Auto Insurance Claims: Diminshed Value, diminished value auto claim

Question

BMW Damage My 2005 BMW 330 Ci Convertible had a tree fall on it and
resulted in $9000.00 in damages.  It is currently in the
shop being repaired by my insurance carrier, Allstate, under
my comprehensive coverage.  BMW stated that although the car
was worth approximately $27,000 before the accident, it is
now only worth half.  When i contacted Allstate regarding
the diminished value of $13,500 they denied any DV and said
there must be a 3rd party liability to recover.  They said
since it is my comprehensive that I can not recover the DV.  
It seems ridiculous that my own liability coverage would not
kick in under these circumstances and I should not be forced
to lose $13,500 while having full coverage.  Thoughts???

Answer
Hello Chris,

First of all, the person who told you the DV was 50% is way off, in my opinion. I guarantee you that dealers never reduce the selling price of vehicles that they repair and put on the lot for sale.

The most you might reasonably recover in court for DV might be 10% for a repaired vehicle. But outside of court, its a hard fight with an insurer. In fact as a public adjuster who works against insurance companies on automobile total loss claims, I have never in 29 years gotten an insurer to pay for DV.

If your state does not require disclosure of prior repairs (and most do not), then most potential buyers will never know that it was repaired.

Now there are websites who say they can help you get the DV from an insurer. So Google "diminished value auto" to get to those websites and give it a try?