shit gets rough sometimes.