[chicagoshark]

I've recently been in an accident that was not my fault, and someone mentioned a "diminished value" claim that might be possible. Essentially to cover the loss of value when you try to sell the car. Anyone successfully done this? Any advice?

[Ex_Stig]

Yes, I successfully went through this back in 2005 when I was hit in my '03 M3.

The at fault driver has to have different insurance than you. Meaning, if you both have State Farm then you can't get diminished value.

My process took about a year to resolve.

[nioh_lbbm2]

They also need to have a sizable property damage limit. If you use most of their limit during the repair you won't have much in terms of DV to get. Sucks when that happens

[IK6SPEED]

Originally Posted by GNALUZU

Yes, I successfully went through this back in 2005 when I was hit in my '03 M3.

The at fault driver has to have different insurance than you. Meaning, if you both have State Farm then you can't get diminished value.

My process took about a year to resolve.

Same Insurance Company means nothing.

And you sue the Individual, not the Insurance Company.

As most DV claims are less than $5k, you can usually sue the Induvidual in Small Claims court. Even without an Attorney. Doesn't matter what their Insurance limit is. If they chose, they can turn it over to their Insurance Company.

Doesn't really matter to the person suing who pays the DV claim.

[Ex_Stig]

Originally Posted by IK6SPEED

Same Insurance Company means nothing.

And you sue the Individual, not the Insurance Company.

As most DV claims are less than $5k, you can usually sue the Induvidual in Small Claims court. Even without an Attorney. Doesn't matter what their Insurance limit is. If they chose, they can turn it over to their Insurance Company.

Doesn't really matter to the person suing who pays the DV claim.

That isn't how it worked when I did it.

I went directly through the other persons insurance and demanded DV from them. No lawyers needed. You don't need to file suit for DV. At least, not here in Arizona.

[IK6SPEED]

Originally Posted by GNALUZU

That isn't how it worked when I did it.

I went directly through the other persons insurance and demanded DV from them. No lawyers needed.

You stated you could not if same Insurance. You simply do not lose your right to a loss (Or to sue because you have common Insurer) because you have the same Insurance Company.

Just stating that is incorrect.

[derpimpkar]

no idea about same insurance or not.

do get someone independent to appraise the car, don't try to do it yourself. when i talked to the at-fault insurance company and brought up diminished value, they were like "yeah you could but you'd need to have someone appraise it blah blah blah". i told them i did have someone and their whole tone changed. they know how to negotiate the process. i got $8k, ymmv but it's worth the cost.

[IK6SPEED]

Originally Posted by derpimpkar

no idea about same insurance or not.

do get someone independent to appraise the car, don't try to do it yourself. when i talked to the at-fault insurance company and brought up diminished value, they were like "yeah you could but you'd need to have someone appraise it blah blah blah". i told them i did have someone and their whole tone changed. they know how to negotiate the process. i got $8k, ymmv but it's worth the cost.

Absolutely. It needs to be someone who is well versed with Diminished Value.

A used car manager at a BMW Dealership just wont be enough.

[M4Now!]

Yep. I got estimates of diminished resale value from multiple dealers, and the insurance company kept telling me we couldn't discuss it until after my car was fixed (wrong!). In the end we used KBB to agree on the diminished value. They paid.

Cheers

[Jojipoji]

8k here on my s4 hit by a truck. FYI each state has different DV laws.

[vreihen16]

Diminished value varies by state. If you read around the sales pitch, this site has info on each state:

https://www.autoloss.com/diminished-...ue-state-laws/

[grocerylist]

Originally Posted by IK6SPEED

Same Insurance Company means nothing.

And you sue the Individual, not the Insurance Company.

As most DV claims are less than $5k, you can usually sue the Induvidual in Small Claims court. Even without an Attorney. Doesn't matter what their Insurance limit is. If they chose, they can turn it over to their Insurance Company.

Doesn't really matter to the person suing who pays the DV claim.

If you've ever sued an individual in small claims court you'd realize that's not a viable option. I'd guess the majority of judgements won in small claims court are never collected upon. I won a judgment some years ago for just over $4000. I put negative marks on their credit reports, I tried to collect with the judgement from a bank account I knew the defendant had but there were no funds and the bank countersued me. As far as I'm aware wage garnishment is illegal in most states. You can't put liens on primary property, only on a secondary residence. I hired a collection agency but that never resulted in anything.

The only way you can collect on a small claims court judgment is by suing a company.

[grocerylist]

Several years ago I was in an accident in my wife's car and hired a guy to write up a DV report for me. His services cost me about $400. Without his report I'd have not been able to win a DV claim. I got $4000 for a 3 year old dinky Honda Civic hybrid which I thought was more than fair.i don't think her car was worth much more than $15k? I do think you have to be careful that the DV claim doesn't push you over the threshold value for which the insurance company would determine the vehicle Total loss.

I was also in another accident recently where my Infiniti G37 was totaled. I never heard from the other parties insurance and was forced to go through my own insurance provider. Before I knew it was officially totaled, I was considering a DV claim but my adjuster told me for some reason that I wouldn't be able to do a DV claim against my own company. He said I could only pursue DV claims against the party that hit me but again even a month after the wreck and their insurance wasn't returning my calls. In the end it didn't matter as my insurance totaled the car and gave me what I considered a fair settlement.

[IK6SPEED]

Originally Posted by grocerylist

If you've ever sued an individual in small claims court you'd realize that's not a viable option. I'd guess the majority of judgements won in small claims court are never collected upon. I won a judgment some years ago for just over $4000. I put negative marks on their credit reports, I tried to collect with the judgement from a bank account I knew the defendant had but there were no funds and the bank countersued me. As far as I'm aware wage garnishment is illegal in most states. You can't put liens on primary property, only on a secondary residence. I hired a collection agency but that never resulted in anything.

The only way you can collect on a small claims court judgment is by suing a company.

Perhaps not in Washington (wouldn't surprise me), but wage garnishment can be done in most States with a Court Order.

Federal law limits it to 25% of the wages so it certainly takes longer than the alternative.

Furthermore, if you tip the person to have their insurance handle it, it makes it much easier.

[grocerylist]

For the record the small claims judgment I won is in Texas where wage garnishment was only legal for things like child support.

[flgfish]

I've never personally done this, but it's quite common in the Porsche community. I was always under the impression that insurance paid the diminished value claims.

https://rennlist.com/forums/991/1095...lue-claim.html

[chicagoshark]

Originally Posted by flgfish

I've never personally done this, but it's quite common in the Porsche community. I was always under the impression that insurance paid the diminished value claims.

https://rennlist.com/forums/991/1095...lue-claim.html

This where I was told about it from. Porsche guy