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I need some advice, I have a 94 Honda Accord that was parked legally on the street, a person hit the vehicle, I only had liability insurance on the vehicle because of the age. It was 26 days later that their insurance company said the vehicle was totalled and made an offer, which I deemed fair for the actual vehicle. My issue is the loss of use of my property during this time period while waiting for them to deciede what to do. When they made the offer for the vehicle I brought this up with them and asked for an additional $1,000. I had to take a day off from work (vacation) and my spouse had to do the same. We are now going to have to go out and find a replacement car, because of thier insureds negligence. They called back later and offered $394 for loss of use, which I feel is unacceptable. Because the loss of use could not be agreed upon they have not called back and we are in limbo. The $1,000 I am requesting is not enough to retain an attorney is my only recourse to go to small claims court and bring the owner in as the defendant? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Optional Information: Country relating to Question: United States State (if USA): Arizona Already Tried: Talked to the insured, called an attorney who was not interested in a small case such as this.
Unfortunately, under the laws on property damage, when someone's property has been damaged as a result of some person's negligence, the insurer is liable only to pay the actual value of that loss at the time of the accident. Thus, in order to claim loss of use, you would have to prove that you incurred such an actual loss, such as a rental vehicle to use during the time that they did not offer settlement for 26 days. I am afraid that this is something many people have a misconception over when their cars are totaled in an accident. The money they are offering you for loss of use is considered a "nuisance settlement" and realistically, the most you may be able to get out of them would be perhaps $500 or so, but it is not likely that you will get them to agree to the whole $1000 without receipts proving you had to rent a vehicle for those 26 days.
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