2002 Mustang GT vs Insurance Company

It started off to be a good day, after all it was Friday! We were on our usual route to school that morning when another car pulled out from a stop sign, directly in our path. Apparently, having my fog lights on wasn't enough to alert the other driver that I was even there. When I think about it, I can still see the hood of my car lift up and move towards me as the cars made contact and see the airbag deploy in front of my daughter and the feel of the seat belt tightening up. I can still hear the incredible impact sounds that cars made as they collided with one another. After making sure everyone was ok for the moment, I inspected my Mustang GT. From what I saw, it wasn't too bad. No fluids leaking, no smoking. I was able to start it and move it out of traffic. Apparently, the insurance agents saw it a different way. I received a phone call to release the car to them. I questioned them. Why? What are you going to do to it? Where will it be taken? Their response? It's a total loss. WHAT?! A bumper, a headlight, a quarter panel, 2 airbags, a hood and some paint, plus labor fees. Totalled? I think not. NO WAY. I knew that the damage that my Mustang sustained was completely repairable. For about a week, I was being pressured by my former insurance company to release the car to them... but I wanted the other driver's insurance company to repair my car, since I was not at fault for this incident. The other driver's insurance company flip-flopped. We ran through some numbers. Cost of repairs. Value of car. Cost of an equivalent car. First they agreed to repair it. Then they totalled it, citing airbags were costly to replace. SO?! It's not like I can make the airbags deploy on command. They deployed for a reason for which I was not to be blamed. I wanted my car repaired. I wanted my car repaired at their expense. Heck, I didn't even get a rental car at any time during which this was taking place. After weeks of being hassled to relenquish the car and being told that storage fees were being racked up, they relented. It took about 3 months and many, many headaches and phone calls. About 3 weeks after the repairs were initiated, we were back. Back in Black...and Red. Do you have any insurance horror stories? Want to share them? Let's swap stories. Email Me. Today.