Your boyfriend's insurance company's claims adjuster should be able to tell you if this accident will be considered "at-fault" or not. Witness statements may have helped with this determination but your boyfriend statement and the police report should help the insurance adjuster.
Insurance companies determine each driver’s degree of fault in an accident using the New Jersey Comparative Negligence Act (N.J.S.A. 2A:15-5.2). The amount, or percentage, of fault is determined on a case by case basis depending on the circumstances surrounding the accident and is used to determine liability for physical damage and other liability claims. Under the law, an individual cannot recover damages if his or her percentage of fault for the accident is greater than the individual from whom damages are sought.
As for the claim and settlement, the claim would be put through the collision part of the policy. In NJ each insurance company is required to select one of three prescribed methods for use in the settlement of all their total loss claims.
The three methods which have been approved by the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance (the state's insurance regulator) are:
- Taking the average of the retail values of substantially similar vehicles as listed in the current editions of the "Auto Blue Book" (or "Older Car Blue Book") published by National Market Reports and the "N.A.D.A. Official Used Car Guide" (or "N.A.D.A. Official Older Car Guide") published by the National Automobile Dealers Used Car Company.
- Using a quote obtained by the insurer for a substantially similar vehicle available for you to purchase from a dealership within 25 miles of where your car is normally garaged.
- Utilizing the services of an approved source, including computerized databases that produce fair market values of substantially similar vehicles. At this time ADP and CCC are approved for use in determining fair market values.
If your boyfriend's vehicle cannot be valued using any of these three methods because they fail to represent a true cross-section of the market to determine the fair market value of your car, the insurance carrier would be required to use the best available method and fully explain to you, in writing, how they calculated the amount they are offering you.
In addition to telling your boyfriend which method is used determine the actual cash value (ACV) of the car, his insurance company must also provide him with an itemized list showing all additions, deductions, and sales tax applicable to the vehicle.
The insurance policy only requires the insurance provider to pay the actual cash value of the vehicle less the deductible. If your boyfriend's car's value is less than the loan, then he will still be responsible for the difference, unless he has GAP insurance.
Keep in mind that if his lender is listed as a loss payee on the insurance policy (which is normally the case) the settlement check will be made out to them as well as to your boyfriend. To get information on the exact claims process for this situation your boyfriend should talk to his insurance company's claims adjuster.
|