We were recently hired to assist with a theft claim. The vehicle owner felt he was being lowballed by his insurer. Our role was to investigate and see if we could support his position that the vehicle was worth much more than he was being offered.

It was immediately clear what the root problem was. No appraisal on file with the insurance company.

The vehicle was a mid-eighties GMC 4-wheel drive pickup truck. It had been in the same family since new. It was very well maintained and had some extensive restoration work done in 2015. The rusted bed was replaced with a new GMC assembly. Rusted rocker panels had been replaced with new steel, and the truck was completely refinished in the original red/silver 2-tone colour. It had about 165,000 kms on it.

All of this reconditioning work and low mileage made the truck much more valuable than a similar vehicle with average mileage, and normal rust, wear and tear.

The insurer was not made aware of these upgrades with a professional appraisal. With that, the insurer would have added an OPCF 19A Endorsement to his policy, prior to any claim being filed. This would guarantee a settlement at the appraised value in the event of a total loss.

Worst Case Scenario

In this case, the truck was stolen and not recovered. There was no vehicle for the insurance company to inspect. They had no opportunity to visually confirm that the truck was in above average condition.
The insurer did their research based on the information they had. Their offer was fair based on that. Unfortunately for our client, the research was based on a search by serial number. The vehicles found had over 300,000 kms and needed repairs, which is normal for trucks of that age. The average value was not close to the value of his truck. He was very upset and explained all the work and upgrades he had done. They correctly advised him that the next step was to hire an Independent Appraiser to review the case and report back to them.

He chose Southex Appraisal Service to assist.

His claim was 2 weeks old at this point.

With over 20 years of direct auto claim handling experience, we began to navigate through the red tape. Thankfully, the customer had a recent video of the truck. He also had numerous receipts for work he had done to maintain and restore it.

We did national research to locate comparable trucks.

Avoidable Frustration

This claim took over 53 days to settle.

The customer had no rental coverage beyond 30 days, so he had to go more than 3 weeks without a vehicle.

He could not shop to replace his vehicle with something similar based on the settlement offer he was presented.

The claim would have taken about a week to settle with an appraisal and 19A endorsement in place.

A Good Outcome

Ultimately, we worked with an independent “umpire”. Ultimately, we were able to help the Insurance Company support a settlement amount that went from approximately $5800.00 to $12,000.00. Our client was thrilled with the outcome and just as happy that the process was finally over.

How you can protect your investment and avoid all of this

If your vehicle has had extensive aftermarket upgrades, custom work, or restoration, it is more valuable than similar vehicles without these improvements. The standard vehicle value calculators used by Insurance Companies do not take these into account.

Get an appraisal from Southex Appraisal Service and add an OPCF 19A endorsement to your policy. You may pay a little more in premiums, but the purpose of having insurance in the first place is to protect your investment and put you back into the same financial position you were in before a loss. You cannot blame your insurance company for undervaluing your vehicle if they are not aware of exactly what you have!