As some of you may know, my 2007 Acura TSX was in an accident last month. It had less than 3,000 miles on it. It was 100% the other driver's fault. We were in a parking lot so he was not ticketed. His insurance paid and it has been repaired, though not 100% IMHO.

I read something online and around here about Dimished Value claims. I never knew such a thing existed. It sounds like I am a prime candidate for this. Why didn't my insurance company recommend this?

So, has anyone else had any experience with such a claim? How do I proceed? Is it as easy as a letter of intent to the 3rd party insurance company? Do I need a lawyer? How much can I expect to get back?

If you know the answers or where to find them, post them here. I know SinSin and a few others who were in accidents that were not their fault. I'm sure they would want to know more, as well.

Mike

 

Diminished Value is how much less your car is worth because it was involved in an accident (in a nutshell).
This is comprised through a balance of surveys and responses from both retail and wholesale markets: based on the amount of damage, what areas of the vehicle were damaged/repaired, and the age/mileage of the vehicle at the time of the accident and once the vehicle was delivered back to the original owner.

Right now I do not have access to the calculator for how that value is reached. I will try to find an online resource for you sometime this week. Typcially your insurance company has this information but typically will NOT (voluntarily) disclose this to you ... especially if they are responsible for the difference(based on your policy/coverage). But, if i were you I would put them on notice for this situation. If you have already signed the release for this incident you will have a difficult time getting anyone to revisit the issue.

Also loss/lack of use can be part of some policies as well and this pays ~$15-20 per day if you don't have or accept a rental car.


hth

 

Be sure to PM VVS (james) on this matter if you do not see him post a reply on this topic. He was with State Farm for 10+ years and is now doing a 3rd party independant investigation reconciliation kind of thing for auotmobile insurance companies (or something like this.....).

Scott

 

O.k., here's the scoop. Youy probably have signed a release with your insurance company so there is now not much you likely can do. As for getting a lawyer, I think that the costs of doing that will exceed the likely recovery even assuming that you were successful.

Most policies will not cover diminished value. This is one of the reasons that, if you are in an accident and it is not your fault, always try to get an accident report. Even if the other driver does not receive a ticket, having an accident report will help to establish fault. I know that you were on private property so this makes it a bit more difficult. I am assuming that notwithstanding this that your insurance company and the other driver's insurance company determined that the other driver was at fault.

In the future, assuming you are not at fault in my experience, it is probably best not to deal with your insurance company and file a claim. Generally, you will have to advance the costs of the deductable and get this reimbursed to you through the subrogation process after the insurance companies have worked out the issue. Instead, advise your insurance compnay that you are going to call the other driver's insurance company directly and deal directly with it, even if you are getting the vehicle repaired.

My wife has had two accidents in the last 3 years, neither one her fault, and I have always handled it this way. On both occasions, I dealt with the other insurance company and identified myself as my wife's lawyer which really was true anyway.

The first incident involved a serious collision to my wife's first Pilot, and I explained to the claims adjuster that I did not intend to keep the car. It was less than 2 years old and had about $20,000.00 in damages. Unbelievably, initially the insurance company did not want to total the car. After checking with my dealer, I found out that Honda would not have sold the car as a certified used car which would have decreased the amount of any trade-in. I explained that I would be willing to settle for the rental car costs (it took almost a week to get the damage evaluated during which time I had a rental) and the fair market value of the vehicle if it were not damaged in exchange for transfer of title. This proved to be less expensive then the costs of the damage and the reduction in the value of the car after it was repaired. The total settlement was just about $28,000.00 which was not much less than what we had paid for the car.

The key is to establish that there really is a reduction in the value of the car after it is fixed. Not every collision is so severe that there is a demonstrable reduction in value.

I have a little bit of an advantage dealing with other insurance companies because I am a lawyer, and I think that the companies do their best to avoid having to deal with lawyers. But by doing your homework, I think anyone can handle this sort of any issue in the future.

Good luck.

 

[QUOTE=triman54,Nov 24 2007, 09:21 PM] O.k., here's the scoop.

 

That explains much! Your subtle humor makes much more sense to me now.

 

My RSX-S had only 300miles and was only 3days old when it was struck. I know several attorneys and discussed this matter at length with each. They're summation was nearly identical to what Jay (Triman) has stated and it is very good advice/info.

Even though the damage to my car was over 80% of the lien/resale value (usually a determining level of total-loss) the insurance company insisted on repairing the vehicle due to HOW NEW it was. In the end i was reimbursed for Loss of Use, Diminished Value, as well as a 'nuisance' factor: i.e. the car never met my expectations of quality from the prefered auto-body facility. In the end (nearly 2 years) i obtained enough 'dissatisfaction' awards to nearly pay off the car.

If your car is within 3000 miles (roughly) or 1month old then you will have more leverage in negotiating a higher Diminished Value. The best proof you should use is having the dealership give you a written trade value (do not let the dealership know the purpose ) ... that, of course, is usually quite low after disclosing the damage/repairs to your car.


Keep in mind that the insurance company does not want the issue to linger for too long. But, in turn, be sure to have LOTS of data and evidence.

Good luck!

 

My car was hit and I got dimished valve. A little over a grand I think.

I used my insurance company because they got it done when I couldn't get the other drivers insurance to come out and see my car for days. I went straight to the other insurance company for the dimished value claim.

It is better to use the other persons insurance is if possible.

I paid for an appraisal and the insurance company did an apprasail. We negotiated the difference.

Hope this helps.

 

This may be good news. I never dealt with my insurance company. I called his Ins co directly and they handled the whole thing. By phone. I never signed a thing. I went to their "qualified shop" (Courtesy) and had it fixed. Not well, I might add. Courtesy is taking it back and making good on the problems they created. We will see.

I don't want to get my insurance co (Allstate) involved. I want his company (State Farm) to pay out. I did have an officer come out. He just gave us a generic report and had us fill in the personal information. There was no statement of damage or fault. I did take amazing photos, however. It was outside my condo and I ran in to get the camera.

So with the accident photos clearly showing him at fault, the State Farm agent admitting fault, and no release signed...do I still have a chance?

 

If at any point a body panel is replaced(including bunper covers) the car can not be certified . Any time there is paint on any panel there will be a deduction of value . I work for a Honda dealer and we can not certify a car unless it is 100% stock including all badges . Even the tires all have to match brand and type