By T. Peterson
If you have been in a car accident with a newer car that was not totaled but received a significant amount of damage, you may be entitled to more money than you know about. Most insurance companies wont tell you that you may be able to get a significant amount of money for a diminished value claim. Many people do not even know what diminished value means.
Diminished value is the difference in value between a vehicle with an accident history, and the same vehicle without an accident history. Diminished value is the monetary difference between a cars pre-accident value and its value after the accident the automatic loss in value from a collision. Diminished value is very hard to prove, so many times you need to hire an attorney who handles diminished value claims, depending on what state you live in.
Diminished value exists as a real concept in the insurance world and it is paid all throughout the country. Diminished value is the best-kept secret that your auto insurance company hopes you never learn. Diminished value is a reality, even in cases where repairs eliminate all visual evidence of damage. Diminished value is most pertinent in relation to late model cars that have low miles and have suffered structural damage. The amount of repair related diminished value is determined by the overall quality of the repairs.
Diminished Value and Insurance
Insurance companies generally do not acknowledge the right to recover diminished value. Insurance companies would have you believe they are your advocates when in reality they are your adversaries. Insurance companies promise to restore your vehicle back to its pre-accident condition, but fail to define exactly what that means. Nowadays, a vehicles crash history is easy to track online, and a history of an accident can cost a vehicle owner thousands of dollars.
Diminished Value and Accidents
The fact that it has been involved in an accident and repaired causes your vehicle to have diminished value. It has been estimated that 55% of consumers would not buy a car that had been in an accident. Although your body shop does an excellent job and your vehicle looks as good as it did before the accident, having been in a collision it’s now much less desirable if you should decide to sell it now or down the road. If you list your car for sale in the newspaper for the Kelley Blue Book Value, the first thing a buyer will ask is Was this car in an accident? If your beautiful late model car sustained structural damage, or was repaired with cheap foreign parts, your buyer will likely not pap the same value for it as they would have before the auto accident.
Diminished Value Appraisal
It has been my experience that it is key to get a good appraiser to value the car once the appraisals are done.
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