Question About Diminished Value Claim

minasmom

New Member
1
I was in an accident in December where the other party was at fault. There was $10,500 damage done to my car, which was repaired and paid for by the other parties insurance company.

I received a diminished value appraisal and sent it to the other parties insurance company. I also provided him with sales prices of my car in the area, etc.

When I followed up today, he stated that in diminished value claims they have an adjuster come out to inspect the car. I am not sure how an adjuster that works for them is going to determine inherent diminished value on my car.

I am not sure how to respond to his request for my availability as I really don't care what HIS adjuster says about the car. Does anyone have any insight into this situation?
 
I am not sure how to respond to his request for my availability as I really don't care what HIS adjuster says about the car.

If I were you, I would certainly care! Not being available would cause you to lose any negotiating leverage you have. Ignore them and they will play hardball. not what you want in a negotiating process.
 
I was in an accident in December where the other party was at fault. There was $10,500 damage done to my car, which was repaired and paid for by the other parties insurance company.

I received a diminished value appraisal and sent it to the other parties insurance company. I also provided him with sales prices of my car in the area, etc.

When I followed up today, he stated that in diminished value claims they have an adjuster come out to inspect the car. I am not sure how an adjuster that works for them is going to determine inherent diminished value on my car.

I am not sure how to respond to his request for my availability as I really don't care what HIS adjuster says about the car. Does anyone have any insight into this situation?

The insurance company's only valid reason for wanting to inspect your car might be to see if there were prior repairs done to a different part of the car (so to devalue the pre-loss fair market value) but I'll assume your car has no such issues.

Our company prepares diminished value appraisals. We occasionally get calls from clients saying the insurance company wants to do an inspection. My answer is pretty much the same for everyone - their appraiser will report that the car was repaired to factory standards, by a certified shop, etc. so there is no loss in value.

You most likely obtained a diminished value appraisal from an independent appraisal company that used a formula or "algorithm" being the new fancy term, or even one that simply contains the appraiser's "expert" opinion based on years of experience.

We rely on the real experts in this business, the people who buy, sell, trade and auction cars every day - the sales managers at new car dealerships. Our method for arriving at a fair diminished value figure is to obtain the unbiased opinions of six sales managers as to how much the particular car has lost in value because of the collision repairs that were done. If your vehicle had any structural damage, your loss in value will be in the range of 40% of its trade-in value prior to the accident.

Now to answer your question and expand on it a little. You can't refuse to let the insurer inspect your car. Know what to expect. Talking to the appraiser or inside adjuster, trying to sway them with logic is basically useless. Their job is to either deny or low-ball you.

There are only two necessities - a good DV appraisal and persistence. Claimants must be pro-active. You'll need to escalate your claim to the managerial level. They know what they are looking at. If you sent a comprehensive diminished value appraisal that their defense attorneys realize would hurt them in court, you will be accorded more respect. If the appraisal is a piece of junk you will be accorded less.
 
Well, since you let another party's insurance carrier pay for repairs, they absolutely have the right to reinspect and make a determination on a DV claim that they will have to pay??

I'm pretty sure your insurance policy excludes DV....but that's neither here nor there.

Are you just wanting a check? Or are you really, really worried about the DV on this car? Were you planning on selling it any time soon?
 
What your lawyer has to say about this? The same sort of situation happened to my uncle. After he faced an accident, his car was damaged (it was not his fault). He claimed for the loss of value the vehicle suffered because it has been in an accident. The proceeding may be quite confusing, therefore he hired a lawyer from this page to guide him correctly and help him to get his money.
 
Back
Top