Don’t panic. You have just been in a wreck and your vehicle was totaled or determined to be undriveable. The other driver was put at fault by the investigating officer. What do you do now?

  1. Take note of which towing service takes your vehicle. This is after you take tons of pictures to the damage on your vehicle and the other vehicles.
  2. Contact the at fault driver’s insurance information that is located on the FR-10, or green incident report, completed by the officer.
  3. Report the wreck to the at fault driver’s insurance company but do not agree to a recorded statement or further inquiry on the phone.
  4. Identify to the at fault driver’s insurance company that your vehicle was damaged and you need a rental.
  5. If the at fault driver disputes the officer’s determination of liability (that they were indeed at fault) then the at fault driver’s insurance company will dispute paying for your vehicle and giving you a rental.
  6. Order the more detailed FR-50, two page accident report, from the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles.  (You will have to send in $6.00 so click on the hyperlink for the address).
  7. Demand a rental car of like kind. They will say no, but ask and plead anyway.
  8. If your car is determined to be "totaled", then you will need to determine the value of your car based upon its mileage, year, overall condition, and essentially what it would take to replace exactly what you had before the wreck. 
  9. Go to Autotrader.com, Edmonds.com, NADAguides.com, or KBB.com and try and find a vehicle just like yours within a 50 mile radius of where you live to get an idea of what your vehicle is worth. Send those examples to the adjuster if you do not like the number they offer.
  10. Two (2) claims arise out of the majority of wrecks: a property damage claim and a personal injury claim.  Make sure if you settle your property damage claim that you ONLY settle your property damage claim and not your personal injury claim. Yes, insurance companies trick people all the time by having them sign away both claims.
  11. If the at fault driver’s insurance company is taking an inordinate amount of time and you have coverage on your insurance, then file your property claim with your insurance company. Yes, the otherside was at fault but this will get the problem solved and you will be reimbursed your deductible when the at fault driver’s insurance company finally pays.
  12. If you are not provided a rental vehicle immediately after the wreck and you are without your vehicle for a period of time before you are offered a settlement on your property damage. You are entitled to "loss of use" for the time you are without your vehicle. The owner may recover the value of the automobile’s use during the time in which he was necessarily deprived of its use. Adams v. Orr, 260 S.C. 92, 98 (S.C. 1973).
     

My clients are most frustrated with property damage. I am most interested in your personal injury claim. That is why I provide you with this very comprehensive guideline when dealing with insurance companies over property claims.

If you have questions about your insurance policy, read my "Full Coverage" article.

Tags: "Property Damage" FR-10 SCDMV "loss of use", FR-10, loss of use, Property Damage, SCDMV
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Photo of Trey Mills Trey Mills

Floyd S. “Trey” Mills III knows that suffering a personal injury through no fault of your own can be a nightmare for the victim and his or her family

Mr. Mills was born on April 24, 1978.  His parents, Floyd S. “Butch” Mills,

…

Floyd S. “Trey” Mills III knows that suffering a personal injury through no fault of your own can be a nightmare for the victim and his or her family

Mr. Mills was born on April 24, 1978.  His parents, Floyd S. “Butch” Mills, Jr. and Patricia Yarborough Mills, were originally from Newberry, South Carolina, and soon after the birth of Mr. Mills, his parents brought him back to be raised in the same county they grew up in.

Education

Mr. Mills attended Newberry Academy from grades K-3, Gallman Elementary 4th grade, Rikard Elementary 5-6th grade, Mid-Carolina Middle School 7-8th grades, Mid-Carolina High School from 9-12th grades, Clemson University, and Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University.

Health Crisis

While Mr. Mills was a junior in high school he was chosen by his school to be a representative to Boys State.  This was a great honor and would have been an even better experience except, while at Boys State, Mr. Mills became unusually ill with blackouts, night sweats, and back pain.  Fortunately for Mr. Mills, his mother was an ER nurse at Lexington Medical Center, but unfortunately, for Mr. Mills that did not change his diagnosis of Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia.  Along with his diagnosis, Mr. Mills received a prognosis of two weeks.

Obviously, Mr. Mills has been blessed with his second chance at life and those who have been wronged by health care insurance companies and other types of insurance companies can feel confident in knowing that Mr. Mills can not only empathize with them but fight fervently for their side.  Mr. Mills’ cancer experience and his mother’s arduous yet unsuccessful battle against lung cancer were very trying times.  However, those real-world battles and experiences were nothing compared to the administrative and billing wars he had to encounter with Blue Cross Blue Shield Health Insurance. It seems BCBS would deny any charge over $1,000 without rational reasoning therefore prompting Mr. Mills to go to law school and carry the torch for those that were too ill to fight for themselves while the school yard bully beat them down.

College

Mr. Mills went on to Clemson University where he was very active in student activities along with academic accomplishments.  Mr. Mills was invited to join Calhoun Honor’s College, Sigma Pi fraternity, Golden Key National Honor Society, Student Government, IPTAY Student Advisory Board, and Tiger Brotherhood. Mr. Mills also worked as a student employee with IPTAY Scholarship Fund under the direction of Bert Henderson, formerly the Associate Athletic Director of Planned Giving at Clemson University.

Early Life

Mr. Mills was unsure of where his hard work and life experiences would best provide an adequate return to the outpouring of kindness he received during his cancer experience. Having received many blessings from the American Red Cross, Mr. Mills went on to be an Apheresis Donor Recruiter under the supervision of Barry Pollard at the American Red Cross Blood Donor Services in Columbia, SC after graduating Clemson University.

Running from his true calling, Mr. Mills fled to Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico to Teach English as a Foreign Language (TEFL).  Having spent a semester of college in Madrid, Spain, Mr. Mills thought he should be assisting foreign countries. Mr. Mills was certified by the Vancouver Language Centre in Guadalajara for his TEFL training.  Mr. Mills was in Guadalajara only a few months when September 11, 2001 occurred and helped him focus on his life priorities.

Law School

Mr. Mills went on to law school at Mercer University and clerked each summer trying to determine how he could best serve those less fortunate.  The corporate law firms never truly provided him with that personal feeling of assisting the common person in need.  It wasn’t until Mr. Mills became the first law clerk of the South Carolina Trial Lawyers Association under the supervision of Linda Franklin and lobbyist Michael Gunn that he realized where his education, life experience, drive, and hard work could truly benefit those who have been personally and directly affected by the negligence of another.  Mr. Mills wanted to be a coveted and much needed plaintiff’s trial attorney.  More importantly Mr. Mills realized the power of the faceless insurance companies, misinformed legislative members, and the true power of money and lobbyist in dictating laws.

What’s the one service you pay for all your life but you are actually penalized if you ever have to use it? Insurance.

Trammell & Mills

Mr. Ernie Trammell gave Mr. Mills his big break at leveling the playing field against the faceless and heartless insurance companies.  Mr. Mills works tirelessly every day in an effort to bring justice to those who have been wronged.  Mr. Mills has worked on both sides of the law and has been through some harrowing life experiences.  Mr. Mills has been tested and tried by many of the more traumatic events that life has to offer and now provides his services to the public.

Who would you rather have on your side? Someone whose resolve has been tested and tried? Or someone who has intertwined their morality and greed in such a way that they can’t tell one from the other?

Why haven’t you hired Mr. Mills to be your attorney yet?

Would you listen to the devil on how to get to Heaven? Then why listen to insurance adjusters?

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