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  1. #21
    Seasoned Camper
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    Glad everyone was okay. Dealing with the aftermath can be annoying to say the least. As someone who takes care of their things, you can also wear yourself out trying to gather all the info possible.

    Few things I've learned that I didn't see mentioned or might've missed them.

    Repair or total loss is not your choice unfortunately. It's all in the numbers. Insurance companies, even your own, want to make the most money they can. Which means if it can be repaired for less than totaling it, they will repair it.

    Tell the repair shop you want OEM parts and they will do their best to source them and get them approved by your insurance company. They likely won't be approved unless the truck is fairly new with low miles. You can give them the OK to get used OEM parts as long as they have similar mileage.

    Diminishment of value, last I knew, has to come from the at fault parties insurance unless you live in Georgia. They were the only state at the time where customers could get diminishment of value from their own insurance.

    It sounds like the accident will go through arbitration and that can be a lengthy process. In my case the at fault party who blamed me for the accident wouldn't return their own insurance companies phone calls. Took 2 years because arbitration kept getting pushed back. That meant waiting 2 years for my deductible and personal injury claim to be paid.

    As far as the trucks integrity, as long as the frame is OK, it will just be removing and replacing parts. Nothing to worry about there other than body gaps and if they put back all the fasteners.

    Best of luck!

  2. #22
    Site Sponsor Jerryr's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rmcarter96 View Post
    Jeff,

    My insurance company is Farmers and the person that is at fault is Metropolitan Casulty (METLIFE). I was going to work with the at fault company but they are already denying fault and trying to weasel out of paying my claim. So I had to go with filing a claim through Farmers for the time being. My adjuster that reviewed the accident could not believe that they were not willing to take responsibilty for their policy holder's blatant negligence. She ran a red light while i was making a left turn from the intersection to clear it. I broadsided her (with a slight angle with the POI being more on the driver side) and I'm sure that her side airbags saved her from severe injuries. The only reason she was found fully at fault was that my witness was a police officer directly behind her when she blew the hard red light.

    I was contacted by the vehicle appraiser/adjuster on Friday and he says that i would have a choice of using my pick of a body shop or would be welcome to also use one of their "certified" ones. I will be going to someone that is well reviewed and not on their "list" to check it out and do my estimate.

    I understand that if the truck was just going to be ocasionally used to tow a utility trailer and haul stuff in the bed after having the repairs, but I am hesitant about the integrity of being able to be safely used as a travel trailer towing vehicle, considering that we are looking to do a cross country trip next year.

    I want to thank everyone that has giving their feedback on this so far and we'll just have to see what more information this coming week will provide.
    Ron,

    If the police officer wrote an accident report stating the other driver ran a red light and was at fault then MetLife should and will accept responsibility. It may be that their insured stated you were at fault.

    I went through this 20 years ago where an elderly driver turned in front of my daughters car. The other drivers company stated that their driver said my daughter was at fault. Once the accident report was available I got a copy and and personally took it to the other driver’s company (Allstate). The other driver was cited for illegally turning in front of my daughters car. Allstate then accepted total responsibility and 2 days later we had a check for her totaled car.

    My recent accident where a driver ran a red light and T-boned our car was more involved. The other driver fled the scene. Two good Samaritans dialed 911, followed her, boxed her in and a Sheriff deputy arrested her. She had a suspended license, NO INSURANCE, no job and a meth pipe in the car. . The accident report stated she ran a red light and was at fault.

    In addition to totaling our 2019 Nissan Leaf we were both transported to the hospital. Our company, State Farm paid out over $20,000 in hospital bills ambulance fees plus $34,000 for the totaled car. We did have to forfeit $1,000 collision deductible. If State Farm can collect from the other party we will get our deductible back but there’s no chance for that.
    Jerry & Linda
    Emma & Abby our Mini Golden Doodles & JR our Amazon Parrot
    2017 Reflection 337RLS, Build Date 01/2017, Titan Disk Brakes, Goodyear G614s 235/85/16 G Rated tires
    2022 F-450 King Ranch Ultimate, 4,868 lb Payload, Bedrug Bedliner, Andersen Ultimate II Aluminum 5th wheel hitch
    http://visitedstatesmap.com/image/FLGANCSCsm.jpg

  3. #23
    Seasoned Camper
    Join Date
    Dec 2020
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    Johnson City, TN
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    Glad to hear your okay, it's a pain in the ****** to deal with but could have been so much worse!
    If you are going to get it repaired, it's never going to be worth as much as it was the day before the accident. You can ask for compensation for that loss. As a few have mentioned, it depends on your state laws, but make sure to tell the paying insurance company you want loss of value covered - you have to ask for it, they won't offer it. If it's a thing in your state - it is a thing in NC, FWIW - then they will compensate for loss of value.
    Otherwise, if they want to total it, make sure you get full, correct value. You can have an independent value assessment if the insurance company is yanking your chain and trying to low-ball you.
    Good luck!
    Colin & Tracy
    '21 Chevy Silverado 3500HD LTZ/Z71/SRW, Long bed, Anderson UH
    '21 Solitude 310 GK-R

  4. #24
    Seasoned Camper Rivercityjeff's Avatar
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    Oct 2017
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    Round Rock, Texas
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    Jeff and Terry have offered sage advice.

    One additional thing to provide Farmers with: receipts for any and all out of pocket rental/transportation expenses. They can add it to the arbitration package.

    Worked both sides of auto collision, adjuster for 13 years, body shop for 2 years before I retired.
    Jeff and Mary
    2017 2600RB
    2022 F250 Lariat CC 6.7 w/ Max Tow
    Round Rock, (Donut Capital of Texas) <><

  5. #25
    Fireside Member
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    Dec 2020
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    Fort Myers
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    Glad all is well. This happened to me, we were in Colorado heading to a national park in our toad when a woman dropped her Taco Bell and bent down to pick it up crossing head on into our Jeep totaling it. Had to drive home to Florida in A class alone not fun.
    I wanted to continue our 6 month trips being a snow bird but I did a change up. It’s only my wife and I so we purchased a new truck and 29 foot TT. Things are much easier now, 11mpg vs 6/7 only one engine to be responsible to. Easier in and out of small parks.
    Sometimes life through that curve ball at you and you need to adjust and swing on a different level.

  6. #26
    Seasoned Camper
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    Also, if you have made any upgrades to the truck after initial purchase, you need to request coverage on these if truck is totaled.

  7. #27
    Fireside Member
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    Oct 2019
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    Everyone has covered the bases but I will just add my experience. I was in an accident, vehicle repaired perfectly by a Ford dealer but a few years later when I wanted to trade in on a new 2019 F-150, tbe dealer wouldn't touch it cause carfax showed the accident. The amount they offered on trade was HALF what I ended up selling it for outright. (rust free on the repaired side &#128540

    If I had any say going forward, I'd take the "total" if offered.

    Terry

  8. #28
    Seasoned Camper
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    Quote Originally Posted by rmcarter96 View Post
    I'm looking for some advice from the community.

    My tow vehicle and daily driver was involved in an accident this week. I was the only occupant at the time and came away pretty much unscathed other than being a little bit sore. I can't say the same for my truck. My main question for feedback is whether to allow the insurance company to repair it rather than totaling it. Or to just have them repair it and trade it in afterwards. I'm thinking of safety after having this extensive amount of damage.

    It hasn't been looked at to determine whether it has frame damage since the body shop says it will need to be torn down before determining if it had.

    I have attached the pictures of the damage.

    Thank you all in advance!

    Attachment 35792
    Attachment 35793
    It's hard to tell from the pitcher's, but it looks like the a pillar on the driver's side may be bent. If so that was a pretty hard whack again just looking where the whether stripping is lining up on the window and the a pillar. If you decide to have it fixed and then are considering a trade in, keep in mind they will give you a lot less for a major damage accident vehicle. Make sure that you inform your insurance company and that they are aware you know of this. If it if it is close to a total and they are going to repair it I would try to get them to total it based on the devaluation of it. Because it has just devalued your truck tremendously.

    Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

  9. #29
    Left The Driveway
    Join Date
    May 2018
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    O'Fallon, MO
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    As all have said, glad no injuries...👍

    "IF" you're even slightly thinking about getting out from under this repair, look for your favorite RAM dealer and trade it in pre-repair. The dealer gets to do the work and gets the check. He takes it in trade and you get another RAM and he's stuck with a repaired truck with any potential loss in value. In today's market they may be more than willing to do a trade pre-repair. 👍

    Doesn't cost anything to ask.

    As others have said, with plastic, the damage some times looks worse than it really is. Yours does not look all that bad and looks to have most of the damage above the frame. It will need to come apart to tell. But here's another reason to think about trading before, hidden damage. Let the dealer deal with that, not toy...😀

    Good luck with your truck journey. 👍

  10. #30
    Setting Up Camp
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    Oct 2019
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    Fort Lauderdale
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    First of all glad you’re ok. If the insurance company opts to repair your truck, make sure the shop doing the repair or ins. co, will give you a lifetime warranty on the repair. This is typical since they don’t expect you to keep the truck for a long time. Most repainted vehicles with base coat clear coat will have paint issues after 4-5 years. The ins. co will also have the option to use capa or salvage parts on a 3 year and older vehicle, don’t think you have any say in this. Good Luck

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