Nyana asked:
After a car accident my car was determined to be a total loss. Both my insurance compney and the finance company said that I have to keep making payments until all the paperwork is processed and they receive a check and paperwork from the insurance company. Is this true? It doesnt seem fair to a consumer to have to keep making payments on something I no longer own and the insurance and gap is going to cover. Am I required to keep making payments by law?
Rachel
After a car accident my car was determined to be a total loss. Both my insurance compney and the finance company said that I have to keep making payments until all the paperwork is processed and they receive a check and paperwork from the insurance company. Is this true? It doesnt seem fair to a consumer to have to keep making payments on something I no longer own and the insurance and gap is going to cover. Am I required to keep making payments by law?
Rachel
Joy
My dad bought an ’09 Corolla, and he totaled it because of an accident in the snow/ice. He was not required to made additional payments.
Dennis
Yes you need to continue to make payments. Any money that is overpaid should be returned to you after everything has been processed. I know it sucks and sounds unfair because you no longer are in possession of the car, but you acquired the debt and until the debt is paid off you are responsible for it. The same thing goes for homeowners who lose their homes due to natural disasters. Their hazard insurance doesn’t cover anything but a fire and they still have to pay their mortgage on a house that doesn’t exist anymore. Sucks!
Virginia
You are required to keep making payments because you OWE THE MONEY. The loan and your obligation to repay it exists whether the vehicle is in your driveway, catches fire, is stolen or is carried off by aliens. The vehicle and the loan are two separate matters.
If the amount paid by the insurance company isn’t enough to cover your loan balance, you will have to pay that as well. In other words, even though the vehicle may be sitting in a salvage yard, you have to continue making payments until the matter is settled by insurance.
Lynn
you are still obligated to pay, however, you might be able to go to the dealer and buy another car, if you can verify that the car is in fact totaled and it is just a matter of getting the paperwork processed. I know because I did that. I got into a wreck and when the insurance company told me the car was going to be totaled I went to the dealer and they where able to verify that in fact it was, I was able to get approved to buy another car.