Buying Wrecked Cars

I tell my clients that once their car has been in a wreck and declared a total loss, they should give it to the insurance company. The car will never be fixed to your standards again so why deal with the hassle? Let the insurance company deal with it.

Well, at least as far as State Farm is concerned, "dealing with it" may mean selling it back to the public - without the proper title. OOPS! State Farm has apparently sold 30,000 of these vehiclees without the proper title and they are now being sued for failing to disclose this.

Apparently, the fine folks in the state of Indiana got a better deal: the car was bought back for book value at the time they purchased it, plus cost of repairs plus finance charges. There is a global settlement with the other states and some people have opted out.

This is an unbelievable issue. How on earth State Farm could sell these vehicles without the proper title is beyond me! Chalk this up to the insurance companies, once again, thinking they don't have to play by the same rules.