Hi All,

Just wondering if anyone could give me some advice as to what I might be able to do in this following situation:

My car got "totalled" while being parked on the street. The liable person's insurance was willing to pay for my car's market value but said it might take a while because the accident was quite severe that 2 other parked cars where involved, including a tree which was city property (the insured was hospitalized but turned out fine, thankfully). The adjuster explained to me that processing the assessment of the tree was slow because of a lot of bureaucratic red tape, and that payouts couldn't be made until the total amount of damage could first be determined. They also told me that there was a maximum dollar value for the payout and that if this maximum was exceeded, I would only get an amount based on the percentage of my dues in the overall.

My questions are, am I entitled to a rental car for the duration of the time it takes to process the payout?

I understand I am most probably going to get a value of something less than what I owe for the car, but I'm not too concerned about paying off the loan because I supposedly have "GAP" insurance which I was told would cover the difference between the payout and the loan. My concern is, would I be able to get back the down payment I made on the car (with documentation support, of course) to at least get started on another? I mean, isn't that what car insurance is all about-- to put you right back where you were before the accident occured?

Thanks for any helpful replies. I'm in Illinois, by the way, if that matters.