I am posting here since I am a member and this site has people from all over the US and alot of traffic. My wife's vehicle was rear ended by a dump truck(she is ok) and not at fault. I have filed an additional claim for diminished value as a result of the wreck. I must provide documentation that supports my claim. Kelly Blue Book is easy enough to find retail or trade value before the wreck. But I must provide value after the wreck. Without paying for Carfax report, which I do not believe would provide that info anyways. Has anyone been through this and have any ideas? I thought of visiting a dealer possibly as she may also wish to purchase a new vehicle.

First of all, don't accept the insurance company's first offer. Document all of the time you spend in looking for a car. Get a second opinion on her condition- injuries suffered from being rear-ended don't always show up immediately.

Your insurer can tell you its value, in the current condition. If the trucker's insurer wants to repair it, it has to be worth more than scrap value but if you allow them to repair it, make sure you stipulate OEM parts, not aftermarket unless it's a brand that use parts that are worse than aftermarket, like GM and their steering/suspension components.

Maybe it'll help but I paid for 5 carfax reports and I'm pretty certain I have 3 left that I won't use so if you want to PM me the VIN and your email, I'll run the report on it and send you the PDF when I'm sitting at my desk in the next few days.

It can be an uphill battle getting the other party's insurance to pay for a diminished value claim but it is possible. The key is that you need, in writing, the value of the vehicle pre-accident and the value post-accident after all repairs have been made. I would get 2-3 quotes: 2 separate new car dealers and then one from Carmax. Their insurance may balk at the $ difference. You can either accept their counteroffer or sue them for the actual diminished value. Carfax won't give you a diminished value dollar amount but it will give you a report of if the accident was reported...obviously a tainted report diminishes the value more than one that is clean and clear, so use that to your advantage.

The car is repaired. They have no problem at this point paying for diminshed value. They just want documentation of lost value.

They are playing hard, They can certainly tell you what the car is worth now.

Another angle you can try is to go to a dealer, act like you are trading it in and get a written offer, If its a reputable dealership they will take the paint meter and immediately give you the lowest number posisble because its been repainted. Take that offer back to the Insurance company with an average of NADA/Galves/KBB for the condition of the car that would have been had it not been hit. FYI you cannot rely on KBB as that is not the true number since the dealers/insurance uses a different number. However if you average NADA and galves its gets you within a few hundred of the "real" nunber

Also do some research on some forums, BMW is pretty standard 9-13k ding for any damage/repaint...what kind of car is it?

Here is the diminished value calculation used by insurance firms:

[Link: kielichlawfirm.com]

They will deny it up down left and right but its a fantastic tool!!!!

It's a great tool to show you how they put it in dry, no kisses.

Sounds about right for damn near ANY car insurance company.

Especially so for State Farm and Allstate.

If you have statefarm your screwed

This is true...

I had Nationwide at one time. Agent writes the policy on my work van, and I find out later that the policy didn't cover a work vehicle. Their suggestion?

Don't drive it.



Had State Farm. Agent wrote a standard liability only policy when it was to be a stated value policy. Again, the car, a classic, wasn't actually covered.


Now have USAA & Hagerty.

The truck driver's insurance should be paying for this, not the insurance for the one who was hit.

Then highfigh wrote the second post about an hour later, after quoting the first post in its entirety. Like I just did. Then:

Several other people said several other things, almost all helpful. Then, without quoting anything more, just relying only on our common sense to figure out what he was talking about (duh, it was totally obvious!), highfigh wrote:

highfigh, I'm having trouble figuring out which post you're replying to here. Would you please quote it in its entirety?

Thanks............

Its pretty obvious who he was referring to, Its pretty obvious the dump truck drivers insurance is paying for the damages