Auto Insurance Claims: 3 car piles, no-fault accident, dimished value, 3rd party claim. thanks!, police report number, rush hour

Question
Dear Dr.Settlement,

I have read so many of your answers and really value the advice you give to users. They are so educational and informative. My case is a little bit confusing now. So I have to post it for your review. I thank you in advance for your time.

Recently (Oct17, 4pm) I got involved in a car accident.

Accident and Liabilities: My husband was driving and I was sitting besides. During the rush hour, the traffic got jammed and I made a full stop following all cars in the front and kept a safe distance away from the front car. Suddenly I was rear ended and pushed into the front car. I got the police report and we were 0% fault.

My actions:
1. I reported this accident to my insurance company and presented to them the situation, the contact information of the 3rd driver and the 1st driver and stated that it was not my fault and provided them with the police report number.
2. My insurance company claimed through my policy without my consent. When I realized that they were filing a claim for repair and rental and claiming that from the 3rd driver, I expressed that I didn't want to do that. I wanted the 3rd driver's insurance to handle this. At that time, the car was not fixed yet. And no payment.
3. After our conversation, they paid the repair shop immediately. And later they expressed that since they already paid, I can only claim the repair through them. But I can claim other out-of-pocket through the 3rd driver or his insurance.
4. At the same time, I also wanted to contact with the 3rd driver's insurance. But the information given to me and the police was not true information.
5. The 3rd car is a company car. And the owner told me that under $10k, they are self-insured.

Current situation and my question:
Now my car was fixed and I took it back from the repair shop. The total repair cost was over $7k. I also did some research and am pretty sure that there is dimished value to my car. I had CarMax to do an appraisal as well. Please see the list below.
I also missed couple of days work.

My husband and I had no fault at all in the accident. It is really unfair for us to suffer from the loss.

I want to find out the best way to claim for my dimished value and the other cost such as inconvenience and missing work. Who should I pursue? The car owner? The cop who did investigation on the accident? The 3rd driver's insurance?

Your advice is highly appreciated. I look forward to hearing back from you.

Thank you.



Market value without accident1  Current value after accident Diminished value
nada.com  $            23,375  CarMax  $       14,000   
kbb.com (trade-in)  $            22,975  Market Research1  $       14,893   
kbb.com (retail)  $            28,115     
autotraders.com (average of similar car)         
Average  $            24,822    $       14,447   $                      10,375  

Answer
Hi Bei,

This is Richard Hixenbaugh not Dr. Settlement. I don't know if you sent this to be by mistake or not but I will try to help.

Considering that there was confusion at to the at -fault persons insurance company it is just fine that you went through your own company. They will subrogate to get back their money as well as your deductible.

As far as the diminisihed value; you are entitled to be compensated for the diminished value of your vehicle due to the accident. It is your responsibility to prove your loss. Unfortunately, the insurance company will not accept information from KBB or NADA. They also will not accept a trade in quote from CarMax.  You will need to hire a professional independent vehicle appraiser who specializes in diminished value appraisal. You should visit www.collisionclaims.com for more information on diminished value.

You are also entitled to be paid for any lost pay. You will have to obtain a statement from your employer indicating the dates of missed work and the amount of lost pay or the fact that you used vacation time for these days. You would then submit that to the insurance company of the at fault person. Also any other items, such as damaged personal property that was in your vehicle can be claimed as well but you will have to produce the item to prove it was damaged. Any rental car cost that was not covered by your policy can also be claimed.

You are not entitled to payment for inconvenience.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh