QuestionQUESTION: My vehicle was involved in an accident about a month ago. I just moved to Indiana (where the accident happened) & am not familiar with Indiana laws/provisions.
My truck was parked outside my house (I was not in the vehicle) when 2 other cars collided & hit my vehicle. My vehicle was repaired under my own policy (at-fault driver is uninsured & driver that hit my car is under same insurance company as I am). My truck is a handicapped-accessible SUV (with appropriate handicap plates), as I am physically handicapped myself (also have a service dog that has to ride next to me).
During the time my truck was being repaired, I was given a rental (because I elected rental coverage on my policy) worth $30/day. However, at no time during that period was a vehicle like mine available to me. I asked several times for a larger vehicle or a vehicle similar to my own, but was told the small car I was in was the only one available. I was put in a low-riding car -which I could not drive as it was not handicapped accessible & I could not get in or out of the car. I returned the rental once my truck was repaired.
I have asked my adjuster for loss of use & diminished value of my truck. The adjuster told me that since I had a rental, I am not eligible for loss of use. I asked for him to look into this since it's not a straight situation. My truck is specifically tailored to my physical handicap & I was not provided a 'like' vehicle. He won't. He also told me that there is no such thing as Diminished value in Indiana. He told me that "Georgia was the only state that allowed it & that even they were getting rid of it". Coming from Colorado, I know that is not true. Colorado has DV & the standard loss of use payment was $45/day.
My truck was in their shop from Aug 26 until September 11.
I would like to know what my options are & if I'm being dismissed by them; or if they are being truthful & I have no recourse here.
ANSWER: Hi Julie,
If your policy is an Indiana policy you should have Uninsured Motorist Property Damage coverage on your policy. If so, then your claim should have been paid under this coverage and not your collision coverage. With an uninsured motorist claim, you are entitled to be compensated for the same type of items you could have collected from the at fault party directly. From the at-fault party in Indiana you could collect repairs to your vehicle, a rental car or loss of use payment and diminished value. It is true that Georgia is the only state that allows you to collect diminished value from your own Collision coverage. However, since yours is an uninsured motorist claim you can collect diminished value even though you are dealing with your own insurance company. Unfortunately, since you were provided with a rental car there will not be much you can do there. You are not entitled to a rental and loss of you. The time to have done something about that was when you got the rental, but, you would have had to have found a comparable vehicle, rented it yourself and then pursued your insurance company for reimbursement after the fact.
For more information about diminished value visit www.collisionclaims.com .
I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thank you for your response!! I found it very helpful!
I spoke with the adjuster's supervisor and told him the information you'd given me. He surrendered his stance of 'not being eligible because I'm in Indiana' to 'not eligible because my car is not brand new'. I did argue back on that point until he changed it to 'not eligible because my car was repaired'. Huh? I told him that I had put my car up for sale a couple of days before the accident for a specific, fully-researched price. The price I will be able to get for it now, (since the accident and the corresponding Carfax report showing the damage) is very different. I have the supporting documents to show the drop in value due to the accident. He said it didn't matter because my car was repaired. This doesn't make sense to me. I also don't know what to trust since the 'reason' for them denying me keeps changing every time I am able to contradict their statements. Do you have any advice/info for me regarding this?
Also, when I asked him about claiming 'loss of use' and explained the handicapped-accessible issue and what all I had done from the date of the initial rental through the end to try to get an acceptable replacement, he told me that I would have to go after the uninsured driver for that. He told me that while my explanation showed I was eligible for reimbursement, my policy wasn't liable for the reimbursement and I couldn't recover that from them. I have to go after the uninsured driver for reimbursement. Is that correct? If so, how did they go from 'I'm not eligible because i had a rental (regardless of what that rental was)' so they didn't have to reimburse.. to 'eligible, but they're not responsible for the reimbursement, the other driver is'..?? Do you have any ideas/information about this latest statement?
I would obviously trust/believe them a whole lot more if their stories/excuses didn't change like the weather...
Do you think that I should still try dealing directly with them, or is it worth the effort to hire an attorney? It's not a whole lot of money that we're dealing with, so normally, I wouldn't even consider it.. but I get the distinct impression they would still be blowing me off if it was a penny, -just because they can and because they think I don't know any better or will give up and go away.
Any help/advice you can give me for any or all of this would be extremely appreciated!!! Thank you so much!!!
AnswerHi Julie,
Obviously you are dealing with a idiot that would rather continue to reach for excuses than deal with your claim.
The adjuster is partially correct that you can not aks for loss of use for the difference in value of the rental car you had and what you needed. Since your claim went through your own policy, there are specific limits on rental coverage. So the coverage on your policy that you purchased has a daily maximum limit of usually either $20.00 or $30.00 per day. There is also a maximum overall limit on the number of days that they will pay, usually either 30 days or 60 days. Since your policy is a contract they will only pay up to the amount indicated in the contract. Now that I have given all that explanation, I also need to tell you that it does not matter if your claim was processed as an uninsured motorist claim because then there is no limit on what you can collect under that coverage.
As for the diminished value: Obviously this adjuster does not know what he is talking about because again he is grasping for another excuse each time you call him on his answer. The truth is that you are in fact entitled to be paid for the diminsihed value of your vehicle by them as long as your claim was paid by te uninsured motorist coverage of your policy. Your car does not have to be brand new, of course it applies to repaired vehicles, in fact it only applies to repaired vehicle.
For additional information and assistance visit www.collisionclaims.com
I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh
