Signed salvage release form, am I screwed?
 

My original thread is here. My car was towed to an ICBC faciity but before that when I initially spoke with them on Monday they had me sign a "salvage release form" telling me that it was nothing and that I needed to sign it in the event that it needs to be salvaged etc...He played it off like it was a formality nothing more. Now I am reading online that they somehow have me by the balls and people are told not to sign that form.

How does signing that form screw me? I know where the car is located should I go and start removing things while I still can?

Did you read it?

Signed documents without reading... :facepalm:

ya dun goof'd

I realize but in what way? What advantage does this give ICBC? From what I understand I can still negotiate settlement for the car.

It plainly said that ICBC can use you and your car to make some sort of human centipad.

you didn't read before signing?

No need to panic. You've signed the salvage release so the vehicle can be towed to an estimating facility for an estimate. If let's say your vehicle is deemed a total loss and you no longer want the vehicle, you've signed to release the vehicle to icbc to sell. Let's say the vehicle is damaged to a point where a salvage title will be issued, you will have the choice of buying back your vehicle to have it fixed with a rebuilt status.

Ok, thank you for your answer....that doesn't sound so bad...I kept reading "Whatever you do don't sign a salvage release form!" but no one ever really stated why. I thought I was screwed like they now can just write it off, send me a measly cheque and end of story...So this does not effect negotiations on the settlement of the car value?

From my knowledge, you don't sign a salvage release form UNTIL the vehicle is deemed a salvaged title and you're entitled to a vehicle settlement.

This happened to my car last summer; I got into an accident, the vehicle was towed to the ICBC facility in Coquitlam. After one week, ICBC called me to let me know my vehicle is beyond repair (salvage title), and I would receive a settlement of "xx,xxx" after I signed off the salvage release form. I went into the Coquitlam facility, signed off the salvage release form, picked up my cheque and that was it. I wasn't allowed to swap/interchange parts from my vehicle.

It all depends if you're vehicle will be repaired or not. By signing to form you have given authorization to sell if it is deemed non repairable. If it is repairable then the form is no longer valid. From my limited knowledge I don't believe the form is an agreement to settle. I would check with your adjuster to see what options you have after the estimation.

Thanks fellas, appreciate it and will keep this thread updated!

Ok ICBC called and they are estimating the damage at $2500 ... I chose No1 Collision on 3410 highway as my body shop so they are towing it there tomorrow then No1 is supposed to call me and I will go down and discuss details

I thought you were allowed to, as long as you put whatever you took out with something equivalent. Last accident I was in, the lady told me if I took anything out, say a deck, I had to put a deck of some sort back in. Have things changed?

Hope everything goes well OP!

Ok so ICBC estimates the damage at $2500 and my car is finally at No 1 collision. I spoke with them in person and they said it will be dramatically higher than ICBC's estimate but they will not have a quote until Tuesday.

ICBC estimates are very far off. They only look for surface damange and not the hidden damage. It is very rare they are around the ballpark for the money.
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Years ago when my mom wrote off our car at the time, she was told to sign some forms and did. We knew it was going to be a write off, got low balled about $1000 from market value and wanted to challenge some of the things ICBC deemed on our vehicle to devalue it vs. market price. We were shot down because the salvage release was already signed off, and they had already sold the car.

To me it just doesn't make sense to sign a salvage release form prior to knowing that the car is a writeoff and will be sold off.

yup I had a similar experience. car was stolen and messed up. was told the release was so icbc could get the car out of tow yard. it turns out my car was sold before I had even made a deal with them. they lowballed me and when i said for that low number I want all my brand new engine parts off the car they told me it was already sold at auction and then they raised their offer by $1500. when I told them that was still not ok they told me to get a lawyer. was a real learning experience. I will never sign another thing from icbc until i have a written aggreement on the value they will pay.

Ok so now its been at the body shop for 1 week, still the body shop has yet to complete their "re-adjust", basically their own estimate. ONE WEEK and they still haven't finished the estimate (link to picture of damage in OP)!

So I call ICBC adjuster to see if I can light a fire under his ass at all, and he is off until after Christmas...and the service people at the desk say there are two other adjusters working on the vehicle claim in his absence yet they don't know who or how I can get a hold of them.

So, to re-cap:

-I was hit while trying to park by someone who drove off in a company van in broad daylight on a busy street

-There is myself and two separate witnesses who stopped and provided contact info, all three of us saw the truck, saw the identifying company logo, noted the phone number from the back of the truck

-report hit and run immediately after collision, ICBC say call police

-call police file hit and run and get officers name and case number

-company owner refuses to take responsibility or co-operate in the slightest so as it stands it is unidentifiable driver

But all good right, I mean I have two other witnesses, the company info and a cop on the case, I should be fine right?

-officer emails me that she decided to drop the case and not pursue anything criminal and for me to deal with only ICBC

-ICBC says they cannot force company owner to give up who was driving said truck

-takes ICBC two weeks to tow my car to their inspection facility

-finally gets to body shop

-almost three weeks since accident now and no estimate yet from body shop on actual damage cost, cop is gone, adjuster on vacation until after christmas...I am the victim, have no car, it hasn't even been touched yet and the guy who hits me gets off scott free even though I have witnesses...my god

Thats lousy man and reminds me of what the adjuster told me prior to signing the form, he said it was just so that they can tow it from my place to get it to ICBC, that it was no big deal just part of the process etc... They swindled me into signing it, then I read all this stuff after the fact. Freaking pricks.

Did you talk to the shop and ask them how busy they were before towing it to them?
Choose a repair shop that has courtesy cars so you have some wheels to drive. Ask them if they have any.
Seriously it would take the shop 30 minutes to pull the rest of the bumper off the car and finish the estimate. I would phone them and tell them your situation.

Finally got word back from the the body shop after being very persistent and they estimate the damage to be $6500 (ICBC estimated $2500) so I'm assuming it will be a write-off and the body shop agreed. They will ge the estimate to ICBC on Monday and now its just wait until ICBC offers a settlement for my vehicle.

If I take into consideration that they repair upto 80% of the vehicles value and they estimated repairs at $2500, they will more than likely offer me $3000 give or take. its my understanding to counter that with receipts (which I have a ton of for aftermarket parts/mods) and ads of local cars similar to mine and their selling price, I have about 80 of those ranging from $6000-$9000....I'm hoping for at least $5000.

What do you guys think?


Phoning them finally paid off, thank you :)

If the vehicle is considered a total loss the estimate they did on the vehicle is pretty much scrap paper. They will give you "fair market value" for your vehicle. Mods do not usually add to the vehicles value. You will easily get 5k if you can find 80 ads for 6-9.

I got into a total loss accident last year around this time, and i looked on CL for research in case they low ball me, and they actually offered me more money than any of the CL listing. You may be surprised to find that ICBC sometimes can be fair.

You guys are giving me hope I was expecting the worst...I've been downloading ads for the past 3 weeks (I knew there would be a good chance of a write off) ranging from 6k-9k so hoping for the best...I just want this settled quick so I can get behind the wheel again for the holiday season and new school semester.

I guess when I find out the settlement amount I will post a thread regarding my next car purchase.

Been thinking of e46 coupe, CLK coupe, C230 Kompressor...possibly an RX-8 although I have no experience working on rotary engines but confident expirience working on German cars.

I just thought of something, my car is still at the body shop until they send their estimate into ICBC on Monday...What if I drove it back home even though I have signed the salvage release form? Will that help me in negotiating a fair settlement in that they are not able to auction off my car or hold it hostage?