QuestionI have a new car, less than 3000 miles, and was recently in an accident. The damage was small, had the left fender and headlight replaced and bumper /hood painted. The insurance performed the repairs.
I am now moving overseas and need to sell the, which had appraised and was told that value is diminished by 2 grand due to the accident. Can i claim the diminished value from my insurance and how would I go abt doing so??
AnswerHi Allan,
First of all, it sounds like your appraiser greatly exceeded the
true amount of diminished value.
The cost to repair the damage that you described should have been
under $3,000. Diminished value is generally no more than 10-15%
of the amount of damage.
Secondly, from the wording of your question, I assume that you were
at fault in the accident or the other party had no insurance. If that is true, you can never collect diminished value from your own insurance company except in the state of Georgia.
If you were not at fault and merely used your own company to repair the car as a convenience and there is a third party in which they have the legal right to recover the amount they paid, then you can file a claim against that 3rd party for diminished value.
Diminished value is an area in which all companies try to avoid payment. They will battle you tooth and nail and drag out the
claim as long as possible.
Your other option is small claims court against the other driver.
This could wind up as being very expensive since you will need
to secure a diminished value appraisal and hire an expert to testify.
Many states allow attorneys in small claims court. If that is
true in your state, the adverse insurance company will send one
of their attorneys to defend their driver and you would have to
hire an attorney to make the playing field more even.
I hope that you have found this information helpful. Your feedback by rating my response will be appreciated.
Sincerely,
Bennie
San Francisco Bay Area
