Le Chef

Those who read way down the page will see my car suffered a little damage last week.

My attorney friend does not believe you can claim for diminished value. If he's wrong how do you go about this process? I want to make sure I don't suffer financial loss should I choose to trade it in for a new car.

Anyone tell me how?

MTIA

boolala

You can claim whatever you want.

Now if your insurance is covering your loss there's usually a disclaimer that diminshed value wil not be covered only repairs. This is a clause you likely agreed to (knowingly or not) when you took out your policy.

If someone else is at fault and their insurance is covering the loss then just tell them you want compensation for diminished value. They'll probably fight you on this. If so then find a lawyer and turn around and sue the guilty party and let their insurance company deal with the fallout. You have no contract with their insurance company. They are simply indeminifying their customer. If the other party has inadaquate insurance it will come out of his hide.

I'm not a lawyer but that's how I understand it.

nyca

against your policy, highly unlikely.

against the guy who hit you, assuming the accident was his fault - anything is possible. its whatever you can negotiate and they will agree to.

raffi

harder in some states like california, but there are lawyers that specialize in this , just search for one

Alan Smithee

As boolala said, you can claim whatever you want...but in theory, by properly repairing the vehicle you will be 'made whole', and you aren't entitled to anything more.

It will be hard to prove that you are entitled to additional compensation once your vehicle is properly repaired. Even though enthusiasts will shy away from a previously damaged vehicle, the general public does not consider them to be worth less.

Le Chef

The claim will be against my building management. They have already told me that they may pay the repair bill out of cash, but I don't want to lose value on a car that I didn't damage, and when it only has 1870 miles on it.

boolala

You need to see a lawyer. It may take but a "friendly" letter from him to convince them that it would be cheaper to settle than litigate.

ronmart

When my 1 year old Benz was totalled in 1999 I just dealt directly with their insurance firm, Farmers Insurance. I had my salesperson write up a document of what the vehicle was worth if I sold it on consignment at the dealership. I was then given that amount, plus tax, title and license and rental car expenses as part of my reimbursement. It resulted in my paying about $100 per month to own my Benz for a little over a year.

As long as you don't sign anything or cash any checks, you can always visit a lawyer. However, they really don't want that so I suggest you just be civil but firm and explain that this was a new car and you want it replaced with a new car. You can give them the option of finding the same exact car with the same exact options and mileage and explain you'd be happy with that (which I know you won't, but they won't find it either), otherwise you'd like the cash so you can purchase another one yourself.

If they play hard ball, then get a lawyer. Explain how you haven't been able to get any sleep and you are a mental case since this tramatic event has happened to you. The mental anguish should cover the dimished value.

baboou

Meredith on PPBB (Boxster board) recently claimed diminished value with her insurance company - USAA as I recall. She received a check from USAA that was, in most everyone's opinion, below what it should have been. I'm not sure if she finally accepted the DV settlement or was going to appeal it with data from P-car experts.

You might want to search the Boxster board for that particular thread. There was some really good info on it.

rmklaw

In general, the law (depends on state statutes or case law) states that the property will be returned to the pre-accident condition and value. Some insurance policies have a disclaimer for "diminution of value" claims while some states specifically regulate and do not allow such exclusion. A local attorney should advise you as to your state law.

Diminution of value claims are valid claims. In fact, as we speak we are in litigation on three diminution of value cases. You need to get an opinion from a car appraiser to see if the car, after the repairs, has diminished in value due to the fact that at the time of sale you are required to disclose that the car was in an accident. You may also want to check with your dealer to see if they would have any problem taking in trade a car that has been involved in an accident. Some dealers, such as many MB dealers will not take the car because they don't want to deal with the buyer's disclosure.

By the way my standard disclosure: This is not meant to be legal advise. Just some thoughts.

uzj100

You may be able to deduct this as a casualty loss on taxes. FMV-DV=potential caualty loss.

Van Larson

A very good friend, Chicago PCAer with an '03 Turbo coupe suffered about $35K in repairs (substantial front). Both insured State Farm. Other driver at fault. I got him $15k in "diminished value" after very much effort. Yes, in Illinois, its doable but not easy. Need good evidence, appraisal (before and after), etc.

B-Line

Let me add another catch 22 to this arguement:
-- If you lease a car and it is banged up, as long as the car is repaired, I believe, the lease company must take it back (they suffer the diminished value), (one of the nice things about leasing actually..)

So, I agree there is a clear loss in value when a car is in an accident (especially if it's two or more panels) but my understanding is also, that value can only be realized when the car is sold.. So maybe if you sell the car right away and get three quotes from dealers when you do it, you might have the evidence you need.

Just a thought !
B

Le Chef

Quote for repairs "as seen" are $12,000. Spoke to the dealer who told me they will help establish diminished value. Apparently in IL the other party's insurance company has to compensate for dv by law. Case when through State court last year that established this.

There is some structural damage (though not much) to the driver's door pillar area below the waist line. Depending on how bad it really is when they have the car stripped down will determine whether I keep it or sell it.

ronmart

That is good to hear. I'm sure you'll take some level of hit, but hopefully this will help you minimize that hit. Besides, you can wink at your salesperson and say if the DV is good which helps the settlement to be good, then you might be inclined to just spend the extra few thousand bucks and get a new car.

If the car is deemed to be totalled, then they owe you sales tax and fees as well. Try to get that shop to determine the extent of the body damage to try to get it declared total. Even if you have to pay a little for the estimate for them to tear it down, you don't have to pay to have them put it back together if you are successful in having it declared totalled (due to structural damage).