State Farm Insurance Salvage Vehicle Deal Can Shortchange Thousands of
Consumer Victims
Did you get a letter from the Ohio Attorney
General or your state attorney general, telling you that
State Farm Insurance Company wanted to give you money?
Was
it because your vehicle was totaled out in an insurance claim
and they didn’t brand your title as a salvage vehicle?
Watch out! Chances are that you are entitled to get much more
compensation than what the state’s deal would get you.
You might even be able to get all your money back
or a replacement vehicle. In some cases you can even get
triple your damages and still keep the car!
In every case you could be driving a dangerous and unsafe
motor vehicle so get it checked out by an experienced, competent
mechanic or “Wreck
Check” shop right away. Don’t drive a dangerous
car or a dangerous truck.
To collect the money they are offering (pennies on the dollar
and maybe thousands less than you are entitled to) you have
to let the insurance company off the hook for its violations
of numerous laws that earned it millions of dollars while
it violated state title laws across the county.
If you already signed up to take the money, don’t
worry because nothing is binding on you until you actually
cash their check.
Call us at 1-888-331-6422 or email us
today for a Free Salvage Fraud Case Review! Even if you already
agreed to take their money, you may still have other legal
rights that you don’t know about, so call or email us
today to find out.
For about 8 years, an unknown number of motor vehicles have
been totaled out by the insurance company with the vehicles
later sold to "automotive recyclers" (repair shops,
junk yards, rebuilders, etc) with a "clean" title
from State Farm Insurance Company. No one knows for sure
how many vehicles are involved but it is reported to be over
32,000 salvaged vehicles. In Ohio alone it's nearly a thousand
salvage vehicles. Doing that allowed thousands of totalled
out cars and trucks to be "rebuilt" and resold
without later buyers getting the required notice that the
vehicles were actually supposed to be just salvage and parts.
In 1998 the insurance company was caught selling their salvage
vehicles with clean titles, got sued by the state of Indiana,
and a court order was issued that ordered them not to do
it again and also required them to buy back cars for the
full amount of the consumer's purchase price. You can read
the actual court order by clicking here. (Adobe PDF 295k)
What’s wrong with a salvage car or salvage truck?
No
one knows how many salvage vehicles were repaired by incompetent
mechanics or crooks just looking to make a fast buck with
shoddy and incomplete repairs.
Blown airbags may not have been replaced. Some companies
even sell dangerous fake
airbag covers that look like the real thing!
Bent vehicle frames may not have been straightened. Damaged
parts may not have been replaced or repaired at all.
The front half of the car may not come from the same car
as the back half (called a "clipped
car" in the business). Mandatory rebuilt vehicle
safety inspections may never have taken place at all because
the insurance company provided the repair shops with vehicle
titles that "hid" the truth about their past record.
Like other government officials across the country, the
Ohio Attorney General sent letters to about 500 Ohio consumers
in September 2005, telling them that it was a violation of
Ohio law for the consumers to sell or transfer their vehicles
without getting their titles "branded" with the
word "Salvage". In October the Ohio Bureau of Motor
Vehicles also sent letters out warning owners that a "block" was
put on their vehicle title that would prevent them from selling
the vehicle until they paid to have a vehicle inspection
done of their former-State-Farm-salvage vehicle and got a
branded title issued for it that said "rebuilt salvage
car".
What State Farm and the Attorney Generals didn’t tell
consumers is the fact that a Salvage vehicle can be worth
thousands and thousands of dollars less than one that is
not a salvage vehicle. Industry
sources report the decrease in value is at least 20%
and may be 50% or more, depending on the particular vehicle. "Diminished
value" is what it's called and there are experts who
can help you figure out how much it amounts to even when
the salvage vehicle is repaired properly, let alone when
it's not.
Want to know how much less your vehicle is worth
as a salvage car or a salvage truck? Here’s an easy
way to find out.
Take your vehicle to a new car dealer who sells your kind
of vehicle new (take a Ford to a Ford dealer, a Chevy to
a Chevy dealer, etc) and ask them what it is worth if you
trade it in. Don’t say anything about it being a salvage
vehicle. After they give you a number, then tell them that
it has a salvage title and ask them what they will give you
now. You’ll find out real fast!
Legitimate car dealers simply don’t like salvage vehicles
and won’t pay much of anything for one at all — assuming
they are willing to buy it at all! Why? Because salvage vehicles
can have all sorts of problems that haven’t been fixed
and can cost more to fix right than the vehicle might even
be worth. Worse yet, the car might look fixed but not really
be fixed at all, leading to serious injury or death in an
accident. No car dealer wants to be responsible for that!
State Farm Insurance quietly struck a private deal with
government officials in 49 states and the District of Columbia
to pay a limited amount of money and in exchange the Ohio
Attorney General and other state attorney generals agreed
not to force the insurance company to pay out even more.
Consumer
advocates say consumers will end up being short changed
if they take the deal because taking the money (which won’t
be paid for months anyway) means they give up all legal
rights against the insurance company. These could include
title branding and title defect laws and fraud and deceit.
These laws entitle Ohio consumer victims to recover far
more than what State Farm Insurance Company is offering in
many, many cases. Plus these laws can be used to make the
insurance company pay for your legal fees, too!
Not only that, but since hundreds of Ohio consumers have
defective car titles and defective truck titles, many consumers
also have even more legal rights against the car dealers
who sold them their totaled out vehicles!
Don’t be a victim of insurance company greed or car
dealer fraud! Don’t go it alone. Call us at 1-888-331-6422 or email us
today for a Free Salvage Fraud Case Review!
If you’re a victim owner of a salvage car or salvage
truck or other salvage motor vehicle, protect yourself! We
can help.
You may be entitled to far more than the insurance company
is offering you. You might even be able to get all your money
back or a replacement vehicle.
If you paid good money for what you thought was a good car
and what you got was ripped off, don’t go it alone!
Call us at 1-888-331-6422 or email us
today! Don’t let any car dealer, or any insurance company,
make you their victim.
The
kind of vehicle titles that may have been supposed to be
issued on these totaled cars may include:
Dismantled Title - The vehicle sustained
major damage to one or more major component parts and the
cost of repairing the vehicle for safe operation exceeds
its fair market value. When a Dismantled title is issued,
the vehicle may be used only for parts or scrap metal. It
cannot be re-titled or returned to the road.
Flood Damage Title - States issue flood
titles when a vehicle has been in a flood or has received
extensive water damage.
Hail Damage Title - The vehicle sustained
major damage due to hail. In most states, hail damage titles
are issued when the cost of repairing the vehicle for safe
operation exceeds its fair market value.
Junk Title - A Junk Title is issued on
a vehicle damaged to the extent that the cost of repairing
the vehicle for safe operation exceeds its fair market value;
or a vehicle that has been declared a Total Loss by an insurer
or other state or jurisdiction. Some states treat Junk titles
the same as Salvage but the majority use this title to indicate
that a vehicle is not road worthy and cannot be titled again
in that state.
Loss Due To Fire Title - The vehicle sustained
major damage due to fire. In most states, fire damage titles
are issued when the cost of repairing the vehicle for safe
operation exceeds its fair market value.
Rebuilt/Reconstructed Title - A Rebuilt/Reconstructed
vehicle is a salvage vehicle that has been repaired and restored
to operation. These vehicles are often severely damaged before
they are rebuilt and refurbished parts are typically used
during reconstruction. In most states, an inspection of the
vehicle is required before the vehicle is allowed to return
to the road.
Salvage Title - A Salvage Title is issued
on a vehicle damaged to the extent that the cost of repairing
the vehicle for safe operation exceeds its fair market value;
or a vehicle that has been declared a Total Loss by an insurer
or other state or jurisdiction. Some states treat Junk titles
the same as Salvage but the majority use this title to indicate
that a vehicle is not road worthy and cannot be titled again
in that state. The following ten States also use Salvage
titles to identify stolen vehicles - AZ, FL, GA, IL, MN,
NJ, NM, NY, OK and OR.
If you bought one of these types of vehicles and the dealer
didn’t tell you the truth about it before the sale,
then call us at 1-888-331-6422 or email us
today! Don’t let any car dealer, or any insurance company,
make you their victim.
Watch out for frame damaged cars and frame damaged trucks
or other frame damaged motor vehicles.
In most cases, a vehicle is inspected for frame damage after
an accident or other damage incident. All levels of accidents
from minor to severe can cause frame damage and in many cases
it can be repaired but not always. Having a vehicle's frame
inspected before purchase is highly recommended.
There are ways to tell if that dream car you are looking
at is really a disaster waiting to be discovered. Go to framefacts.com for
information about frame damage and what it can mean to you
and your vehicle.
If you ended up with a vehicle that has frame damage and
didn’t know it before you bought it, you might be a
victim of fraud.
Call us at 1-888-331-6422 or emai us
today! Don’t let any car dealer, or any insurance company,
make you their victim.
This page is not associated with State
Farm Insurance Company in any way. To read State Farm
Insurance Company’s news
releases, click here.
