So, last week, I was rear ended in my 4 month old '17 Forester XT Touring with Eyesight and Nav.
The other insurance made an initial estimate of only $2k in damages, but that isn't going to be close to the actual total. They are doing the teardown estimate right now, and I should hear back soon about the extent of the damages. I know there is underlying damage because you can see that the rear quarter panel has moved forward (panel gap with the door shows this), and the hatch and bumper are not the only things damaged. It will probably not be near enough to total it, but I am worried about structural damage.
I read elsewhere that I should look into filing a diminished value claim for this accident.
Basically, from what I have seen, the other insurance company should owe me the difference between what the vehicle was worth right before the accident, and what it is worth now that it has been in one (assuming it gets fixed and not totaled.)
So, I asked the adjuster about this, and he initially tried to dismiss this, and after further questioning he said that they only pay when I sell the vehicle and can prove that I was only able to get a reduced amount because of disclosing the damage. He also said that if that was a long time from now, they might not still have the records from this claim, and it might be hard to re-open the claim years later. He then forwarded me on to someone else in the company that will respond directly to the diminished value aspect of the claim (with no response from this person yet).
I have seen other posts online that mention that the diminished value should be calculated as of the time of the accident, not years later when I sell the vehicle, but it is difficult to obtain pricing on a used '17 XT (because there really aren't too many yet, and NADA, KBB, etc don't have used pricing yet). I've also seen a lot of people say the insurance company will only accept "licensed appraiser's" values or actual loss values.
If I try to trade it in or sell it now, I would be forced to cover the depreciation, plus the diminished value out of pocket (or roll it in to the new vehicle) while I wait for the claim to hopefully be paid. I do this later when the depreciation is closer to what I owe, there's a chance they have purged the claim from their records. (Plus, I don't feel safe driving around a vehicle with an infant son and another baby on the way in a car that has had structural repairs, regardless of how well the repairs are made.)
So, does anyone have experience with a Diminished Value claim? What was your experience, and what did you need to do to prove the value drop?
The other insurance made an initial estimate of only $2k in damages, but that isn't going to be close to the actual total. They are doing the teardown estimate right now, and I should hear back soon about the extent of the damages. I know there is underlying damage because you can see that the rear quarter panel has moved forward (panel gap with the door shows this), and the hatch and bumper are not the only things damaged. It will probably not be near enough to total it, but I am worried about structural damage.
I read elsewhere that I should look into filing a diminished value claim for this accident.
Basically, from what I have seen, the other insurance company should owe me the difference between what the vehicle was worth right before the accident, and what it is worth now that it has been in one (assuming it gets fixed and not totaled.)
So, I asked the adjuster about this, and he initially tried to dismiss this, and after further questioning he said that they only pay when I sell the vehicle and can prove that I was only able to get a reduced amount because of disclosing the damage. He also said that if that was a long time from now, they might not still have the records from this claim, and it might be hard to re-open the claim years later. He then forwarded me on to someone else in the company that will respond directly to the diminished value aspect of the claim (with no response from this person yet).
I have seen other posts online that mention that the diminished value should be calculated as of the time of the accident, not years later when I sell the vehicle, but it is difficult to obtain pricing on a used '17 XT (because there really aren't too many yet, and NADA, KBB, etc don't have used pricing yet). I've also seen a lot of people say the insurance company will only accept "licensed appraiser's" values or actual loss values.
If I try to trade it in or sell it now, I would be forced to cover the depreciation, plus the diminished value out of pocket (or roll it in to the new vehicle) while I wait for the claim to hopefully be paid. I do this later when the depreciation is closer to what I owe, there's a chance they have purged the claim from their records. (Plus, I don't feel safe driving around a vehicle with an infant son and another baby on the way in a car that has had structural repairs, regardless of how well the repairs are made.)
So, does anyone have experience with a Diminished Value claim? What was your experience, and what did you need to do to prove the value drop?