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Smart Shopper Questions About Auto Insurance & Accidents
4410 messages, Last post on Nov 29, 2009 at 5:58 AM
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Hi all...I posted here some time ago regarding my accident which occured back in March. I've finally settled my personal injury case, but am still waiting on the diminished value settlement. My 2007 Camry was rear ended in march in a 4 vehicle collision. Both myself and the car in front of me were sitting stopped at a light in traffic and were rear ended by 2 other cars. I used an independent company that specializes in DV to do an appraisal and had my attorney send the appraisal over to the insurance company. Today, 4 months after we sent the appraisal over to them, they called and told me they were going to offer me $1250 for DV. The guy said that should I choose not to accept that offer, he would need to come out and inspect the car and that inspection could lead to the offer being even less. He also asked if I had sold the car, which i havent, and said that diminished value does not occur until the car is sold. I responded by saying that my car suffered diminished value when his insured rammed into the back of me. He then said that when he comes out to inspect the car, if he found any diminished value due to the repairs on the car, that the body shop would be responsible for that. That makes no sense to me.... My car had less than 5,000 miles on it at the time of the accident and sustained $17,000.00 worth of damage. I will not accept this. I told him to come out and do his inspection. IMO, they should have done this in May when I sent the appraisal to them. Any suggestions?
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| DV is probably more like an art than a science...BUT, I would think that the dealer who sells your brand of vehicle, in their used car dept, would be able to best determine what your DV is, since they would be qualified to tell you how much value your trade lost if you tried to trade it in on a new vehicle, plus they would know how much less to expect as a consequence of the wreck. That might be a good starting point for negotiating... | |
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Replying to: brownie523 (Sep 11, 2007 8:38 am) So even if the repairs are perfect, one could argue for inherent DV. The insurance company pays for your repairs NOW, not when you sell the car, so DV should be the same. I agree, DV is more like an art than a science...I don't see how one could scientifically calculate DV. |
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and that value should include Sales Tax and license fees. Because it has been six months since the crash, advise the adjuster that due to his non compliance with "Fair Claims Practices Act" he is a target for a "Failure to Bargain in Good Faith" suit. Sic em! 
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Up to last Friday, I was a disinterested bystander in this discussion. Friday afternoon, a car full of teenagers made a left turn in front of me and I had nowhere to go but into them. Initial estimate from the body shop - $2900. I suspect that number will go up as the climate control system in my car wasn't working after the accident - no cold air blowing and no digital display. A couple of weeks ago, I had my car appraised for trade in at $8300. State Farm says that the $2900 figure is 28% of the value of my car - roughly $10,300 or so. So, when I talk to State Farm about DV, which number should I use? I'm guessing the $10,300 number, but am curious as to what others might think. The car in question is a 2003 Saturn L300 - 64K, better than average condition, loaded. KBB showed 'good' trade in value as $8600.
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Replying to: michaell (Sep 11, 2007 1:11 pm) I'd say $1,000-1,500 DV is about right. The AC no worky because the condensor was almost certainly damaged and you instantly lost your refrigerant. |
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Replying to: michaell (Sep 11, 2007 1:11 pm) |
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Replying to: brownie523 (Sep 11, 2007 8:38 am) 'Course I don't understand why they didn't total your car either. |
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The AC no worky because the condensor was almost certainly damaged and you instantly lost your refrigerant. "lost" it how? there were no visible leaks after the accident, and I was able to drive the car approximately 15 miles to the body shop. I should be pressing State Farm for about $1000-1500 for DV, then, correct? shifty, i guess i'm a bit slow today ... what exactly do you mean by state farms number being fair? the way i see it, by raising the value of the car, then they are also raising the threshhold of when they can declare the car totalled. 75% of $10,300 is $7725 75% of $8300 is $6225 Granted, I don't imagine for a moment that the cost to repair my car will approach either of the two numbers above ... I figure maybe $4K max, plus the cost of the rental while the car is in the shop. |
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Replying to: michaell (Sep 11, 2007 1:31 pm) VERY common on front end hits. |
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Smart Shopper Questions About Auto Insurance & Accidents
