[mikracer]

My 2012 V wagon was recently backed into while it was parked at my house. It hardly did any damage to the driver's fender but it did buckle it a bit at the wheel well so the body shop wanted to replace it rather than repair it. The repair was about $3,000 total which included replacing the fender, painting the fender, bumper, and part of the driver's door to blend.

I requested a diminished value claim with the insurance company and they offered me $75. Yes, $75.00. I laughed and stated my case and they came up to $200 claiming the amount of damage was not significant and the majority of the repair was labor costs. My position is that the car now has aftermarket paint and potentially a tainted carfax report which will show an accident.

I guess I'm not really sure what to expect with the diminished value claim and was hoping someone with more experience can chime in. I was hoping for a couple thousand since someone who is going to buy a car like this will 100 times out of 100 buy a car with no damage/paint history if they had a choice between two at the same price point. Should I hire a specialist and see what they can do?

 

[Blades1_99]

It's a shame you can't get the insurance company uninvolved since without them paying out, there wouldn't be any dings on the VIN for CarFax to find.

 

[mikracer]

It's a shame you can't get the insurance company uninvolved since without them paying out, there wouldn't be any dings on the VIN for CarFax to find.

I tried to get person to handle it outside of insurance, but no dice.

 

[TriTexan]

I tried to get person to handle it outside of insurance, but no dice.

Autoloss.com? They usually charge an upfront fee of $250-$350, but might be worthwhile to engage them if you haven't already. I do agree this is a pretty small claim and while as a former V owner I am with you 100% on the aftermarket paint, that might not be seen as a big issue as compared to a classic/collector car.

See what they say though. If your state or insurance contract allow, you can ask for 3rd party review of your case. That's what I did and it worked out very favorably.

 

[subaru335i]

Autoloss.com? They usually charge an upfront fee of $250-$350, but might be worthwhile to engage them if you haven't already. I do agree this is a pretty small claim and while as a former V owner I am with you 100% on the aftermarket paint, that might not be seen as a big issue as compared to a classic/collector car.

See what they say though. If your state or insurance contract allow, you can ask for 3rd party review of your case. That's what I did and it worked out very favorably.

Hell, the aftermarket paint might be better quality than the garbage GM factory spray lol.


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[subaru335i]

Autoloss.com? They usually charge an upfront fee of $250-$350, but might be worthwhile to engage them if you haven't already. I do agree this is a pretty small claim and while as a former V owner I am with you 100% on the aftermarket paint, that might not be seen as a big issue as compared to a classic/collector car.

See what they say though. If your state or insurance contract allow, you can ask for 3rd party review of your case. That's what I did and it worked out very favorably.

Hell, the aftermarket paint might be better quality than the garbage GM factory spray lol.


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[mikracer]

Autoloss.com? They usually charge an upfront fee of $250-$350, but might be worthwhile to engage them if you haven't already. I do agree this is a pretty small claim and while as a former V owner I am with you 100% on the aftermarket paint, that might not be seen as a big issue as compared to a classic/collector car.

See what they say though. If your state or insurance contract allow, you can ask for 3rd party review of your case. That's what I did and it worked out very favorably.

Thanks. I read through your thread from a few years back. I'll check out autoloss and see what they say.

 

[RocketSled]

"Someone backed in to the car in my driveway, so I had the entire fender panel replaced" doesn't sound like diminished value to me. If I were the insurance company, I wouldn't pay this, either. It's totally subjective, based on your fear and not on any actual data. Go get an appraisal for the car. Then after its appraised, tell them about the fender and ask how that affects the appraisal. Or if they pull a CarFax and see the repair, ask them how much more they'd have offered if that damage hadn't happened. If they even give you a delta, have them write it down and send that to the insurance company.

 

[FlipRay]

I would make sure to take photos of the before and after to show the damage. Even if it pops up in carfax, as long as you show how minimal the damage was and somebody would still want to buy it. Just dont go crazy asking $60K for it...

 

[mikracer]

I would make sure to take photos of the before and after to show the damage. Even if it pops up in carfax, as long as you show how minimal the damage was and somebody would still want to buy it. Just dont go crazy asking $60K for it...

I actually have the original fender still. I asked the body shop to save it for me so I can prove the damage was minimal.

 

[TriTexan]

"Someone backed in to the car in my driveway, so I had the entire fender panel replaced" doesn't sound like diminished value to me. If I were the insurance company, I wouldn't pay this, either. It's totally subjective, based on your fear and not on any actual data. Go get an appraisal for the car. Then after its appraised, tell them about the fender and ask how that affects the appraisal. Or if they pull a CarFax and see the repair, ask them how much more they'd have offered if that damage hadn't happened. If they even give you a delta, have them write it down and send that to the insurance company.

Yeah - this is what Autoloss does. They get comps, appraisals, and attempt to quantify things in a meaningful way.

And they aren't shy about telling you straight up if you don't have a legit claim. If they don't take you as a customer, you should probably not pursue it...

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[mikracer]

I am working with autoloss now to get a proper diminished value reimbursement.

 

[northeast ctsv]

Great! You deserve a fair settlement!