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Good advice - just one suggestion, and it hinges on your last paragraph. The adjuster's job (with the company I work for, anyhow) is to negociate a settlement that indemnifies the person who has suffered a loss, meaning restores them to the situation they were in before the loss. No better, no worse. Easy as pie with a currently available car, extremely tricky job when it involves an older car. This is the principle by which an insurance adjuster is to operate. The flip side of the coin is that as you mentioned, the adjuster has to be able to justify the expenses he incurs upon the insurer. If you go into the process looking for a fight you'll get one. Usually if you approach it with the understanding that the adjuster is just doing a job, and the hardest part of that job is explaining to the company why he signed off on a big payout for a 30-year-old car, and if you help him to make that job easier he'll be much more sympathetic. HOWEVER we've all heard (or experienced firsthand) the horrors of dealing with some unscrupulous insurance companies and the occasional adjuster who is on a real power trip, and there always seem to be a few of them, very loudly giving the industry a rotten reputation. If you are getting screwed, screw them back. The bruises and scrapes that you've no doubt received but probably chose to overlook (and instead be thankful to be alive) can be a gold mine to a creative lawyer, and it's worth conceding a few thousand more on a car claim to avoid having to open a legitimate bodily injury claim, even if it's a minor injury. The legal expenses for negociating a settlement to a small injury claim cost the company more than your car is worth even in your eyes. AND, if you are hurt and the injuries are likely to be long-term, now is the time to get a decent lawyer. And be very careful what you sign - if you don't understand the form, ask for explanation, or for a copy to take home and read over.
Best of luck!
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Chris, Dartmouth NS Canada 70 M-B 280SE, 83 245DL, 84 244 turbo, 90 780 turbo, 92 VW Golf, 90 740 Rex/Regina
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