Inherent Diminished Value Helps

[eucharistos]

looking at BM1's wreck thread, many mentioned "recovering diminished value"

i am currently doing the claims dance for diminished value on another car. the insurance co has asked ME to provide a basis for diminished value, needless to say, their method of calculating results in a low ball number in my case.

please post suggestions here

and

thanks in advance

 

[eucharistos]

btw, i did a search and all i could find (even from my own posts on the topic) is to make the claim and how much it could/should be.

what i'm looking for is a source or authority of how to calculate the proper amount to give to the insurance co (other guy was at fault and insured) to get them off their calculation which yielded a ridiculously low number

 

[RobZilla]

By my best assumption the ins. companies use a model similar to the KBB value taking into account miles drive and other factors. Thus yielding the low ball number.

If this were my case, I would find comparable vehicles in similar condition and miles and base the sale price (market value) of those vehicles. I would stay away from using eBay as any sort of authority for pricing anything.

Get a copy of the police report which should have an estimated dollar value in damage which the officer / public safety assitant who wrote the report documented. Their number also not an authority but hopefully that number is above the insurance companies.

Finally I know others have used JohnB and even Chuck Tator as authority experts. Im sure those guys would have no problem assiting with a faxed/mailed document.

The replacement value and actual value are two completely different entities in the insurance world. They want to give you the actual value and you should fight tooth and nail for the replacement value which is just that. The $ amount it will cost you to replace your vehicle to the condition it was in right before the crash. Obviously totaled, that would mean the $ amount it will cost you to replace your vehicle with another one.

If your vehicle is not totaled the diminished value is the difference your car will be worth after the repairs to the value it was before the damage. Ex your car is worth 50k. Damages to fix cost 10k. After repairs your car now is only worth 35k. The difference is an additional 5k the insurance "should" be responsible for.

Hope that helps.

 

[Bill Pemberton Woodhouse]

If it is the other guys fault you are much more in the driver's seat. Is your car totaled, as this changes the issue tremendously . If it is going to be fixed then , yes, you will have a very clear dimished value on the car. No Dealer will give you anywhere near as much if it has been wrecked , and of course with the advent of Carfax, Autocheck, etc. consumers are leery once they see accident on the report.

If it is only repaired and not a total you do have a dimished value. If you need any assistance , feel free to contact me.

Bill Pemberton

 

[InjectTheVenom]

Wouldn't it be a good idea to give topics with recurring subjects like these a read-only forum of their own so that people don't have to search every time? You know, provide a couple of different cases with a 100% satisfactory solution?

 

[TAXIMAN1]

Don't repair this car, it will never be right, or worth anything....Take the repair money $30k-$33k +/- and put it in your pocket. Then, sell the car as a salvage piece. Its probably worth high teens as-is, as a parts car.. So you get high $40's-$50k total for a 6 year old Mamba??? Not bad... You most likely couldn't sell it on the open market for that. Or maybe the best possible outcome to a very bad situation. sorry to hear about all this

 

[RobZilla]

Don't repair this car, it will never be right, or worth anything....Take the repair money $30k-$33k +/- and put it in your pocket. Then, sell the car as a salvage piece. Its probably worth high teens as-is, as a parts car.. So you get high $40's-$50k total for a 6 year old Mamba??? Not bad... You most likely couldn't sell it on the open market for that. Or maybe the best possible outcome to a very bad situation. sorry to hear about all this

Good suggestion but what to do when the repair cost is half that. 15k or 18k. They will refuse to total it. Then the only option is to fight for that diminished value.

 

[TAXIMAN1]

what is market value on a black SRT Vert/Mamba? the repair estimate is easily 70%+ of the value.. that WILL total it. The value pendulum swings both directions. I would not get involved with the mods. the insurance company only cares about 1 thing. what they are paying out.. It should not matter if the check goes to you or the body shop... They'll probably ask him to sign a waiver that the car will not be operated on public highways again. and brand it as salvage title

 

[RobZilla]

Im not aware of the damage extent or repair quote. In this specific case yes, totaling it is the likely final decision. I was speaking in a more general sense which applies to all vehicles.

As stated above with the Carfax and other services being used on nearly every used vehicle purchase, once damaged your car will never be the same and the value will be reflective of that.

 

[TAXIMAN1]

Im not aware of the damage extent or repair quote. In this specific case yes, totaling it is the likely final decision. I was speaking in a more general sense which applies to all vehicles.

As stated above with the Carfax and other services being used on nearly every used vehicle purchase, once damaged your car will never be the same and the value will be reflective of that.

there is no dimminished value UNTIL THE CAR IS SOLD.. there is only an anticipated dimminished value. The question is how could you prove that this exists? So to properly pursue a case, you might actually have to sell the car. And then hope you can prove, the low purchase/sale price was based on the accident history. Which is a long shot..

 

[eucharistos]

thanks for the replies, y'all got the wheels turning

the following is the back and forth with the ins co to date:

them:

On the diminished value request... being a 2008 with 21k thousand miles, we are not going to have a huge claim. The way they base that off of, is the amount of the repairs. Since these repairs are to the rear of the vehicle and not at the high end, the claim will be smaller.

me:

As a result of your insured, the car now has a wreck history that must be disclosed upon sale. The car was in perfect condition before the wreck...... There is no question that the Inherent Diminished Value is not a function of the cost of repair but of the wreck history that is now attached to the car.

them:

the rule of thumb for diminished value is 10-15% of the cost of the estimate. Do you have anything showing a different process for this?

at the time of the wreck the car was less than 2 yrs old and had about 21,000 miles (approx 1000 mi / month), so not high mileage the car, was in "like new condition", no other wrecks, etc. so we are not talking about damage on an old damaged car

they are willing to pay something, but the amount is, in my estimation 1/3 of what it should be

anyway, thanks again for the input and offers, additional suggestions welcome

 

[RobZilla]

Use your limited edition or rare exotic to your advantage. Tell them that 10-15% works for a common vehicle often the value of which is half than yours.

Try to get them to double to percentage to 25-30%. Remember if you make it look like you are trying to profit they will dump the cordial attitude and you'll be stuck. Ya gotta meet 'em somewhere about halfway even though this was not your fault.

Get it repaired take the additional inherent diminished value check and go get another car.