Just checking with the brain trust here for advice.

Pam parked her car at our local grocery store. A while later, an older man came in looking for the owner of her car. He had forgotten to put his car into Park, resulting in Pam's back door getting crunched.

His (well known) insurance company admit fault but has been uncooperative. Every agent I talk to tells me something different. But there is no need to get bogged down in those details here.

They are now saying diminished value can only be claimed in Georgia. They are saying if I want to apply I'll need to fill out the proper forms. They can not advise me as to what the proper forms are. If I don't fill out the proper forms the claim will be binned.

So do I go to an appraiser? Or a lawyer? Or give up? Or ...

 

BTDT in Connecticut with my M Coupe. Good luck with that.
It's a pain in the butt to get anywhere. I ended up suing to get a couple hundred bucks.

 

When a u-haul truck hit my cayman's bumer back in 2010 or so they paid me $3k, or 10% of the value of the vehicle. I told them I'd see them in small claims court and sent them a link to some article that said 'luxury' cars drop in value by x%. Anyway, they were painless.

I also have a friend who recently got a car hit by a driver who was the son of his friends so he didn't want to go to court. It was a 4-5 yr old Audi suv and Geico paid out about 2800. He had gotten an appraisal that was closer to $5k but they weren't budging.

The georgia thing, iirc, spells out what the amount is through some formula but that doesn't mean that's how it works everywhere. As far as I'm concerned unless there is a state law keeping you from pursuing a claim then you are free to ask for whatever you want and then sue them to get their attention, as long as you are not at fault. If you both have the same insurance then you're screwed. I think an appraisal helps get the ball rolling. I think they run $300-$500 or so.

You aren't claiming it on your insurance. His insurance can play ball or not but you do ultimately have recourse through the courts either against but it might take suing the person that hit the car and he'd claim it on his insurance and his insurance would either settle or drag it on.

 

I got DV when my pass door was hit and the skin replaced. Agent didnt blink.
Just sighed and said OK here is my only offer. Wasnt 10%, maybe 2-1/2% dont remember.
Thought it was low, but not worth the effort to get more, and wasnt planning on selling and realizing the loss.
Prolly was in my favor that the four martini lunch faculty cougar who crossed three lanes of traffic to tag me blew a 0.24 breathalyzer.

 

After some oblivious guy in a lifted truck backed into me at a stop sign. There was a cop behind me who saw the whole thing. 9K in damage. I used Allen's Automotive and he was great. It was a 2006 997S.
Had to sell when I recently retired. Now have an A7. Happy, but miss the Porsche.

Larry in Georgia

Current: 2018 Audi A7 Competition Package
2018 Tesla Model 3 (wifey)
1967 Chevy C10

Past Porsche:

2006 997S
1989 964 (mit 993 eng)
1988 Targa
1993 RSA #017 (mit Kompressor)

 

Insurers will try to convince people of practically anything under the sun to evade their responsibility to pay claims.

You are owed the diminished value of your vehicle as per the property damage portion of the responsible party's insurance policy. Read your own auto policy because it says the same thing. They are responsible to making you whole and that includes the repairs, a car rental, loss of use and diminished value.

The damages appear to be minor so figure that your car has lost 10% - 15% of its pre-accident fair market value.

And it doesn't end there. Try collecting for a second diminished value if someone else crashes into your car. Good luck with that.

 

Thanks for all of your responses. It looks like I'm in for a few fun weeks!!!!

 

Yes for the appraiser and NO....don't give up. I was in a similar situation but mine was a rear end story. No matter, the driver at fault's insurer told me to forget about diminished value with so many words. They said they would pay for the repairs but diminished value, nope. So I called my good friend service advisor at the local Porsche dealership and he gave me the contact information for the property/damage appraiser they've had a relationship with for many years with excellent results when customers had difficulties such as yours.

After talking to this appraiser, describing my situation I paid him $250 which to me was a serious bargain given what I got in return. He composed as I recall it 5 pages including accident photos which I had supplied him with and most importantly a very thorough and detailed history of how even small accidents affects the value of these cars. I have no idea how he got access to all these records from all over the country but as my Porsche service advisor said...."he's just very good at what he does after 20 years doing it".

Bottom line, I sent the appraiser's report to the driver at fault's insurer and after some additional discussion between the insurer and the appraiser, the driver at fault's insurer cut me a check for $6,500 as I recall it. Just a bumper cover replacement, some exhaust parts and more but too long of a story but the bumper cover was the only damage to the body. No frame damage and no quarter panel damage. Just rear bumper cover, exhaust parts and like I said, some other work the shop owner insisted on which he defended by...."no car leaves my shop unless the damage is 100% undetectable". I can elaborate if you care but this is the short version.

And I should add that all this took place in Florida so you may have a different battle in Georgia. Give it a fight though. Diminished value always seems to turn into a fight no matter what state you're in. Good luck!

Edited a day later. Should have clarified that the $6,500 check to me was for diminished value. Separate from the $14,000 they paid for the repairs to the body shop.

 

When it's not your fault file with your own insurance. Things will get resolved faster and your company will for sure get every dollar back from theirs without you having to spend your time on it. Have them pay for a rental for Pam while it's being repaired and I wouldn't waste your time with DV on a normal car.

 

I'm in GA and recovered diminished value on a BMW M3 series about 10 years ago. Had to provide a write-up for it that I did myself and I think their first offer was $500. I told them do better and they came back with $1500. That was enough for me to accept the check. The actual form/data that insurers here request you use came out of a law suit years ago that gives some very small claim amount and from what I recall is based on mileage and/or age only. The make and exclusivity of the car brand/model has nothing to do with it - which of course speaks to how lame the process is in general.

 

Wayne,
I'd side with Petza on this. Go first party through your carrier. You'll have to pay your deducible initially, but your carrier with then pursue (subrogate) the other party's carrier to recover monies paid out, as well as your deductible. Once they recover, which should not be an issue since the gentleman admitted liability and sought out your wife to own up to what happened, your carrier will reimburse your deductible. Unless your wife's car is something exotic or the damage is truly substantial, I would not bother with a diminished value claim. You are seeking to be indemnified (getting back to the condition the car was prior to the accident), which in this case should entail either repair or replacement of the door panel and a good paint match which should also include blending into the adjacent body panels. The key is getting a quality repair at a reputable shop.

You can push a diminished value claim directly with the at fault carrier, but it will be a chore, namely because you have to prove a loss in value. That typically doesn't happen until you trade or sell the car. If your wife's car is a few years old and you're not planning on selling it right away, you'll not likely incur a diminished value claim. If you think about it, if you sell the car after 5 or 7 years of ownership, you'd do better to show the records of the loss and subsequent repair. If the car is well cared for otherwise (solid service history or the like), you should be fine. My line of thought-- would you rather buy a used car that incurred a minor loss that was properly repaired and well taken care of otherwise, or would you take a chance on a similar car with no accident damage, but with no service history? I'd go for the former every time.

There are companies that will pursue a diminished value claim, but they will charge their fee, so that cuts into any recovery that you might experience.

Hope this helps,
Bill

 

Thanks again for all the advice. I'm feeling better!!!!

To clarify, we're in California and Pam's car was a Euro Delivery 2017 MB GLA45 AMG with almost every option box ticked. Of course I have a four inch thick three ring binder documenting everything including press releases. There were fewer than 1,000 45s brought into the country. 2017 to 2019 was the sweet spot for these cars. I figure it's worth the DV claim since we plan on selling it within the next three years (Pam wants to convert to BEV or plug in hybrid).

 

Was able to get about $8k back in DV from the other insurance company on a small hit on my 911.

Had to get an appraisal of diminished value from some company I found - which I found was a terrible experience. Paid a few hundred dollars for a report on a letterhead only for them to tell me my car was worth KBB and took a 20% hit due to the damage. even though I had dozens of "sale points" from BaT and essentially did a lot more analytical work to corroborate the value.

I would say it took me over half a year between countless emails, calls, threats and nonsense to get there.

Especially now that I have to live with a carfax accident which if I sell, i gotta explain away. You absolutely are owed DV - just try going to a dealer with a carfax claim and watch them lowball you.

 

Please see update/clarification to my initial response which could have been misunderstood. Sorry.

 

Sadly, I think this is the best advice. First, go through your own carrier, let them work for you. You are not at fault and they have a lot more pull than some guy who's trying to make a claim against them. Let their lawyers fight it out, that's part of what your premiums pay for. Years ago, my wife was rear ended in our almost new Avalon. The other carrier was Progressive and dealing with them was one of the worst experiences I've had dealing with a company (almost as bad as AT&T cable television). It was toxic and i had never seen an adjuster act in such bad faith. So bad, I remember his name 16 years later, Jim from Progressive, bleh!

At that point, I turned to my carrier and they assured me my car would be fixed to my satisfaction at the shop of my choice and Progressive would have to cover the whole thing. Repair, rental, the whole kit and caboodle. After hearing that Progressive would be on the hook, and because I can be kind of a tool, I found the most expensive body shop I knew of at the time. The place I worked at out of high school who specialized in high end luxury and exotic cars. They mostly did high end restorations and paint jobs for Ferrari's, Porsche's, etc. Every now and then, they would take in "charity" cases like mine as insurance jobs. They assured me this would be way more expensive than Maaco.

The end of the story is, my car was repaired, flawlessly, at the other carriers expense, all through dealing with my company which was a positive experience. I did go after them for a DV claim but in the end nothing came of it. I think it would have totaled like $1500 at the time and wasn't worth the effort. It wasn't because I still own the car 16 years later (yes, I keep cars forever).