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.

It sounds a bit bizarre. What does a tree or other damaged vehicles have to do with settling your vehicle claim? Anytime there are injuries, that is another matter altogether. But if you have no injuries your vehicle, if totalled, should be setteled rather quickly.

Listen now , you have damaged the car , it is your fault , then the bank will say you have to cut down the damage cost from the down payment , and if it is like you have no indulgence in the damage , then you have the complete down payment back guarantee.
But nevertheless , teh bank wil afcourse keep their part of the money.