DITTO

This is one of the cases where having "Gap" insurance is a possitive.  OR at least having the right kind of coverage on your trailer.  Most of us just get the basic and don't think about replacement costs.  The problem with getting a lawyer is that you have to pay them.  So unless the lawyer can get 33% more than you can on your own, you may end up loosing more money.

Getting values is difficult because very few manufacturers report to Kelly Blue Book or the NADA.  The best way is to check those sources and find compairable brands and do the math.

You don't have to hire a lawyer to represent you in an action. A lawyer can advise you of the best course of action for your problem, whom to contact and exactly what you will need to do to best protect your interests.

Insurance companies have a whole legal department, whose job is to limit the companies' exposure to high payouts and liability. The insurance companies are not there for your best interest, they exist only because of the profits they make. They will do what ever they can to make a minimal payoff.

Having a knowledgeable person advising you of your rights, can save you money in the long run. If necessary. he can represent you to limit your losses. Most of those cases are on a contingency basis, and will only cost you filling expenses if he is unsuccessful.

Most lawyers will allow you to pay an hourly fee.  One poster suggested that you would have to pay 1/3 to the lawyer.  That is only if you do the contingent fee arrangement, where you don't pay anything unless you recover something. 

At least, talk to a local lawyer to get some advice.  They "don't want to repair the trailer because of liablity" simply makes no sense at all.   Did they not give you the option of buying back your "totaled" trailer? 

I will say that Allstate once told me that my little truck was worth about as much totalled as it was in perfect condition - The company employees had people they wanted to route it to.  Of course I no longer use Allstate.    It sounds like you are experiencing something similar.

My Sebring car was totalled three weeks ago by my nephew, who fell asleep while driving, so we've had a recent experience with insurance agents. I know a car is different than a trailer, but here's what we learned.

We had a rider on the car that would pay for our rental while we were waiting for our car to be fixed. I wasn't even really aware we had it, but our local insurance agent informed us of the fact. We didn't need to rent a car as I had my daughter's to use in the meantime, so that money wasn't paid out to us. If we hadn't have that seperate rider rental wouldn't have been covered. So I'm suspicous that your expenses of hauling horses home after the accident won't be covered unless you have something seperate in place.

As for the price of your trailer, the best thing to do is to talk to trailer dealers and ask them exactly what you would pay for a trailer of you brand, age and condition if you bought it through them. If they will give you answers in writing, better yet. Or print off their listings off the internet. Also, go onto sites such as this one, and look up trailers similar to yours, and what the costs are. Try to get as close as possible to brand, year, features and condition. These things will help prove what your trailer is worth to replace, and will help you in your arguement with the insurance agent.

I'm afraid that they likely will not pay you for your time and distance to travel to purchase a new trailer. Instead they will give you the value of the trailer (hopefully) and then how far you travel, and how much that costs you is your responsibility. In their opinion you could buy a different brand nearer to home and get the same features, if you want to spend more to travel they will consider that your choice and your expense.

We were not offered the right to purchase our car, and we wouldn't have anyhow.  But we were told that we could take things out of the car that belonged to us and not the car. For example, the spare tire was ours. We were told we could take the good tires as long as we replaced them with 4 "driveable" tires. So I suspect you also own some of the features in your trailer. If you're recently purchased new tires, you may be able to take them and put on old, beat-up ones. But check with your insurance agent before going further, the last thing you need is to have them charging you with theft!

I was pleasantly surprised with how well we were paid out. We had bought our Sebring used for about $9200, (it was a really good deal, we shopped around for a long time) We used it two years, put on 50,000 km, and were paid out $8200, minus our $500 deductable. Now, if we'd have paid several thousand more for the car, it wouldn't have seemed like such a fair payment. So I suspect you'll find the same thing with your trailer. If you got a pretty good deal at the time, then your payout will seem better. If you paid an arm and a leg you probably won't be quite so happy with the payout.

Good luck. Hopefully none of your horses were hurt in the accident.

Also forgot to say that yes, the insurance company can total it by not wanting the liability of fixing it if there is a possibility of structural damage. We sent pictures of ours to the factory and wanted it fixed. They said they "could" fix it but it would of been expensive. State Farm was concerned about future liability if its structure was compromised from the accident and preferred to total it. This was actually a good thing because they then insured our new one. I was worried we would be dropped after such a huge claim, or it would go up so much we couldnt afford it. LOL But neither happened. I cant say enough good things about our company or our agent. We have been with them almost 30 years.

This accident is one where you were damaged by someone's negligence.  Their insurance company is paying you pursuant to their policy.  The person who damaged your property by his negligence must make you whole.  Since the insurance company is stepping into the shoes of the negligent party who damaged you, it must make you whole.  It is not the same as working with your own insuance company.

It is "actual damages"  that you are seeking - enough to make you wholle. 

Like many of the other post, I had something similar this past Feb,

A lady came through a stop sign and broadsided my daughter. The insurance company decided to total the car. The first offer was basically the wholesale price of the car that a car dealer would pay at the auction. I spent the time to get online and found 8 similar cars that were all at a higher price. Luckily with cars that is very easy to do. I emailed the list to the insurance company and they immediately bumped my offer price. They also added in the sales tax on the cars value and the percentage of this years property taxes prorated by the months unused.

My advice, is do your home work and be prepared to produce proof that the trailer is worth more than their offer. You must use comparables that are in your area. ( no comparables from the other side of the country).  Know that they will use the same source of searching you did and they will be looking for trailers of less value. The "Low Priced" trailers knock out the "Hight Priced" trailers and you can expect to negotiate a offer around the average.

As gard suggested, Insurance companies are in this to make a profit. They do this by taking in more premium than they pay out in claims. They will try to minimize what they pay out. But most states have laws about insurance companies bullying or not making fair offers.  But they are fighting the same battle that you are of finding out "What is a fair price" There are not thousands of trailers  in the local paper that they can compare prices on. Most of the adjusters are not Trailer Savey. They know every model of car on the road. But they have no idea what your trailer is, What came stock at the base price, or what you may have added. It will be your responsibility to educate them.

As far as travel expenses. That's your choice.  As mentioned above they will assume you can buy a "Similar" trailer locally.  So you will probably be jousting windmills to go after that arguement.

How would Gap insurance have made a difference?  Isn't gap insurance to cover the difference between the value of the item and the loan so if you are upside down on a loan you don't have to pay the difference?  I don't think gap insurance would pay you more becuase you feel the value of the trailer is higher than the value offered.