In article <BAY106-F2E1D59A50BC7F3B4AEAB7A2C50@phx.gbl>, hemidak@msn.com ("Chad
Evans") writes:
>
>
> I am just going off of my experience. or i should what State Farm told me.
>
> My experience is that if he gets a new frame, He should by all rights not
> have a clean title for that truck. The frame wont have the correct numbers
> on it.
>
> When i hit the curb with my truck a few years ago. The only thing i did was
> smack the passenger side tire. Well i ended up bending the bracket that is
> welded to the frame that holds the lower control arm, i had everything but
> the upper control arm replaced. They ended up, I think just bending it back
> far enough to clear the new control arm. The body shop where i took it and
> the insurance company told me that if they couldnt fix it, it would require
> a new frame and then my truck would have salvage/junk title.
I work as an insurance claims examiner. Technically, if any insurance company
pays someone for a vehicle that is totalled, they are required to assume the
title and have it transferred to a salvage title. It does not matter if the
original owner buys back the vehicle or not. The insurance company opens itself
up to fines from the state if it does not comply.
However, it does vary from state to state. Most states do require the title to
be changed to salvage, but I have seen some that have no requirements at all. I
think WY or WI was one of them. I ran across that situation last year on a
claim.
A frame can be replaced and the vehicle will not be considered a total loss,
but only if the cost to do so does not exceed the ACV of the vehicle. A frame
replacement is just about the single most expensive repair to a vehicle, and
almost always results in supplement payments to get it right. Most insurance
companies would rather total a truck than do a frame swap. If the value is high
though, then they will push for the repair.
Finally, since he has no coll coverage and was apparently at fault for the
accident, the title will remain unchanged unless the state has a requirement
that all damaged vehicles that are listed on a police report must report the
extent of damage. If that is the case they may determine that the truck is
deemed a total loss, and update the title accordingly. Otherwise he can repair
the truck. It may come up on a background search as being involved in an
accident, but that would be it.
Kevin
92 CC 318 2wd
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sat Jan 05 2008 - 19:13:05 EST