QuestionQUESTION: Question:
I was recently rear ended by a person insured by Progressive. I have SL63 Mercedes 2009 which sustained 13,200 worth of damage . I had an independent appraisal for my DV claim and this report said the amount of diminished value was 14,000. I submitted the report in detail and Progressive offered me $2000 to settle. I told them thanks but no thanks and I would look at other options to get this matter settled. I have not talked to them in about 3 weeks but would like to give them another opportunity to provide a better offer. While I do not expect 14,000 I have been told by other appraiser if you settle for 40-50% then take it unless you want to go to court. Do you have any suggestions as how I should proceed at this time? I figure if they do not offer anymore then I will seek counsel and or file small claims myself. I know they are betting on the fact no action will be taken but I am not going down that easy. When I asked the adjuster how he got the 2,000 amount he said he looked on auto trader and looked at similar vehicles and checked the VIN (probably ran a car fax report) to see if the 4 he was looking at were ever in a accident and then he said he found one or two and said they were only being discounted by about 2000 compared to the other two which were not in accident. I ask for a documented statement describing how he came up with the offer and as I suspected, I have yet to receive any detail. Any help would be appreciated. Again my goal is not to get nasty and be fair and settle but then again I may not have any options, does it take a letter from an attorney to get their attention.
ANSWER: Hi Craig,
As is often the case in these situations, it sounds like your appraiser overstated the amount of diminished value to you in order to make a sale. A professional appraiser does not over state the value or loss of value in anticipation of a negotiation. When faced with an obviously over inflated appraisal, the insurance company will often dismiss it out of hand. When this happens, it is really as if you have submitted nothing at all and now you have nothing to back up your claim. In addition, had you hired a professional, they would be available to assist you in explaining and responding to anything that came back from the insurance company. If they are not willing to do so you may need to hire another appraiser.
The insurance company will likely not put their explanation in writing because their explanation is not accurate and there are likely not any cars that they found for sale that have repaired collision damage. You should always assume that any time you are talking to a claims adjuster that they are lying. Their job is to find any means necessary to pay you as little as possible or nothing at all. Often this includes half truths, mis-statements, inaccuracies to out right lies.
You need to be able to respond in writing and demand that they only communicate with you in writing. It will be up to you to find additional forms of information to prove your claim is larger than $2,000.
For more information on diminished value, visit: www.collisionclaims.com
I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh
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QUESTION: Richard
I appreciate the feedback but this appraiser was recommended from the mercedes body shop where I have bought most of my cars so I assumed they would be professional. The 25 page report looks detailed and compares prices with auto auctions etc so they did not just base it off Kelly blue book. Any suggestions on how to respond to the insurance company at this point
AnswerHi Craig,
If your apprpaiser is someone who deals with this on a regular basis, they should be providing you with assistance to support their appraisal and help you answer the insurance company.
Basically, you need to refute the accuracy of their offer, ask them to provide any offer they make in writing along with how they arrived at that figure. You may suggest that if they do not feel your appraisers figure is accurate, they should hire an independent appraiser of their own to come up with a contrasting opinion. You could also take your car to a couple of car dealers to ask them for a trade in offer in writing. If you have a CarMax location near you they would be a good one to use because they will provide a written appraisal and will indicate things like refinishing and frame or structural repair as the reason for thier offer. You would then go to www.nada.com to print out what they say is the standard trade-in value of your car. The difference between the two is your diminished value amount.
I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh
