My 03 MCS was wacked last week by my neighbor who fell a sleep coming home at 5:30 in the morning. My MINI was parked out in front of when she ran into it. So far the estimate is $5550.24 worth of damage having taken out the bumper, hood, all the lights, fender flare, rocker panel, wheel & tire and so on. My question is how does one go about filing for a "Diminished Value Claim". Is this something the the claims adjuster will willingly attend to or do I have to get a lawyer to file the claim for me. Anyone here on the board who has any knowledge or experience on this matter care to shed some input, it would be greatly appreciated.


CasaMini

 

To my knowledge, there is no insurance claim that you must have a lawyer file for you. I work as a property insurance adjuster (I have never worked auto claims, just homes). My advice is to try to see if you can work out a satisfactory settlement on your own first, as a lawyer is only going to take part of your settlement and usually slow things down anyway. Plus, you never know, the adjuster may take care of it all with little or no fuss necessary from you. But if you find they do not address all of your concerns or are unresponsive, an attorney may be your only recourse. I would think in an incident like the one you described where their insured is clearly liable for 100% of the damages, the adjuster would be looking to get you taken care of as quickly as possible. Also, based on what this bulletin says, you may not be able to recoup diminished value if the cars is repaired properly and still functions as before: http://www.tdi.state.tx.us/bulletins/b-0027-0.html

 

I have this same issue, my evo was damaged, and I want diminished value, but not sure how to figure out how much to ask for.

 

Same issue here... My accident was in a parking lot... in KY it is no fault if the accident happens on personal property. Thus, I had to file the claim with my own insurance company. Does anyone know if I can file a diminsihed value claim against my own insurance company?

 

DizzyTT,

Check out the link below. Found this on the net. Might be helpful.

http://www.collisionclaims.com//free...shedvalue.html

CasaMini

 

In KY diminished value can be excluded from policies, so you better read up and see if it is excluded. If not, then yes, you can file a diminished value claim against your own insurance carrier.

 

Good info

 

Go to Kelly Blue Book online, www.kbb.com.

Use the check list they provide for your car and check damage greater than $3,000. Then do the same without checking the damage box. The difference is loss of value. You might also want to ask a dealer how much the value of the car changed before the accident and after. Need to have as many sources to base your claim on as reasonably possible.

 

I figure I will ask based on the difference between the values, which is 3000. Hopefully they will do this based on their ease of working with them so far.

 

I can't find that option on KBB.com
can sombody navigate me there?

 

Go to www.kbb.com and use the used car value path to input your vehicle, options, mileage, etc.. You get to a check list which will help determine your car's value. There is a column for paint or bodywork.....none, <$3,000 or >$3,000. Check the applicable column and continue. You will get a value for your car with consideration of the repaired damage. Do the same thing again but select "no damage". This value for your car will be higher. The difference between the two values is the result of the repaired damage.....or "loss of value".

This is what the fill-in spot looks like:

http://www.kbb.com/kb/ki.dll/kw.kc.u...cp;cpe&4;MN;MI

 

Hmmm, that's strange. When I do mine w/o damage and w/ more than $3,000. worth of damage, the appraised value is the same. Actually my damage is almost $5,600.00 worth.



CasaMini

 

That's odd, mine was $1055, which seemed about right. However, this might be why. My MINI only has 6,800 miles and is/was in perfect shape. When I removed the "damage less than $3,000" the condition of the car goes from "good" to "excellent" and the value increases. If some of the items selected in the other boxes had already put your car in the "good" condition category I guess the value listed might not change, (though the real value would). It's not really intended to determine diminished value, but if the damage is the only item that changes the overall condition of the car it will work .

 

Call your insurance company. If you have a halfway decent agent they should help you file your claim and get the proper settlement. You are paying them for things like this (and it shouldn't raise your rate)

 

I am going to speak from experience here and warn you that many insurance agents that I deal with have absolutely no idea what is covered and what is not under any given policy. If your agent is good, stick with them. Many of them do not know anything at all about what they are selling.