Do you own a high end vehicle like a Lamborghini, Mercedes, Cadillac, Infiniti, Bentley, Rolls Royse, Porsche, Maserati, BMW, Audi, Saab, Lexus or any other vehicle that is considered a luxury or exotic vehicle?
If so, you should certainly be thinking about diminished value if you were involved in a collision! You might not know the technical term for it but you know you’re gonna be put through the ringer when you go to trade that baby in and those are the FACTS!
No matter if you backed into a tree or if some negligent driver crashed into you, it is highly likely that your vehicle has lost value because of the simple fact that it was in an accident. Even if you took the vehicle to the best repair facility around, it doesn’t change the fact that your car was once wrecked.
Diminished value is a concept that has been around for nearly 90 years.
There is law relating to it in Georgia dating back to 1926!
If you’ve been in an accident in your luxury vehicle, what the heck can you do about it?
Let me make this really clear up front: We are not tax professionals!
We do not give tax advice. We are simply pointing you to information to aid in your research when filing your taxes after taking a loss in value after an auto accident.
Did you know that casualty losses are deductible from your income taxes?
In Topic 515 on the IRS’s website, it discusses the types of losses that can be claimed on your income tax.
This is a hard subject to explain to a lot of people.
Let me start by saying that you need to understand what is in this article before you blow your top at some insurance adjuster. There are ways around a reservation of rights defense, but you have to be stealthy and, above all, you have to remain calm.
If you have found this article, you are either an insurance adjuster doing some research or you are involved in a claim and being advised that your claim is not being paid at this time and that they are putting the claim on a “reservation of rights”.
I’m going to speak on Texas and specifically on auto insurance as Texas is my home State and auto insurance is where I have the most experience, although the reservation of rights or its equivalent exists in almost every State in the U.S. and can come about on claims that are not automobile claims.
Recently, I had a case where an adjuster was negotiating an inherent lost market value claim based on values and condition descriptions found in Kelley Blue Book.
The amount of inherent lost value, or diminished value or DV as it is common to call it, that the adjuster was willing to pay was about $4000 less than what my research and opinion came out to.
Obviously, I argued that KBB was not accurate.
Naturally, the adjuster requested a synopsis on why I believed that using Kelley Blue Book was not a reliable method for researching diminished value.
I happily obliged the adjuster.
Want to read more about why using Kelley Blue Book (or any other online valuation guide) to calculate diminished value is a severely lacking and inaccurate method?
Back in May, I saw a sad story about a filmmaker in South Africa that was killed by the head butt of a giraffe out in the bush while filming for a movie.
In my mind, I related that to how the giant insurance companies just throw around invalid denials to diminished value claims to shut down the claimant from figuring out how in the heck to fight, therefore making them give up.
Until they find us.
A while ago, I was provided with a pretty big list of arguments that attempted to show why diminished market value on automobiles is not real, or at least why it is never very much.
I am going to address each one, point by point so as to be very thorough.
Mind you, these arguments were made by a professional who evaluates the market of stigma losses on automobiles.
How Our Client’s $5000 Success Can Lead the Way to Your Success!
Having an uninsured motorist or under-insured motorist diminished value claim (UM/UIM claim) doesn’t usually qualify for the fun list, but if you’re faced with having to deal with this type of diminished value, it pays to educate yourself about these types of claims! It paid our client $5000 to be precise!
Let’s start this article out right with the great news! We just had a client go to court in Collin County, Texas and she got a big win thanks to our appraisal, expert help and our attorney who stepped in to get that case into court! More details about that case are a few paragraphs below so keep reading!
The Norm for Uninsured Diminished Value Claims – a BIG FAT DENIAL
Believe it or not, the vast majority of insurance adjusters do not get any training on how to handle an uninsured motorist diminished value claim. In fact, insurance companies routinely refuse to pay for uninsured motorist diminished value claims and make up all kinds of excuses why they don’t owe for them. It’s just a claims handling tactic meant to deter people that don’t have much wherewithal or persistence. With just a little bit of research, you can prove to yourself that your own insurance company owes you for any inherent diminished value you sustain due to an uninsured or under-insured motorist.
The best case to cite for a Texas uninsured motorist diminished value claim is the Noteboom vs. Farmers case that you can easily find with an internet search.
Now, don’t get all excited since you now know the truth.
You can rest assured that even with the exact right answer and perfect evidence, the insurance company will balk and typically refuse to pay anything near the real diminished value amount. When that happens, you have to know how to bring your claim to a close without messing up your ability to use the court system.
How Can You Fight for Diminished Value on your Uninsured Motorist Policy?
I’ll bet that no one has explained to you what I am about to explain . . .
First of all, the terms Actual Cash Value (ACV) and/or Fair Market Value (FMV) are sorely lacking and ambiguous when it comes to actually helping to define the value of a private passenger automobile.
In fact, the formal definition in almost every source one can find leaves out the MAINASPECT that would make the definition useful.
The terms ACV and FMV are so ambiguous that they are totally meaningless when it comes to figuring out the value of your vehicle.
Don’t believe me, let’s break it down.
Start with familiarizing yourself with the “formal” definitions.
What do you think? Do you have to sell your car in order to prove that it has lost value?
To the surprise of me and my client’s attorney, we recently had a Judge that said YES. Insurance adjusters are trained to say YES to the title question, too. But what do you think?
The graphic with this article sorta sums up why the law does not agree with the Judge or the insurance adjusters, but I’ll go a little further to drive the point home.
No, Really…Do You Have To Sell Your Car To Prove Diminished Value?
Am I richer when the prices of my stocks go up?
Am I poorer when my stock values are down?
If average home prices around the home I own rise, am I richer?
If I trade my Lamborghini even for a Toyota Corolla, am I richer, or poorer?
If the doctor says I need a $10000.00 surgery to save my foot, am I richer if I don’t get the surgery?
If I lose my foot, and then use a prosthetic, is the cost of maintaining and replacing the prosthetic, along with the future medical costs I will incur part of the value of my claim, or does it only count when I actually go and pay for the care?
If everybody in your neighborhood paid $500 for a grill from the hardware store, and you found an identical one on Craigslist for $325.00 and still in the box, what is the market value of the grill?
If I have a Rolex valued at $22,000.00 by a well known Rolex appraiser, and I sell it for $18000.00, did I change the value of the Rolex?
If a sell price dictates market value, then there is no such thing as a “good deal”.
Let me start by saying that some people never need an attorney, and others will always need an attorney.
Additionally, this article is based on my 15 years of claims adjusting experience. I have developed a simple little formula that will help you decide if you need an attorney or not. Keep in mind, this quiz is tailored for auto accidents only, and I make no warranties or guarantees that your result is a foolproof answer.
Ultimately, the only person that can decide if you need an attorney is you.
With that being said, simply answer the following 15 questions and then add up your answers. All of these questions are yes or no questions. Whatever answer you have the most of is your answer to the title of this article.
