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Old 12-04-2012, 08:45 PM
 
10 posts, read 11,201 times
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This happened to me while living in TX. Fortunately for me the party that hit me was not insured (not even a citizen here) so I filed an uninsured claim against my insurance company.

My car was 6 weeks old and had less than 3000 miles on it when it was hit. The damage to my car (Honda Accord Coupe) was about $15K and they decided not to total it. Keep in mind that my damage was more than cosmetic. There was minor frame damage and many moving parts around the front left tire had to be replaced.

If there was just cosmetic damage to your vehicle, it will be hard to prove diminished value. In order to get diminished value, there must be damage and replacement of factory installed moving parts.

My insurance company offered me $1,200 in diminished value, which was a lowball. I declined, thinking it was more like $5000. I had to hire an appraiser ($500) to do a thorough report and market analysis of the vehicle. He came back with a diminished value of $4,700. The insurance company declined to pay that and we went to an arbitrator who sided with me and eventually I was paid $4,500 by my insurance company.

Bottom line is, you have to prove your cars value has significantly declined. A quote from a dealer is not proof. You will most likely have to pay to have your vehicle appraised. And even then its a crapshoot as to whether you will get any money back from insurance. Hope this helps.
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Old 12-05-2012, 03:03 AM
 
Location: What use to be the South
441 posts, read 1,489,872 times
Reputation: 488
Quote:
Originally Posted by GCharlotte View Post
Where'd you get the $500 from? As far as I know it's 25% of the value of the vehicle and I've never seen $500 listed anywhere.

Disclosing Car Damage
I can't recall, and admittedly it could be out of context here, but I have run across this figure in the past.
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Old 12-05-2012, 07:40 AM
 
Location: NC
6,032 posts, read 9,226,417 times
Reputation: 6378
LOL a quote from an auto dealer is not going to stand up as an official estimate of vehicle value. They are in it to make money off you.

Get an independent appraiser, but again, a $1,200 repair isn't going to reduce the value of your car very much.


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Old 12-05-2012, 10:46 AM
 
5,150 posts, read 7,775,900 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Suncc49 View Post
LOL a quote from an auto dealer is not going to stand up as an official estimate of vehicle value. They are in it to make money off you.

Get an independent appraiser, but again, a $1,200 repair isn't going to reduce the value of your car very much.


I don't know if it will drop it at all if you don't have to disclose it. I'd want to see the Carfax on it before anyone else did.
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Old 12-06-2012, 01:42 PM
 
821 posts, read 1,858,240 times
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Simple answer before you talk with a lawyer; write Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin lodging a formal complaint against the company, spelling out the specifics and as much validation on diminished value as you can. Send a CC: to the CEO of said insurance company - the address you can find via a Google search. Companies, especially the CEO HATE to get the Commissioner (who sets their rates) involved because it makes the company look bad in the eyes of the Commissioner and is a lot of paperwork and admin costs to the company. Give it a shot. I can tell you from personal knowledge that it works.
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