Diminished Value Auto Insurance Claim

[m6pwr]

Had an accident recently that required some front end body repair (no mechanical damage thankfully - car was completely drivable). The other driver was at fault. She has AAA insurance. Approx. $8000 damage for body repair and paint.

My Mustang is a 2015 Performance Pkg with Recaro seats. Car had a little over 3000 mi at time of accident.

I am thinking of filing a diminished value claim with AAA to offset the loss in market value of my car. I'm in California which has no insurance regulations that cover diminished value claims. A Google search on the topic reveals that there are only two States in the U.S. that do have such regulations. AAA is stonewalling my request for fair market restitution, so I am on my own; its either get a lawyer (there are some in L.A. that advertise in this area of law) or go to Small Claims Court.

Has anyone had experience in filing this kind of claim, and any tips or advice?

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[Blk2015GT]

I've never been involved in one for my own car but I am a lawyer (in FL so this is not legal advice whatsoever).

They are EXTREMELY hard to litigate in court because you first need to find someone who can even be declared as an expert appraiser, and then pay to get a report/appraisal.

Say the insurance says no way and you cannot reach a settlement and have to sue, well you have to pay this expert now whatever their fee is to come testify. And at least in FL, there is no contract or statute giving you your attorney's fees or costs in diminished value claims, so you are out whatever costs you have greatly reducing your claim.

So lets say that claim is $3k diminished value. Well you may pay out $2-300 for the appraisal and then another $1,000-1,500 for him to come give testimony at trial and/or being deposed by the insurance company. So you really got $1,000 at the end of the day and that is doing it yourself without a lawyer; hardly worth all of that time and effort. Hiring a lawyer you're going to lose money frankly more than likely.

Typically pursuing diminished value in court is worthless if its under $10k.

Most try to bring the lawsuits themselves in small claims and lose because they have no clue how to do them or dont bring an expert, and the rest who do file end up losing money or getting very little at the end of today. But the vast majority of these claims are settled and people take whatever is offered because for the typical daily driver there is no value out of suing for diminished value doing it properly to win as the costs exceed the claim value.

If you can settle quickly for something reasonable then its obviously worth paying for the appraisal.

 

[OMGPonies]

Check out St. Lucie Appraisal

My VW Golf was rear-ended with only 150 miles on the odometer last year and had some rear floor damage which was not terminal but can never be fully repaired either. St Lucie provided me with a very professional report, determining a few thousand dollars of diminished value by actually having conversations with dealerships and buyers rather than just looking up values. The at-fault driver's insurance company (Geico) flatly denied to even consider payment for the diminished value. I took them to small claims court in California and received a judgement for the full amount.

I don't plug companies often, but I am forever grateful to Franklin at St. Lucie Appraisal. His professional report impressed the small claims judge and left the insurance company looking foolish, as the judge essentially just asked them for an explanation of why they had not already paid the amount I was requesting.

 

[m6pwr]

Check out St. Lucie Appraisal

My VW Golf was rear-ended with only 150 miles on the odometer last year and had some rear floor damage which was not terminal but can never be fully repaired either. St Lucie provided me with a very professional report, determining a few thousand dollars of diminished value by actually having conversations with dealerships and buyers rather than just looking up values. The at-fault driver's insurance company (Geico) flatly denied to even consider payment for the diminished value. I took them to small claims court in California and received a judgement for the full amount.

I don't plug companies often, but I am forever grateful to Franklin at St. Lucie Appraisal. His professional report impressed the small claims judge and left the insurance company looking foolish, as the judge essentially just asked them for an explanation of why they had not already paid the amount I was requesting.

Thanks for the info and link.

 

[Five Oh Brian]

I regularly provide a report for our customers on my professional opinion of the diminished value of their vehicles after being in an accident. I don't charge them a penny. A rough average is a 10% hit in blue book value due to an accident. Less for minor accidents, but more for airbags deployed and/or frame damage.

 

[15DIBGT]

I'm going through this right now. Insurance guy offered me 1,600 in Diminished value, car had 6500.00 in damages. (See thread I made about the accident). http://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35645

I called my insurance agent to get his advise on how to handle this because I felt like they were low balling me. He said 10% of damages is considered a good DV. He also said there offer was a good offer but he thought since it was there first offer I could get more out of them. I have been fighting with insurance guy for 3 weeks and he wont budge. My agent said the longer the claim is open the better for me because the DV guys boss will be on him to close the claim. I haven't talked to the DV guy in about a week. I'm just waiting it out waiting for him to call me.

I did file lost wages and personal injury to get more out of the at fault insurance company. Didn't get much but it was better than nothing and helped me get closer to what i think is a fair DV.

It is very stressful dealing with insurance companies.

 

[Blk2015GT]

I'm going through this right now. Insurance guy offered me 1,600 in Diminished value, car had 6500.00 in damages. (See thread I made about the accident). http://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35645

I called my insurance agent to get his advise on how to handle this because I felt like they were low balling me. He said 10% of damages is considered a good DV. He also said there offer was a good offer but he thought since it was there first offer I could get more out of them. I have been fighting with insurance guy for 3 weeks and he wont budge. My agent said the longer the claim is open the better for me because the DV guys boss will be on him to close the claim. I haven't talked to the DV guy in about a week. I'm just waiting it out waiting for him to call me.

I did file lost wages and personal injury to get more out of the at fault insurance company. Didn't get much but it was better than nothing and helped me get closer to what i think is a fair DV.

It is very stressful dealing with insurance companies.

Just dont make the common mistake that the amount of damage is not equivalent to the diminished value. The car doesn't depreciate by the amount of repair dollars. This is a very common mistake/misconception.

 

[brandonsmash]

Check out St. Lucie Appraisal

My VW Golf was rear-ended with only 150 miles on the odometer last year and had some rear floor damage which was not terminal but can never be fully repaired either. St Lucie provided me with a very professional report, determining a few thousand dollars of diminished value by actually having conversations with dealerships and buyers rather than just looking up values. The at-fault driver's insurance company (Geico) flatly denied to even consider payment for the diminished value. I took them to small claims court in California and received a judgement for the full amount.

I don't plug companies often, but I am forever grateful to Franklin at St. Lucie Appraisal. His professional report impressed the small claims judge and left the insurance company looking foolish, as the judge essentially just asked them for an explanation of why they had not already paid the amount I was requesting.

That's a pretty cool review. Hopefully I'll never need their services, but it's good to know they exist.

 

[15DIBGT]

Just dont make the common mistake that the amount of damage is not equivalent to the diminished value. The car doesn't depreciate by the amount of repair dollars. This is a very common mistake/misconception.

I fully understand that. I'm not trying to get 6500. You know as well as I do the value of my car went down more than 1600 bucks.

 

['Merica]

I got 10% of repairs. In my case repairs were less than 1k so I was ok with an extra 70 or $80.

 

[Blk2015GT]

I fully understand that. I'm not trying to get 6500. You know as well as I do the value of my car went down more than 1600 bucks.

Maybe maybe not. Depends how much actual damage was done. The parts aren't cheap so while to me for example $4000 sounds like a lot of damage, it could be just damage to the rear bumper (bumper cover, support under, paint- it adds up real fast). They're typically not always going to pay the full DV amount either, that's the purpose of trying to settle pre-suit; it's somewhere in the middle. One rarely sees the full actual DV value after costs even if you sue and get awarded the full DV amount.

 

[scottmac2000]

I t-boned a pickup truck with our '13 Gt ( his fault), 16,000 repair at Ford dealer. It's about 4 or 5 weeks before it will show on Carfax. Traded it in 2 weeks after repairs and got 24k for it. March of this year in Los Angeles area Also, if you have it repaired by Ford they guarantee it to be as good or better then new so they should not devalue it if you trade it in later. I chose not to wait.

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[Ron01864]

Had an accident recently that required some front end body repair (no mechanical damage thankfully - car was completely drivable). The other driver was at fault. She has AAA insurance. Approx. $8000 damage for body repair and paint.

My Mustang is a 2015 Performance Pkg with Recaro seats. Car had a little over 3000 mi at time of accident.

I am thinking of filing a diminished value claim with AAA to offset the loss in market value of my car. I'm in California which has no insurance regulations that cover diminished value claims. A Google search on the topic reveals that there are only two States in the U.S. that do have such regulations. AAA is stonewalling my request for fair market restitution, so I am on my own; its either get a lawyer (there are some in L.A. that advertise in this area of law) or go to Small Claims Court.

Has anyone had experience in filing this kind of claim, and any tips or advice?

I just settled today on my DV claim. 2015 GT Premium. Repair cost just over 11 grand. They offered me 5,000 in DV. I balked, told them i could do better in litigation. ( I had originally sent them a DV appraisal report of 13,000..I knew that was high, but a good starting point) I suggested we settle at the mid point. He balked, but called me back agreeing to a settlement of 6,600.00. Im happy with that. If i can be of any help just ask.

 

[Ron01864]

Just dont make the common mistake that the amount of damage is not equivalent to the diminished value. The car doesn't depreciate by the amount of repair dollars. This is a very common mistake/misconception.

I just settled for 6,600. from an accident with 11,000 in repairs.

 

[CommyO]

Just repair it and be on your way like everyone else on the road

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