An owner of a 2017 Kia Sportage SUV with 84k miles on the clock recently contacted DVAC to review her insurance company’s total loss, actual cash settlement (ACV). Unfortunately she totaled her vehicle last July in a first party, at fault accident. She owed $24k on her loan.
As is often the case, her insurance company low balled her ACV, offering only $19k. Try as she did on her own, she was unable to convince her insurance carrier to settle correctly. DVAC was retained and we ran VIN# based values using vAuto and NADA July archival reports. It was determined that the correct ACV was $25k at the time of accident. (vAuto provided a thirty day running average of all vehicles sold nationwide matching her VIN #. All rating services; auction and private sale data are included, wholesale and retail. These values are real market based values not opinions.)
DVAC invoked the Appraisal Clause found in her insurance contract. The insurance carrier had to hire an appraiser to settle with DVAC. It was settled post haste for $25k plus tax, tag and title fees. Instead of owing $5k out of pocket to her lien holder, she was able to pay off her loan in full with a $2.7k surplus.
ALWAYS double check the insurance company’s ACV settlement offer! Facts over opinions. Licensed and bonded.