Reader’s Question:

I am soon to renew my car insurance here in Houston, Texas and I never agreed to the insurance company’s conclusion on my car’s value. In case I switch insurance companies, what can I do if I still don’t agree on how they determine my car’s value?

Nikolai

Houston, TX

If you switch car insurance providers in Houston, Texas and still don’t agree with their conclusion of your car’s value, there are some things that you could do about it. Above all, if you keep records of maintenance that will be a proof that you had changed oil every 3,000 miles and had the vehicle checked regularly by a mechanic, make a duplicate of those records and show them to the insurance provider to prove that your vehicle was in perfect order. In case you have any special parts put in or done some upgrades and you have been paying premiums on for those enhancement, be certain that this will be considered on their assessment.

You may also obtain price quotes for replacement vehicles from at least three car dealers within your area and present these quotes to the car insurance provider. You could ask them to give you a list of car dealers within a certain distance who could sell you a vehicle at the quoted price they say that is the same as your vehicle. If you are still not contented, you may go to arbitration and hand over your case to a neutral party to help attain a negotiation or a binding decision.