Hi,

I'm new here.  I was rear-ended while hauling my trailer this past Sunday.  I was stopping to turn and the guy behind did not see me and hit me (alcohol was involved on his part). Anyway, I'm guessing the trailer is totaled, thank God there was not a horse in there.  Anyway, I'm wondering if anyone has experienced anything like this?  If so, I could use some guidance...

How is a trailer deemed "totaled"?      My frame appears to be bent, the right side is crushed forward, it's a mess.

What if the ins. co. can't find it's value because they can't find one similiar?

How do I go about finding its value?  I can't seem to find much out there.  It's a 2002 Featherlite Model 9804, 2-horse slant with dressing room, rear tack.  It was in prsitine condition, only used 10 times prior to me buying me and we used it less than a handful of times.

How do ins. co.handle this?  Do they find me a replacement?  Give me $ toward a new one?  The other driver is 100% at fault.

Any words of wisdom?

Oops, typo...Model # 9408

As stated above, insurance settlements are a process of negotiation. They want to give you as little as possible. It's your job to negotiate a higher value.  You will need to find comparables to show them what a trailer like that is worth.

So in addition to showing your purchase contract and what you paid.

You should look at any local sales where you can print off comparable trailers to show.  Look on websites like Horsetrailerworld as well as local websites your area. Here in Utah, KSL.COM has a great classified section and today shows 235 trailers listed. See what is around your area and use that resource.  Craigslist may also have trailer listing.

Ideally you would want a comparable trailer to be the same year and model as yours. But that is not always possible. So look for trailers with in a year or two newer or older of yours, and also look at similar type of trailers. Instead of Featherlite, look at Sooner or Exiss.  Once you get 5 or 6 of these comparables, you can show the insurance company what a comparable trailer is currently selling for.  It will be difficult to get a premium for saying you only used the trailer 10 or 12 times. But you should be able to get the fair market value of the trailer.

Look at your policy and see what you insured the trailer for.  If you specified a specific amount for the insurance, you could be limited to that specific amount.  That could be a plus or minus.  I had a truck that I insured for $25,000, they claimed it was only worth $15,000, I argued it was worth the $25,000 and reminded them they had accepted the premium based on the $25,000 value. So I got the $25,000 which was more than the current market value for the truck,  The trailer was just the opposite. I had only valued it at $60,000 and even though a replacement would cost more, The insurance topped out at the value I declared when I purchased the insurance.

Thank you again everyone!  All good info.   My ins. company is aware, but because the other driver is 100% at fault, they want me to go through the other driver's ins.  (WI is a "fault" state so his ins. co is the one that is required to pay for everything).  I was in an accident a few years ago and again that driver was 100% at fault..his ins. company paid for everything, everything was billed directly to them including truck repairs, car rental, and medical bills - I never saw a bill.  I assumed it would be the same in this case, but maybe not.  The ins. co. still has not contacted me, even though I have a message into the adjuster...grr.

I didn't know I could look at other brands when determining a price, so I can now start to look outisde Featherlite.

Thank you again!

Regardless of whether it's your insurance company or the other parties policy, the process is still the same. do the best you can to present them with evidence of the trailers worth.

The companies will absolutely prefer to use the same make/model of trailer.  Unfortunately the trailer business is not exactly like the auto industry.  Ford  may have sold 400,000 pickup in 2002, Featherlite may have sold 5,000 BP trailers. There isn't always direct comparables to compare to.  So if you do the research to show similar trailers as comparables you are helping them to find an appropriate value for you.  Often times an adjustor that is very car savoy, may not be aware of what other trailers are close in value to the one you lost.

taborcole - check with your auto insurance carrier.  If the accident happened in Ohio, your policy might provide UNDERinsured motorist coverage for property damage.  If so, your carrier will pay you the difference between the limit on the at fault party's insurance policy and the actual amount of your loss. 

If you do not have underinsured motorist coverage (or if it does not apply to property damage), then look into filing a claim on your policy under your collision coverage.  Your carrier should settle with you but will apply your deductible.  Your carrier will then subrogate against the at fault party.  If they are successful in collecting from them, your carrier will reimburse your deductible to you. 

Remember, you can't collect more than the total value of your loss.  So you should collect part of your damage from the at-fault party and the rest of the damages from your policy (either via underinsured motorist coverage or collision coverage).

Note uninsured and underinsured motorist coverages apply differently from state to state.  If the accident occurred in a state other than Ohio, then coverages may be different.  But you should always be able to file a collision claim, regardless of the state the accident occurred in.