My brothers truck was hit by a drunk motorcycle driver and that driver was ticketed-My brother had an offer?

> I know there must be some way for him to get what he is entitled to and not just some off the cuff lowball.

No there isn't he has no leverage and the insurance company has nothing but time if he waits long enough they may offer him another 10% to get him off their books but that's about it.

Welcome to the wonderful world of insurance, fault has very little to do with how "fair" a policy is written neither does physical ability He won't get replacement cost unless he paid for that level of coverage and add ons aren't covered unless you have a rider covering those articles. It doesn't matter what you think it matters what his insurance policy says the offer is based on the policy he signed ask any lawyer. Nobody realizes how crappy their insurance coverage actually is until they have to make a claim. Next time your brother has to be totally upfront about what he expects to be covered if he wants to avoid headaches like this.

>I believe he is entitled to the value of the truck plus whatever equipment was on it (as this is part of the trucks value if he were selling it!

WRONG! they write the policy based on the depreciated blue-book value of the base vehicle (not all the non standard parts you can bolt to it) I'm sure your brother didn't tell them he had thousands of dollars worth of specialized equipment on the vehicle to avoid the higher premiums it would have incurred. I had a buddy who had about $10,000 worth of stereo equipment in his car it never occurred to him to mention it to his insurer so when his car got totaled they wouldn't give him a penny for the stereo system because his premiums didn't reflect the added cost of the sound system.

He is not entitled to enough to replace it, and there is no way for them to way what it would cost to replace. Insurance is only allowed to pay what something was still worth at whatever age it was when the accident happened; they are not allowed to pay what it cost when it was new, or what it would cost to replace with something new. In theory, you might be able to find an old, used replacement for the amount that the insurance pays, but he is not entitled to this. To get a new replacement, it is necessary to pay the difference in value between old and new with one's own money, because insurance is only allowed to pay the value of the old thing that was wrecked.

Adjusters cannot help, because they cannot change the law. In theory, the NJ state legislature in Trenton could change the law, but I don't know if they can do it retroactively to apply to an accident that has already happened.

In any case, the way for him to get what he is entitled to get is to take the offer of less than what it will cost to replace it, because what he is entitled to get is less than what it will cost to replace it.

The special equipment, unless specifically listed on the policy, is likely not covered, same with the fifth wheel setup.

Your brother is only entitled to the value of the vehicle, minus add -ons. Whether that's enough to replace it or not is not in the policy contract. Unless his policy is for "stated value", he gets what it's worth, and that's it. They're not taking advantage, they are following the terms of his policy.

If the special equipment is not damaged, there's no reason he can't take it and install it in another vehicle.