2002 Grand Caravan - Any Issues???

You would expect your insurance company to act like this if the
claim was against you, wouldn't you? I certainly would. Less money
they pay out means less money they need to get from me for
premiums.

The mystery is why your own company is doing this to you when
they have no reason to, since it's faulted against the other driver
and it would not be out of pocket for your comapny since they just
collect from the other company. That shouldn't be happening, and for that
reason I'd find a different company to do business with. Maybe
if you show your agent all your cancelled checks for all the years you have
paid them premiums, and tell them they are going to lose your
business if they don't see reason, that might help.

Ted

 

Canadian Direct Insurance, a division of Canadian Western Bank

http://www.canadiandirect.com/

Actually, I have no driveway to put it in. I live in a townhouse like
complex with an underground parking - and the rules state that the
vehicle has to be moveable - which the van is not.

Right now, the van is at the body shop in one fo their service bay.
AFAIK, there is no charge levied by the shop to the insurance company
for "storage".

We talked with the lawyer yesterday, and he said that based on the
information that I was no likely to get more out of my insurance
company for the van. However, I CAN sue the other party and their
insurance company in small claims court for the difference. I think
small claims is up to $10,000. If I buy a newer van for $13,000 and
get $3500 for my old van, then I could sue for the $9500 difference.
This is much less than the $4500 I paid for the van + the $10,000 I
put into it! The lawyer is dubious about the possibilites of success,
but it only used to cost $50 to file and $50 to "serve" so it might be
worth it for $100 to give it a shot.

No jury here in small claims court. But there is a mandatory pre-trial
settlement conference in front of a judge. If you can come to an
agreement, then the judge will sign and seal it on the spot.

Not sure if I want to bother as it would also mean time off work which
I can ill aford right now.

There is no "plea bargain" here for motor vehicle offenses of this
type. There were some VERY clear cut rules which were violated. That
part is cut & dry. There WILL be a trial, and 99.9% chance of
"conviction" in this case. What ther is latitude in is sentencing. The
judge does have some discretion, IIRC, but there are minimum penalties
prescribed.

The lawyer says that because we are dealing with two insurance
companies, they cannot tie them together. The payout for the van is
NOT linked in any way to the medical settlement. I have been advised
to accept the $3500 payout as it will NOT affect the medical claim
against the other insurance company, and it will NOT affect my ability
to sue the other party for damages.

The lawyer has been retained, and he said that in this case, it would
be highly unlikely to go to trial. Given the extensive damage to the
vehicle, and the medical reports documenting the injury, there will be
no problem in extracting a fair settlement from the other guys
insurance. He said that the medical settlement should more then make
up for the shortfall on the vehicle. I believe him!

 

That's only true for a comprehensive claim.