Anyone here have any experience in establishing a diminished value claim, after their car has been repaired due to a crash?




Yesterday, my wife, in our '12 XJ-L, was slowing, approaching a traffic light, with other cars in front of her, already stopped. The vehicle behind her was being driven by some "old coot", who wasn't paying attention, and he plowed right into her, and in turn, pushed her into the car in front of her.


The car took a hard hit in the rear, with additional, but not as serious damage, to the front. At this point, the repair estimate is in the $20,000 range, and that's without any disassembly, that might indicate more damage.


As if that's not enough, because the XJs are aluminum, not all Jag Dealer body shops are certified in aluminum welding/repair. My local dealer is making arrangements to have the car shipped 300 miles, to a shop outside of Boston, MA, to a shop that they've dealt with.


Needless to say, this is a pretty serious repair, and given all of the "detective work" done by outfits like Carfax, etc, there's no way this will go unnoticed, and if we decide we don't want the car after all of this, there's the potential of taking a second financial hit, in trying to unload it.


I've heard of the diminished value claim, against the insurance company of the person who caused the crash, but have never had to go through it before. Anybody have any experience/advice?

 

IIRC, Jon89 went thru it many years ago. You might want to contact him or search for his thread about it..ok...2009 is when it happened...
Good luck

 

leadfoot4,

Sorry to learn about your accident. Hopefully, your wife wasn't injured.

Several years ago my Lexus LS460 was damaged and repaired at a cost exceeding $30K. In addition to paying that repair cost, my insurance company paid me $8K for DV. They initially sent me a DV check for only $750, which I returned to them as being insufficient. To make a long story short, it helps to have a son who is an insurance litigator.

There are 2 types of claims: (1) first party, which are made by the policyholder against his own insurance policy, and (2) third party, which are made against the other party's insurance. Most likely, you'll make a third party claim.

I'm fortunate to be in Georgia, which is one of the few states (perhaps the only state) that require insurance companies to pay first party DV claims. The Georgia Supreme Court decided in 2001 that insurance companies are liable for DV claims as a matter of common law. Insurance companies like to use the formula discussed in that case to calculate DV since it results in a low amount. Insurance companies will tell you that it is the court-approved method, but that is misleading since it is not the only approved method of determining DV. An independent appraisal will often result in a much higher DV amount.

In most other states, however, a DV rider would be needed to make a first party claim (against your own insurance company under contract law). A DV rider is not needed to make a third party claim (against the other driver's insurance company under common law). Whether a third party claim will be successful depends on state law.

A third party DV claim should be made immediately after your car has been repaired, since the repair cost is a significant factor in determining it's fair market value at that time. DV is the difference between the FMV immediately before and immediately after the accident. One way to know what your repaired car is worth is to take it to CarMax or your Jaguar dealer and show them the repair invoice and get their offer in writing. You should also get a written DV appraisal to prove the amount of your DV claim. You can find many appraisers on the internet qualified to do so for a fee of around $300.

Don't inadvertently jeopardize your rights to get the maximum DV. If you receive a low-ball check for DV, don't deposit it; instead, return it by certified mail, return receipt. And don't sign anything that says that says that "payment is in full satisfaction of your claim".

Here are some articles about DV including some appraisers:
Will My Insurance Pay for a Loss In My Car’s Value if it Is Damaged In a Collision? | III

Diminished Value: Biggest secret about Diminished Value Claims with insurance | Online Auto Appraisals

Diminished Value Appraisals by Experienced Vehicle Appraisers from Auto Appraisal Group Inc.: Claim Assistance: Diminished Value Claims

If this was helpful, please press

Stuart

 

Thanks for the information! While nothing can be done at this point, as repairs haven't been started yet, I'm tying to stay ahead of the curve, and have whatever information I need, ready to go for when we get the car back. It's estimated that between the repairs, and transporting the car back and forth between the shops, this ordeal could take up to 10-12 weeks. In other words, we'll get it back just in time to put it away for the winter. OR, in other words, it will take more time than what elapsed between the time we ordered the car, it was built, then shipped from England to our dealer, here in western New York.


Yes, fortunately, my wife is OK. We're both heartsick, however, over what has happened to our car. We bought this car as a "retirement present" to ourselves, and hoped to drive it (undamaged) for years to come. Although it's a little over 4 years old, it was never out in the winter (in road salt), barely out in the rain, and had only 13,000 miles on it. Yes, I know that a fully competent body shop can work wonders, but to my experience, once a car has been hit that hard, it's seldom the same.


What annoys me the most, however, is that we're paying for somebody else's mistake. Had my wife or I made some error behind the wheel, causing a crash, as much as I'd hate to admit it, all I could say is that we screwed up, and now have to pay the "stupid tax". In this case, however, somebody else screwed up, and we're paying the "stupid tax" for him.




I suppose it could be worse...........

 

Jon89 had two claims, here are his threads https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...t-today-21898/ https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-today-118681/

 

As was stated by Stuart, we in Georgia have this law. When I had my first rear end bumper damage the insurance company sent me a check for $2,500.00 that I disputed and did not cash. I hired a company Diminished Value - Georgia Car Appraisal - Atlanta Auto Appraiser who for $300 performed an inspection and gave me an estimate of 13k. The insurance company came back with a 9k offer that I accepted and i got a check for $9,300.00 as the inspection fee has to be reimbursed. So, as you are not in Georgia, I wish you good luck. BTW my SuperSport was only a couple months old at that time, so the value was still very high.

 

Although a 2012 model, the extremely low mileage and the fact that it was never driven and kept garaged during the winter months means that your XJ was worth thousands more than the average similarly equipped 2012 XJL immediately before the accident. Most, if not all, of that additional value will be lost as a result of the damage regardless of how well it was repaired. That is in addition to the "usual" amount of diminished value if was an average XJL in good condition with average mileage.