Auto Insurance Claims: Diminished value= $21,000, diminished value, own insurance

Question
I have a 2008 mini cooper S hard top. In May a woman ran a red light and hit my drivers side from fender and shifted the front of the car. Which damaged the frame rails. Since the car is unibody construction, my insurance didn't total it out. Instead they "tried" to fix it, taking two months and spending $14k. I went to a local dealership to find out how much i can get for it. And they said with as much damage as it took, it would only be worth about how much the salvage is. My friends tell me to go after the other drivers insurance, but can i go after my own insurance for not totaling it out in the first place? And would the worth of the car (21K) be considered for diminished value?

Answer
Diminished value is only available in some states - you should check if it's available in your state.  Also, diminished value can never be more than 10% of the total value of the car and it's usually much less (reduced by mileage and the severity of the damage) so even if it is available you probably would not be happy with the final payment.

I don't think you can go after your own insurance company - it's their choice whether to fix it or total it.  You might be able to claim it was fixed improperly.  Is there anything specifically wrong with the repair?

Nice car by the way - sorry to hear about the accident.

Best regards,

-Ernest Ferraro