I need a auto diminished value claim letter. Someone rearended my new car and I asked for deminished value. The insurance company has been a nightmare to deal with. They want to give me 495.00.to settle the claim. I was told to send them a demand letter for the deminished value and I can’t find an example on the net. Can someone please send me a link or one that I could use? It would mean so much!

You don’t need any sort of formal wording. You just write a letter telling them that the resale value of your car prior to the accident was $x, and even after the repair it is now worth $y, and you demand the difference.

Richard

Trying to decide whether to try to negotiate first or just go straight to a lawyer? Would appreciate if anyone has had any experience in this area.

Depends on the personal injury. Remember lawyers don’t work for free, and a few bruises won’t cause much of a fuss. Depends also on who was liable. Obviously the other party I’m assuming. I would consult a lawyer, and if they give the green light, then go ahead, but be careful in negotiating their fees. Remember, they should be making a commission off of your deal. If you have to pay out of pocket, it may not be worth it.
Also, there are times (if you trust your insurance company) when your company can settle a deal far better then you can, especially if a rival company is paying. My friend punches numbers for the medical world, they love to see the max they can get for their customers, so don’t get too ansy. Talk to your agent and see what they’re working out for you. If you’re not satified, then go to a lawyer.

Any time you are the victim of another’s negligence you have the right to collect for everything you lost including your car’s lost value. If the insurance company of the at-fault party gives you a hard time and doesn’t want to pay you, make a formal demand of the person that caused the damage, as they are the one ultimately responsible for making you whole. If the at-fault party has good insurance that willing pays or bad insurance that does what it can to get out of paying, it’s not your problem. Either way, the at-fault party is responsible to make you whole for lost value to your car, even in cases where they don’t have insurance.

In claims situations where your own insurance company is paying such as an at-fault accident that you caused, it is more difficult to collect diminished value because most people purchase an insurance policy that has a written diminished value exclusion in it. Insurance companies rely on this exclusion to get them off the hook, but they can’t get off so easy. If you have the car inspected after the repair is complete the inspector will usually find deficiencies in the repairs for which you have a right to be compensated. These are not always the fault of the repair shop, but often they are. Here’s an example where you experience a loss regardless of how well the shop performed the repair:

As your car was being built it was immersed in an electrostatic bath of anti-corrosion coatings. This was done before any parts were put on the car. But, carthodic dip tanks are not available in aftermarket repair shops. Even if they were, it would not be economically feasible to disassemble a car, replace the parts that were damaged, dip it, then put the entire car back together again. Since they can’t dip the car, repair shops spray anti-corrosion coatings onto the panels they replace.

But this sprayed technique is inferior to a dipped application of anti-corrosion coatings. Because it is not as good, and because consumers are entitled to repairs that restore their cars to preloss condition, diminished value has become the tool to make up the difference – though rarely do insurers call it a diminished value payment.

The burden to prove this loss is on your shoulders. You will probably have to pay for the services of a post repair inspector to get the numbers you need to substantiate your loss. Most charge in the $300-$500 range. But you should be able to recoup money you’ve paid for this service. It is not uncommon for the lost value to be 30% or more of the car’s retail value.

I would advise against using free diminished value services that can be found on the Internet. Insurance companies know these companies will not come to court to testify on your behalf, so they have no motivation to pay you based on these free reports.

Insurance companies pick and choose their fights and they will size you up with regard to your ability to force them to pay. If they think you have a case and can afford to retain a good lawyer, they will probably pay you without much fuss. If they think your case is weak or you can’t retain good counsel, they will most often drag their feet and refuse to pay until they are made to do so.

An insurance appraiser should make a full estimate of repair costs, listing all the pieces to be replaced, repaired or discarded. Add in the cost of labor plus taxes and diminished value, if needed. Then compare to Kelly Blue Book and wholesale value. That should yield a salvage value and help you determine if the AMG is worth saving.

I believe that is true. Currently, Georgia, Delaware, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, North and South Dakota, Ohio and Tennessee all allow claims for DV with some restrictions. I doubt State Farm is providing you with false info, but if you do not believe them, contact your State’s insurance commissioner.

THANKS EVERYONE

First, what state do you live in? Only a handful of states consider dimunition of value a recoverable damage.
Second, this is VERY hard to prove. You start by selling your vehicle.

My wifes car was involved in a wreck (not her fault) it ended up being 7 thousand dollars to repair.The person who hit her had insurance and they paid for the repair. Now that it has been repaired it looks good, but it will now have a car fax history. This is a 2005 model car with 17,000 miles. The value of this car has definitely decreased
I have gap insurance. It does not apply, they repaired the car.

diminished value claims might just be the worst sort of claim to have to consider. They may also be the new frontier in claims work. Time was, this was unheard of but it is becoming more frequent, especially in metropolitan areas.

A couple things about these claims:

1. In my state, there is no law or court decision delineating when diminished value claims should be considered, nor a law or court decision offering guidance on how this should be valued. Laws regarding insurance claims tend to be fairly consistent so I would imagine the same holds true for most states. The only court decision of which I am aware (and my company researched this) is one from several decades back that simply stated the owner of a vehicle might be entitled to diminished value if the damage to property were significant.

2. Diminshed value is entirely speculative; it is reflective of the current market for your vehicle. This means that the reduction in market value of your vehicle is based upon the premise that the average potential buyer for a vehicle would rather buy an undamaged car than a damaged one. If your vehicle is a popular model, the market may allow for repaired vehicles to sell for much more than would be the case for an unpopular vehicle with damage.

3. Diminished value is defined as a loss in the amount you could get if you sold the car. But this is not a consistent amount. If you were already planning to sell the car when the accident occurred, the potential loss in value could be large. However, if you keep the car for the next five years, for example, the car will already have taken so much depreciation that there is no appreciable difference in value.

Similarly, if your car is a late model car that is maintained in such a manner that it would qualify for a dealer to resell as a "certified" used car, and you would have traded it in, the potential diminshed value claim could be greater. This is because dealers will pay a premium on trade in to get cars they can resell under their certified used car programs. One qualification for certified used programs is that the car must have no adverse history such as a wreck with significant damage.

4. This is a numbers game based on percentages. A significantly damaged car might be one in which the cost to repair the vehicle exceeded 25% of its value. This is due to a DMV rule in some states that owners of vehicles with damage in excess of 25% of their value, and which are 5 years old or newer, must disclose the damage to the vehicle when reselling the car. Car Fax has somewhat automated this such that cars more frequently show up as having an adverse history.

However, the 25% rule is not a hard and fast concrete threshold. Think about it. A Hyundai that is 4 years old might be worth only $5,000. At that level, 25% of its value would only be $1,250. Bump that car lightly and you could see repairs exceed $1,250 even though the damage could be invisible to the eye from 20 feet away. Conversely, a Mercedes might have a value in the neighborhood of, say, $50,000. At that level, 25% of value would be $12,500. Such a car could take a very hard hit and still not see $12,500 in repairs.

Common sense will tell you that someone shopping for that Hyundai would likely be less concerned about $1,300 in damages than someone shopping for that Mercedes with, say, $12,000 in damages.

5. Much of the uproar over diminished value claims comes from dealerships quoting a large amount in lost value. I have seen many such dealer quotes and, interestingly, they are almost universally in the neighborhood of $5,000, regardless of the car or amount of damage repaired. I have lately seen some dealerships and appraisers proposing that diminshed value should be equal to 25% of the cost of repairs. It’s a nice formula but I don’t know that 25% (or $5,000) neccesarily has any bearing on the individual vehicle’s actual dimunition of value.

I can tell you that there are a lot of expensive parts on a car that require nothing more than a wrench to replace. Late model cars with High Intensity Headlamps are a good example. Headlamps could easily be cracked in a light front end impact. High Intensity Headlamps regularly cost $600 and up for the part alone. Replace the bumper, grille and both headlamps and you could have $2000 or more in damages for a very light impact.

6. Insurance companies total a lot of vehicles and the salvage of these vehicles enter a lucrative salvage/resell market. Many totaled vehicles are reconstructed by body shops and resold. This is entirely legal if the documentation for the vehicle reflects that it is reconstructed. Insurance companies have absolutely nothing to do with reconstructing vehicles but, as they are involved in moving salvage, adjusters are generally aware of local repairers and the potential market for reconstructed vehicles. I can tell you that reconstructed vehicles, if completed by qualified repairmen, can command a value equal to wholesale NADA values for that car. I can further tell you that even though dealers often quote diminshed value at about $5,000, the difference between wholesale and retail values for cars is generally not $5,000. Therefore, the actual dimunition of value is not likely to be anywhere near $5,000.

7. For what it’s worth, my opinion is that DMV should eliminate the 25% rule and instead institute some sort of a guideline that differentiates bolt on parts from actual structural damage. If the only damage to the vehicle is to things that bolt on, there is no difference between a vehicle that is repaired and one that is not. Since the only reason diminished value even exists is because of the public perception that a damaged car cannot truly be put back to its pre-accident condition, an adverse vehicle history that would indicate dimunition of value should be related to structural damage.

***As to your specific case: No one here could give you an exact dollar figure for all of the reasons listed above. Diminished value is speculative but should be related to the make/model/year and mileage of the car, the cost of repairs, where and how the car was hit, what was repaired/replaced, the quality of the work and general reputation of the body shop that did the repairs and etc. If you do not feel comfortable attempting to negotiate a settlement for this with the insurance adjuster, you can hire an appraiser to assist you but you will pay this expense, not the insurer. As with all negotiations, gather as much information as you can and have reasons and documentation to support the amount you think is fair.

I will share some too. These are by a mystic Philosopher, Poet, Lover and Warrior "Hazrat Ali"

The mind of a wise man is the safest custody of secrets; cheerfulness is the key to friendship; patience and forbearance will conceal many defects.

He who is deserted by friends and relatives will often find help and sympathy from strangers.

Our affairs are attached to the destiny decreed by God, even our best plans may lead us to destruction.

Every person who is tempted to go astray, does not deserve punishment.

One who rushes madly after inordinate desire, runs the risk of encountering destruction and death.

The best form of devotion to the service of God is not to make a show of it.

Contentment is the capital which will never diminish

Like your body your mind also gets tired so refresh it by wise sayings.

That knowledge which remains only on your tongue is very superficial. The intrinsic value of knowledge is that you act upon it.

Loving one another is half of wisdom.

Aid (from God) is in proportion to the trouble.

Thanks so much for sharing. Peace, Love and Blessings!

Everything is God’s, we are only the Trustees. World is not for our consumption, it must be dedicated Him. He resides in every being and hence everyone is potentially godly and we must treat that way – with love and respect.All that exist – animate and inanimate – is connected and what flows in this connection is love, each one is being for the other and in that way everyone is in peace and joy. We must discover/experience the divinity in us and it s connection to all being, connection between my self and the Universal self, atma with paramatma. So says the Upanishads, in particular, Isha Upanishad.

There are actually alot of mis-conceptions about this. First of all, any time an item is damaged and repaired, then you will have lost value.

In Texas it is the law that you can recover this loss on an auto if you are the victim of the accident.

An average accident on a regular car (ford, chevy, toyota) will cause an average loss of about $3800. They key is the method of determining the lost value.

If you select a reputable, court approved company to help you determine your diminished value, you will be able to collect this.

A Texas based company, Texas Auto Services, is the leader in this field. Visit their website and you will get ALOT of info.
texasautoservices.com

Good Luck!

I need to know the process to do so. The repairs on the vehicle were 13,000 and the retail value of the vehicle is 20,000, the frame had to be replaced since it was broken, plus the rest of the repairs, this vehicle is a pickup truck, and I live in Florida.

There is a mathematical equation that can be used to figure diminished value. You will also need to take into consideration the mileage of the vehicle. If you have over 100k you will not generally get diminished value.

Another thing to keep in mind regarding dimished value. If you are trying to get your diminished value from the at fault carrier, keep in mind the policy limit they have for property damage. Florida’s minimum PD limit is $10k and this is what most people carry. Let’s say the at fault carrier has $25k PD limits. You have already exhausted $13k in repairs plus whatever it cost in rental or loss of use. Let’s say roughly $15k. That would leave $10k available. That is if you are the only claimant. If there are more than one or if the PD limits exhausted or were in excess of the policy limit, the at fault carrier would not be able to extend any diminished value to you. In that respect you may have to seek those damages directly from the driver/owner of the at fault party.

The best thing to do, if you filed with the at fault carrier, is first find out thier PD limits. You should know how may vehicles were involved in the loss. Ask the adjuster if there are limits remaining and for their procedure for diminished value. Do they use a formula? Do you need to supply them with something from a dealership quoting the lost value? The adjuster will be able to help you with what you need to make that claim as well as the information to determine if making a diminished value claim will be worth the work (depending on the funds available).