Automobile diminished value
11-30-2013, 08:11 AM
#1
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Automobile diminished value
Any comments regarding this letter that was sent By Allstate to one of my customers?
I am in receipt of your diminished value report from The St. Lucie Appraisal Company of Fort Pierce, Florida. Their report indicates that your vehicle has diminished in value by $6,666.66. This figure was based on the opinions of six different Porsche dealers and what these dealers have indicated they might offer as a trade-in value for a vehicle similar to yours that had been in an accident.
This document fails to establish that your vehicle lost value as a result of being in an accident. Car dealers have an institutional conflict of interest that hardly should make them the arbiter of whether a vehicle loses value if it is involved in an accident. It is in a car dealer’s interest to pay as little as possible for vehicles. Neither you nor the St. Lucie Appraisal Company of Florida have provided Allstate with any evidence that any seller of any vehicle that had been involved in an accident actually sold his or her vehicle for less than the price for which an otherwise-similar vehicle sold. The appraisal report refers to diminished value formulas and something called Rule 17-C, also used to compute diminished value, neither of which is used in California.
In the opinion of outside counsel with whom we have consulted, California law does not require liability insurers to pay both the cost of repairs and the alleged diminution of a vehicle’s value. Instead, in insurer may limit recovery to either the reasonable cost of repairs to the vehicle or the difference between its value immediately before and immediately after the accident, whichever is less. We therefore decline to make any additional payments for your diminished value claim.
If you are in possession of any additional information or legal authority that you feel would warrant a reconsideration of our opinion, please submit that information for my review.
California Department of Insurance regulations require that the following language appear in this letter: If you believe that this claim has been wrongfully denied or rejected, you may have the matter reviewed by the California Department of Insurance, 300 South Spring Street, Los Angeles, California, 90013, telephone number 800-927-4327.
I am in receipt of your diminished value report from The St. Lucie Appraisal Company of Fort Pierce, Florida. Their report indicates that your vehicle has diminished in value by $6,666.66. This figure was based on the opinions of six different Porsche dealers and what these dealers have indicated they might offer as a trade-in value for a vehicle similar to yours that had been in an accident.
This document fails to establish that your vehicle lost value as a result of being in an accident. Car dealers have an institutional conflict of interest that hardly should make them the arbiter of whether a vehicle loses value if it is involved in an accident. It is in a car dealer’s interest to pay as little as possible for vehicles. Neither you nor the St. Lucie Appraisal Company of Florida have provided Allstate with any evidence that any seller of any vehicle that had been involved in an accident actually sold his or her vehicle for less than the price for which an otherwise-similar vehicle sold. The appraisal report refers to diminished value formulas and something called Rule 17-C, also used to compute diminished value, neither of which is used in California.
In the opinion of outside counsel with whom we have consulted, California law does not require liability insurers to pay both the cost of repairs and the alleged diminution of a vehicle’s value. Instead, in insurer may limit recovery to either the reasonable cost of repairs to the vehicle or the difference between its value immediately before and immediately after the accident, whichever is less. We therefore decline to make any additional payments for your diminished value claim.
If you are in possession of any additional information or legal authority that you feel would warrant a reconsideration of our opinion, please submit that information for my review.
California Department of Insurance regulations require that the following language appear in this letter: If you believe that this claim has been wrongfully denied or rejected, you may have the matter reviewed by the California Department of Insurance, 300 South Spring Street, Los Angeles, California, 90013, telephone number 800-927-4327.
12-01-2013, 12:18 PM
#2
Looks like a legalese way of saying "go pound sand." In short--You will make us 100% whole by paying 100% of your premium. We will make you 100% whole if it is convenient and/or profitable for us to do so.
