The only way to remedy unethical and unfair behavior is to expose it to the entirety of victims that it affects in the hopes they will stand up to the bullies. It is a shame that those in power seem to have a propensity to abuse it (crony capitalism anyone?). To that end, I hope this article reaches many victims and their legal counsel, and that at least some of them take a stand with me and demand action from their representatives at the State.
During my auto claims career I have dealt with hundreds of claims that stemmed from the negligence of a commercial vehicle. In particular, three types of claims are most common: Claims involving rental vehicles, taxis, or small freight / towing truck companies. In most cases, if one of these commonly self-insured entities has caused you damage, then you’ll have a very difficult time recovering your damages.
I currently have a case on the books where my customer’s vehicle was damaged because a towing company failed to secure an item that was on the bed of a tow truck. The item fell off causing over $7K in damage and lost value to my client’s vehicle. The tow company’s risk manager told us that he would not pay for damages, and that my customer would have to sue. Then, he said if the customer won the suit, he still would simply never pay the judgment.
Here are some samples from the actual handbook that explains exactly why you are crazy if you believe in diminished value, especially as an adjuster (personal vehicles excluded, of course). There is no such thing as diminished value – we’ll keep it short. . .
First off, I just want to say that we get a lot of calls from irate folks who think we are CCC because this article pops up high in searches for CCC. We have lots of funny interactions with accident victims where the conversation starts out with a full-on blow out argument! lol
Let’s be clear – we are not CCC! We are appraisers who help consumers when they get a low valuation from companies like CCC (there are others as well). Just wanted to get that out there to set the record straight since so many folks are finding this article useful (and to prevent screaming matches and the therapy sessions that then have to follow :)).
If your vehicle has been deemed a total loss, many insurance companies will rely on a company called CCC (that is not US lol) to provide a market evaluation on the value of your vehicle to act as a settlement tool. CCC (Certified Collateral Corporation) Information Services Inc. is a company that provides vehicle value reports to insurance companies. They utilize their own methods and develop a value for your vehicle that is supposed to be reflective of the actual cost of a replacement vehicle in the market where your vehicle would have been sold, had it not been totaled.
(more…)So you’ve been doing all this research on diminished value, and you’ve figured out that the at fault party’s insurance company should pay you for the lost value your car has suffered, right? The only problem is that you got a diminished value claim denial by the insurance company. Although it may make you want to rip your hair out, don’t get discouraged! It is very common for insurance carriers to deny diminished value claims as a tactic to weed out those victims who will be frustrated enough to just give up on their claim. They use this tactic because the sad fact is that most people DO give up. You know why? Forcing an insurance company to be fair is HARD! Also, there is generally nobody to help accident victims with their small value property damage claims and insurance companies know it. So where does that leave you? Is there any hope of recovering your lost value? Read on my friend, read on. . . . (more…)
Shane is an attorney so he was well aware that diminished value was owed to him after he was hit in his 2007 Aston Martin Vantage.
He definitely had an advantage when it came to negotiating his claim but he did rely on our knowledge and highly technical report to prove that his loss was substantial despite the fact that his luxury car was repaired perfectly by the best in Dallas.
He knew that his Aston Martin diminished value claim was going to run pretty high but he had to prove it!
Carl had an $8000 repair on his 2012 Infiniti G25 after he was rear-ended in an auto accident and he was looking for more info on Diminished Value. He couldn’t find an attorney to help him with a property damage only claim and he was stuck until an attorney helped him find us. After reviewing his claim, we formulated our opinion at around $5000 for his Infiniti diminished value claim. (more…)
Steve got in a serious accident with over $17,000 in repairs to his 2011 Chevrolet Silverado. His injury attorney helped him research Diminished Value and that is when he found us! His truck puts in a lot of heavy duty miles, being a work truck, so Steve knew that he had suffered a loss that he would pay for the second he decides to trade in. (more…)
As an attorney, Wade works with accident victims all of the time and turned to us when he was a victim himself to provide the expert evidence he needed to prove his Ford Expedition diminished value case. He had been offered around $4K but he knew that was a low offer because he had taken meticulous care of his 2011 Ford Expedition Limited, which was loaded with options, and had all the maintenance records so he sought out our help. (more…)
UPDATED JAN. 2016
There are only two states where case law does not support recovery of diminished value in a negligence cause of action. California is not one of those states. New case law in California is clear that it IS possible to recover for the diminished value of your vehicle if you are able to prove your loss. (more…)