Dr. Z

While I was inside my office working a city employee hit the rear back quarter panel of my 99 996 with the city backhoe creating an 18 inch scrape which is 4 inches deep and 6 inches wide...what are my options since my car will now be painted...what am I entitled to expect to receive??? I understand that there is something called "lost value compensation" ... Does anyone know how that is calculated???...Should or can I demand that the whole quarter panel be replaced?? By the way the car was in my private parking space located in the rear of my building and no one from the work crew ever even asked me to move my car...HELP...

Skytop

First, I empathize with your situation. No one wants that to happen to their 'baby.'

As for lost value compensation with an automobile , it is difficult to prove with an 'older' car such as your '99. Also, urban municipalities typically have much experience with legal claims that seek 'punitive' damages and fight them vigorously. You may be seeking damages from the municipality, the contractor, the machine owner (back hoe's usually are leased) or all of them!
In view of the circumstances, you can claim rental expense for down time, and have your PREMIUM body shop be certain to FULLY consider any and all real and collateral damage....down to the smallest detail, including extra expense for premier paint matching.
Guess you'll be driving a '99 with an aero kit soon! Good luck and let us hear how it turns out.

DonW-Cape Cod

That's a bummer...a real emotional scene I'm sure. My only advice is something that helped me. I took plenty of pictures (hopefully you did while the car was still parked in its space).

The other thing I did was talk in terms of "restoration" rather than repair. I don't know where you are, but regardless of who the insurance company suggests as a repair shop, get a price for a full restoration ie replacement of damaged parts and a new FULL paint job.

Good luck!

Horizontally Opposed Man

Sorry about what happened!I had a similar occurence last March and this is what I found out.1)Most attornies have no interest in Property value claims2)Insurance companies have been doing their end of this for a long time and have a lot of experience at reducing their claims costs3)There are collision consulting outfits beging to blossom that can be a help in this kind of claim I would keep scouring the internet untill you find one who you can get started with immeadiately .Myexperience is that if the damage is significant enough to be reportable on any sale of the car that the more documentation you have the better ,take lots of pictures,be involved in the repair process,find the absolute best place to do the repair and refuse to go anywhere else.good luck