[Christien]

If you've already accepted the cheque, then no, it's probably too late. If not, maybe look into it. Here's a real-life example, the customer I'm working on right now:

2004 Saturn Ion uplevel quad4, black book is about $6300, typical retail is about $10K, customer owes $13K, but our total exposure is about 9. Insurance offered $6200, refused to disclose their appraisal report (not unusual). The process is we get our own appraisal by a licensed appraiser, basically a vehicle value report for comparable vehicles with comparable options and mileage. We go back to the insurance company with that appraisal and say pay up. They'll probably counter offer, and if we eat less than $500 we'll accept, because it's cheaper/faster than lawyers. But if they won't move, we sue. We've never had to sue yet, though in some cases we've just rolled the debt over to the customer's new loan, because we thought they'd be good for it and again, it's easier/faster than lawyers.

I think you mentioned above it was a $4000 difference? In a write-off, insurance should pay replacement value less deductible, replacement meaning what it would cost you to go out and buy the exact same car today. If you owed $4K on the lease after ins payout, there might be finance charges and PST/GST (if it's a loan, not a lease) in there that your insurance doesn't cover. If it's a loan and there's PST/GST in there, I would think you'd be eligible for a refund, because insurance payouts are tax exempt (i.e. when we receive a cheque from the insurance company for a leased vehicle (no taxes paid up front) we apply the entire amount to the principal, rather than backing taxes out, because an ins payout is not a retail sale). It's a bit complicated, I know, but it might be worth your time to investigate. So long as you haven't yet accepted their offer.