I was involved in a hit and run where a delivery truck hit my car while it was parked outside of my apartment building. Luckily the security cameras caught the act on film.

After dealing with the person at fault's insurance company, they agreed to pay me $2070 for the damages(actual damage probably closer to $1850). Then I pressed them to reimburse me for a rental. They wanted to give me $25 a day for 4 days.

Well this wasn't good enough. I told them that I required them to reimburse me for a rental that is comparable to my car, not some econobox P.O.S.

I also reminded them that the repairs, even though they are supposed to take 4 days, may occur over a weekend, so I needed 6 days of reimbursement.

Amazingly they said, "Ok, we will give you $50 a day for 6 days, the check will be in the mail today."

Now comes the point of this thread. I told them that I HAD to be reimbursed for the intrinsic value of the car that was lost due to the damage. Since my car was in an accident, I will lose a little extra money when I try to sell it. I spoke to the Infiniti dealer, and they said I would be lucky to get $500, if anything at all.

So today the insurance company calls me to let me know that they inspected how to pay my dimished value claim for the state of Louisiana. Without me having to argue, they offered to cut me an additional check for $1100 for DIMINISHED VALUE.

Moral of the story? If you are not at fault in an accident where your car is damaged, PRESS HARD to get compensated for diminished value. I did, and I got it. Can you say new exhaust???

 

Great tip! I wonder how many states/insurance companies have this provision?

 

What insurance company were you dealing with?

That truck's insurance company seems to be very generous when it comes to claims..something which is not the norm.

 

which insurance company was it?

 

I believe it was St. Paul's Travellers Insurance.

I think I can tell you guys why they were so expeditious and willing to fill my claim. Their customer(delivery truck) hit my car and fled the scene without leaving a note or trying to help the situation. And the kicker, it was all caught on my apartment building's security cameras. So basically the driver committed a crime and the insurance company doesn't want me to screw them to the wall.

I suppose if I had one of my lawyer friends get involved I could have gotten a couple thousand more, but it wasn't worth the time and trouble to do so. As long as the car is fixed to my satisfaction and I get compensated properly for the trouble, I won't bitch and moan about it.

But like most of you guys, I was quite surprised at how easy this process was. I have had to deal with accident situations in the past that have taken up to 15 months to resolve, even one accident where a person who is LEGALLY BLIND in one eye RAN A STOP SIGN and t-boned my new 2000 C5 vette when it had less than 100 miles on it. Crazy.

Guess I was 'lucky' this time, as far as luck goes in accidents!

 

i guess the diminished value only applies to bought cars, not leased right?

 

good advice

 

Not sure, but it would definitely throw a kink in things. I guess the question to ask is, 'does a repaired leased car get any deductions when turned back in at the end of the lease term because it was wrecked?'

Having never leased a car I have no idea.

 

imagine if there were no security cameras? you got lucky man

 

No kidding! When I first watched the footage I could see that it was impossible to make out a license plate. But then upon watching in slow-motion I was able to pause the tape and see huge letters on the side of the truck stating the name of the company AND their phone number!

You are right, if it had not been for the tapes I would have been screwed!

 

Very nicely done.....

 

Bringing up deminished avlue is a great negotiating tactic when dealing with your insurance company but don't expect what happened to this poster to happen to you.

Allmost all major auto insurers (allstate, state farm, geico, progressive, etc) have policies refusing to reimburse for diminished value. If you even hope to fight for it you will have to have your car inspected AFTER allt he repairs were performed by an independent service to determine if there is evidence of diminished value post repair. That report is then your ammunition for your fight - and in almost allc ases it is a fight, it is not as easy as a phone call as described above.

If you are in georgia, mississippi, south carolina or tennessee - you may have a slightly better chance as those states have had court rulings in favor of consumers regarding dim value claims.

Anyway, just by bringing up the topic with the adjuster you are putting yourself in a better position than not saying anything - its a great thing to mention and keep in mind if ever in an accident. Just don't expect a walk in the park to get that additional check.

 

Absolutely correct.

 

diminished value settlements in most cases, in most states, are VERY hard to obtain....mr pink summed it all up....you did get lucky....and you probably could have gotten more of a settlement if you had an attorney send them a letter declining that amount....great story tho..good job!

 

Agreed, everyone I spoke to about dimished value claims all said that they are very difficult to obtain.

As stated before, the insurance company was probably more willing to work with me considering that their client committed a felony by doing a hit and run.