Diminished Value after accident
 

Ok so this is my situation...
A few days ago I was rear ended and the other driver admitted complete fault and so did his insurance company. Now obviously they are going to fix the car, but to me its still a brand new car (only 1 year old with 19,000 miles). My issue is that the car, even fixed, will not be the same as before the accident. It obviously has body parts, exhaust, reinforcements, etc replaced. It has some unibody/frame damage. Has anyone pursued a diminished value claim? How did you go about it and what was the end result? Just looking for some basic guidance as I move forward with trying to get my baby back on the road. Thanks everyone.

Lawyer.

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I doubt that. Where there's a profit to be made there's a lawyer to make it for you and take a cut. Civil suits don't take traffic law into account, they factor in proximate cause and blame. For this, it's a slam dunk case.

edit: http://www.nasdaq.com/article/my-rep...i-sue-cm154685
State law only determines whether you can sue their insurance. It doesn't determine whether or not you can sue the individual; you can.

And you can sue the insurance in PA. http://www.collisionclaims.com/penns...inished-value/

Good luck, I tried this ithe past and just ended up really really frustrated...

You could offer details on what frustrated you if you wanted to help him.

It's really clear cut. If the other driver is at fault and their insurance is already paying for repairs, you can pursue them for diminished value. If they give you flak, bring a lawyer and they're likely to settle before it ever goes to court.

I talked up 3 levels and they just kept telling me that if it was repaired it doesn't diminish the value of the car...obviously not true. I asked them if they were to pick between two identical looking cars, would you pay the same for the one that was in an accident, they to,ld me they would pick the end in the accident...the only way is to get a lawyer, but that costs money...

This happened with my previous car.

I told the insurance guy that I wanted to pursue diminished value. They gave me a lowball offer, and I proceeded to get some quotes from multiple diminished value appraisal places and gotten all numbers much higher than what the insurance company offered. The insurance person will tell you that there is a formula they use, at least in Georgia, it's know as 17c.

http://diminishedvalueofgeorgia.com/...-its-not-fair/

Anyway, this will be where the gray area of how to appraise the actual diminished value. I ended up getting a lawyer because they wouldn't budge on what they were offering. I finally settled out of court and still got further than on my own even though my lawyer was an idiot. Just the letter from the lawyer caused them to double the offer.

Hope this helps, sorry you got in a wreck. Sucks when it's not your fault. Good luck!

Most lawyers for these types of cases will give you a free consultation. You could google and search for "diminished value lawyer" and see if they will even give you that. And you could also look for "diminished value appraisal" and order up a professional 3rd party appraisal and use that as ammo. If you get a free consultation and lawyer thinks it's a worthy case to pursue, the lawyer will usually get an appraisal done.

I'm speaking from experiencing this in GA, not sure about your state. But I know if you have in writing and can track what they say, that would be best. Get in writing that their insurance company doesn't think there is such a thing as "diminished value" and you may be able to sue them for bad faith. (again, consult with lawyer)

PS: Whoops, just realized u're not OP, but should still help. Sorry.

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Overwhelm them with information

1. Itemize everything that needs repaired/replaced
2. Get a massive amount of photographs before and after repairs
3. Get estimates of the cars value before and after the accident
4. Dont procrastinate get the ball rolling immediately

Im sure your laws are different than here in Iowa but these are key points that will help you. GL :cheers:

You can file a DV claim, but just know what you're getting into. Meaning, DV claims contain quite a bit of subjectivity and even with formulaic approaches, interpretation is necessary. If you were hit hard to enough that they have to do a unibody pull, then you have a leg to stand on. However, if the scenario were a bumper job or something else relatively minor where the chassis of the car wasn't damaged, you'd have nothing to claim.

You need to do some research to clarify what the laws are in PA regarding DV claims, and then request copies of the final estimate and photos that the insurance company has that's fixing your car (if it's a major insurance company, they will have solid documentation of all the damage).

Bring up the issue clearly (and professionally) with your adjuster and explain that since your car had unibody damage, you feel that you have a justified DV claim. If you are matter of fact about it and keep emotion out of it, I guarantee that you will have a much easier time getting the insurance company to cover some portion of diminished value.

Do an internet search. There are a variety of companies that will do this work for you for nothing out of your pocket.

A few years back I checked out http://advocateautoconsultants.com/ after a decent accident. I didn't go through with it as I ended up selling the car above Blue Book, and could therefore not claim any legitimate diminished value, but they seemed responsive.

I would say it's likely not worth it unless the damages exceeded a fair amount over $5,000. It likey won't cover the costs or hassles of getting the money. With unibody damage as you claim, I presume you exceed that. You should be able to get a couple grand. I'm not sure on what costs the above company takes out of the settlement, as I didn't proceed that far in the process that I can recall

Ok so the initial estimate was roughly $2,600 from the visual inspection. They have since started tare down and found more unibody damage so I have to get a copy of the new estimate but from the pictures they uploaded I'm assuming over $5,000 in damages now. The insurance company had already acknowledged that I will file a DV claim and told me that once the repairs are finished to go to a dealership and get a before and after estimate and that they will have their appraiser go over it and counter. I will keep you all updated but thanks for the help so far.