Hi everyone I was rear ended in my 1997 oldsmobile of course I'm not at fault and this is my first accident but I have been told by a few people that my car could be considered totaled because of this but the damage isn't too bad but does have to be repaired help

Hi everyone I was rear ended in my 1997 oldsmobile of course I'm not at fault and this is my first accident but I have been told by a few people that my car could be considered totaled because of this but the damage isn't too bad but does have to be repaired help

What is it that you want help with?

Are you asking if your car is totaled? We can't know that based on what you said.

You get several estimates of getting it fixed. You contact their insurance company talk to their adjustor and see how much they will pay.

The issue is that cars, older ones only have certain value and that may be all they are willing to pay. For example, my 1991 Merc, was damaged, about 2500, well book value is about 1500 dollars. I get them to pay 1900 toward the repairs, and I had to pay the rest,

The choice to "total" the car is yours, you are not required to total, it, but the insurance company will only pay up to the value of the car. Be prepared with values of cars like yours ( retail) off car sites and other advertisements

"Totaled" simply means that the cost of repairing the damage equals or exceeds the value of the car. We cannot tell you if it was totalled without knowing which figure is greater.

Actually the decision to total is usually made by the insurance carrier. You file a claim with the carrier of the other driver (you still report it to your carrier). They send an adjuster to estimate the damage. If they feel the cost of repair is greater than the book value of the car (which could be the case with a 15 yr old vehicle, then they will only pay the book value. You then have to decide whether to use that money towards another vehicle or to add to what they pay and repair it.

So, have you filed a claim? Has an adjuster been around? What help did you want, since you really didn't make that clear.