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I live in New York State. Several months ago, my nearly new (less than a year old at the time) car was rear-ended by another car. The other driver openly admitted fault to the police, the accident was considered 100% his fault, and his insurance paid for my car to be repaired. As far as I can tell, the car was in pre-accident condition after being repaired. There were no injuries.
However, since the car now has an accident on its record, it loses much of its value. In fact, a dealer offered $0 for my previous car for no reason other than the fact that it had an accident on its record (in that case, my fault) that didn't even cause any damage.
Since, through no fault of my own, my nearly new car is now nearly worthless, what is the law in New York about recovering the diminished value? I read a lot of conflicting info online about the law in NY? The other driver's insurance company says that insurance does not cover diminished value, since it is nothing more than a scam created by dealers. Whether that is true or not, my car is still worth far less than it was before the accident, through no fault of my own. I thought that the at fault driver's insurance company was responsible for making me whole.
If New York does allow me to file a diminished value claim, then what is the procedure?
If New York does not allow me to make a diminished value claim, then do I have any further recourse, such as taking the other driver to small claims court? In that case, who do I take the court: the other driver, the owner of the vehicle (the driver's father), the insurance company, the passenger who caused the distraction, or all of the above?
I should ask another somewhat unrelated question: this accident shows up on my driver abstract, even though it was not my fault. The abstract lists all accidents, regardless of fault. However, many employers refuse to hire anybody who doesn't have a "clean" driving record. Is there any recourse that I can take to get the accident removed from my abstract, or am I just out of luck? Thanks.
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