Centex

My father was recently involved in an accident while driving his 07 c6. Some one ran a light and hit another car - and that car hit my father while he was sitting at the light. Anyway - my questions is regarding insurance and a "diminished value claim" - where you seek compensation due to the fact that your car is no longer worth the value that it was before it was wrecked - like when you go to sell it... obviously you can not demand the same price as a car that has not been in an accident ...

does anyone have any experience with this? how does one go about getting an estimate on the price of the diminished value? Go to a dealer and ask the people who look at used cars have them give an estimate?

Thanks guys ..

bolivar

Ok, had a SIL in Austin about 3-4 years ago, had a car hit in a Walmart gas station. (An unoccupied car from the Walmart lot.) First, you have to make a claim aganist the persons insurance company causing the damage, and get the auto repaired. Then, look in the phone book, there are companies that do nothing but diminished claim work. It will cost $500? $750 (I don't remember) up front to this company. They will look at the repaired auto and give you an elaborate report about its 'diminished value'. You then take this report and file a second 'diminished value' claim aganist the insurance company. For the fee to the company, she got a report saying the DV was something like $6,000 (again, don't remember the exact numbers), and she accepted the $2,500 insurance company offer on the DV claim. It was about a 4 year old Mercedes sedan, and it was hit hard in the side by an out-of-gear Mustang that came down a hill in the lot into the gas station area.

The reason these companies exist is no other company wants to get involved in something like this. No dealer, used car lot, body shop, etc, etc, etc wants the potential liability of writting a report saying how much a repaired car has lost value. These companies are in this business and, for an upfront fee, are willing to do this. I don't think you will find anyone else that will get involved.

Licit

Seems like things would be easier if insurance companies added DV to policies as routine practice. Though that may be too efficient for the insurance industry.

cegusa

I suggest checking with your states DOI (Department of Insurance). May find info on their website or may need to call.

rayk

The insurance company would have to charge for DV to make a profit on that benefit. Most people don't want to pay for it.

Rocketmanwpb

Depends on where you live and the civil case law that supports such a claim. DV is difficult to get and not necessarily a factor in sale down the road. Some states make it easy to get and some states don't allow it at all.

Your best bet is to talk to an attorney who deals in automobile property claims. This is not an area of high profit or high volume of cases. I would guess that a big dollar value car would be more in line to make a DV claim verses a car like a Corvette.

I have worked in the insurance claims industry for 16 years and have never encountered a DV claim.

One caveat, don't believe everything an attorney will tell you. They often will promise extraordinary results because they can bill you by the hour. After you talk to an attorney sit down and digest the info and decide if the cost is worth the return. (You may only be talking about a few hundred dollars to a couple of thousand dollars)

Centex

all - good advice - thats why i posted .. I'm in TX so ill check the states DOI and also look into contacting an attorney .. thanks guys. Ill keep you posted.

My father spoke with the adjuster friday and brought up the DV claim the adjuster said she would revisit that next week after she takes care of the other parties repairs (there were 2 other cars involved). She said that it was possible but she has to see if there are funds "left over" after the repairs with every one are taken care of .... My father didnt want to get into so he agreed to talk about it next week ...

I need to speak to an attorney first i guess ... before i pay some one to look at it ..

PaulB

Per Post 7, It appears that the responsible parties property damage insurance limits may be getting close to being maxed out. If thats the case there may be a pro rata to all involved. Your Loss of Value needs to be included in that. Of course the limits on the policy is where the insurance company maxes out. But the owner/driver of the responsible auto would then owe the rest out of there pockets. Here is a good reason as to why we all need to carry higher limits on our auto liability policies... By all means please speak to an attorney first. A Policy Limit situation can really make things a little more complicated. Good Luck...

saplumr

Probably 9 times out of 10 it's a wasted effort. A few here have had positive results but for me it was useless! The insurance co's state that once a vehicle is repaired to pre-crash condition there is no diminished value. We all know it's rediculous but that is their stance.

3GenVettes

Don't get your hopes up of collecting much of anything on this. In my case it was also a waste of time on a vehicle that was less than a year old and suffered frame damage. It is 'normal' for cars to be involved in accidents from an insurance standpoint. So there is very little difference if any difference between your car that has been previously damaged and any other car. Certainly you can try, but don't over expect.

PaulB

It really does not matter what the Insurance companies want to do, Its what the Courts will allow. Sometimes to get the Insurance Companies attention, they need to receive the actual suit papers.

budgreen3564

for TX go here

Kirk Kyler www.diminishedvalueoftexas.com

courtesy of The CarPro Show
Dallas WBAP

saplumr

The question is....by the time you pay attorney fees in the "attempt" to get results you probably end up losing money. Local attorneys' wouldn't fool with here. Small claims court may be the only viable option.

nomo50

E-mail sent with my phone number
Please call me, I have recent information regarding diminished value claim. I received $6400 in August from Geico for diminished value, and loss of use. $5000 diminished value, $1400 for loss of use.

The company I got info from is out of Texas as well.
Rob.

Jakeross

I have a friend that finally got results. She wrote the Texas Dept. of Insurance. She also kept asking to speak to each supervisor at the insurance company. She was told that they always have 3 offers lined up, so keep after them. It might take a while but be persistant.

phileaglesfan

If the buyer was stupid enough to not get enough insurance then he'll have to pay out of his own pocket.

DV is a battle though. It took me over 3 months to settle with Allstate, $7500 damage to my Impala (including frame), $3500 decreased in value, I got about $2500 back. My option to push it further was to go to court where I may or may not get more or even less or nothing. Allstate also mentioned that DV claims are not allowed for "cosmetic only" damage which includes replacing panels, which is bull. It was almost 3 years ago now so I don't remember the company's name that I used. It was about $350 out of my pocket to use them.