CENTRAL OHIO -- You were in a vehicle accident.
You want to fix your vehicle, and the insurance company wants to total it.
Who wins?
NBC 4's Colleen Marshall GOT ANSWERS for consumers.
Ken Jacquot's car, a 1995 Buick, was in pristine condition before he was involved in an accident that was not his fault.
"I definitely wanted the car fixed because I take good care of my cars, and I don't think I could buy another as one mechanically sound like I had," Jacquot said. "But instead of fixing it, they wanted to total it."
Jacquot asked the body shop how he could buy back his car from the insurance company so that he could get it fixed.
"(The mechanic) said, 'You don't have to buy it back. It's your car -- you get to keep it,' " Jacquot said.
The Ohio Insurance Institute's Mary Bonelli explained to NBC 4 that the Ohio Code says if a car is declared "totaled," the insurance company does not have to cut the consumer a check until he or she obtains a salvage title for the vehicle.
The owner could salvage the car for parts or choose to get it repaired.
If the owner were to choose to repair the vehicle, he or she would have to pass a valid state inspection in order to receive a new title, Bonelli said.
Insurance companies often factor the salvage value into the payoff estimates on totaled vehicles; consumers may have to haggle with the company over the value of the payoff.
Consumers should use caution when battling their own insurance companies, which do set all coverage rates.
For additional information, stay with NBC 4 and refresh nbc4i.com -- Where Accuracy Matters.
To submit a story idea or news tip, e-mail stories@nbc4i.com.
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