I am not withholding anything from anyone, being upfront with BMW and insurer. At very least I get to speak from experience in the future… good or bad
Obviously, don’t encourage anyone to follow my foot steps. Wish me luck!
3 Likes
Worst case scenario (other than the whole insurance fraud side of things), you end up paying your buy out amount for the x7 and get stuck with a totaled vehicle and no insurance payout.
Asked insurer to postpone settlement due to sending payoff to the BMW directly. They promised to check back with BMW FS in a few days and request updated letter of guarantee to see if there is still balance owed to them. Insurance also confirmed that any overages will be sent to me directly.
The question remains… Will BMW accept my check
Not sure what exactly was said but there’s clearly a disconnect here.
The term “Overages” can only apply to a balance on a loan or lease.
If you’ve paid off a car and own it outright, there are no overages. You’re entitled to the entire settlement.
If your insurer was willing to send you the overages while sending BMWFS nothing more than the lease balance, then you never needed to buy the car to collect the equity in the first place.
1 Like
Insurance company determines loss settlement amount. BMW hires independent appraisal company to come up with their payoff. If settlement greater than BMW’s payoff, then I get the overage.
The problem is how the payoff is calculated:
- For me payoff is RV+ remaining payments minus unearned interest (all per lease contract)
- For the insurance company payoff is based on current vehicle replacement cost - inflated market value
If BMW accepts my payoff then I’d expect to collect the entire settlement… Of course, this is just a theory 
Best of luck. Looking forward to how this turns out.
That’s only if BMWFS is settling with the insurance company.
Your payoff is set in stone.
So which is it?
Did you make your payoff and become the owner? In which case there are no overages because there’s no balance left to be paid.
Or is BMWFS the owner and entitled to fair market value? In which case there are no overages because those two entities will negotiate a settlement and that’s exactly the amount the insurance company will pay to BMWFS.
I sent payoff amount to BMWFS to become the owner of the vehicle. Cashier’s check will be delivered to them today. Should know more next week. In this scenario I am getting the entire settlement.
There is still potential of receiving the overages, since fair market value is calculated independently by insurer and BMW. 
compared to 
I wasn’t the OP, but decided to payoff my totaled BMW before insurance issued their check based on @IAC’s suggestion to just buy the car. The difference between my payoff and insurance settlement is over $8K(on $35K 4 series), so I decided it was worth a shot. I was 99% sure that BMWFS would just return my payment, since they already knew that car was totaled and getting full settlement from insurance was just a matter of time. BMWFS representative also confirmed that my payoff is not valid and won’t be accepted - that was a lie.
BMW cashed my payoff, terminated account and sent me the title. I don’t have an insurance check yet, but will post an update once there is something to share…
5 Likes
So now, you will be receiving the extra $8k but in turn will have it on your insurance record which is going to increase your insurance rate for a few years? Or am I getting that wrong cause that would have still gone up even if you would have not paid off the car?
In my case insurance premium will go up no matter what. It won’t hurt as much if I get to keep part of the settlement. Maybe accident forgiveness will kick in to save me there too.
1 Like
BMW cashed my check too soon… They are saying that the title that I am in possession of is going to be cancelled, they will reopen my account and wait for insurance payment instead. How sad…
I was going to ask: did they send a title that was branded salvage? What state are you in?
1 Like
TBH they saved your a$$… high likelihood that insurance would have paid nothing or salvage value.
I am rooting for you, @WHIZ but boy this is such a mess!
BMWFS is being greedy and trying to squeeze as much money as possible from people who had their cars totaled.
I appreciate you taking a whack at this so publicly so we could see it unfold.
5 Likes
Sometimes I get bored, then I go to LH and end up doing no work. Wonderful cycle.
3 Likes
This is interesting since the the leasee that purchased insurance not BMWFS. If BMWFS insured the car, then they should get the check. Since the vehicle is insured to the leasee, I would guess you could buy the vehicle and keep the payout?
Except when you insured it, you listed them as the owner and the recipient of the funds.
1 Like
In future cases, after a totaled accident, wouldn’t it make sense to buy out the car before initiating the claim? I suppose the risk is that they fix 80% of the damage and don’t total the car and you’re stuck having bought a car that went through h major repairs