I got diminished value on F430

Some may recall that my 06 F430 was involved in a fender bender when somebody scraped the side while they were parking. I had the repairs done at a very reputable body shop. They did an excellent job. Lady who hit me, her insurer State Farm, refused to pay the repair shop hourly rate. This upset me, so I went after them for not only that but also diminished value from the accident. In the end, they paid me the full labor rate, loss of use comp, and $15k for diminished value. I paid an expert $1450 for report that got me this result.

 

Well done sir.

 

May I ask you "went after them" exactly. Did you have your insurance represent you? Or did you seek legal counsel?

 

Excellent!


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Well, it helps being a 20+ year litigator where I represented myself. I did not involve my carrier. That said, I still had to endure 4 rejections on my request for them to pay the $100/ hour rate for body work instead of the $55 they were willling - which shorted me just under $4k. My expert showed:

- no State Farm approved body shop in Kansas City area would touch the car - all recommeded it be sent to where I had repairs done.
- State Farm's guildlines to their own insured says only take to a body shop experienced in working on cars like yours.
- a report he prepared on similar scar values in the market with no wreck history to one's with wreck history, how buyers of these types of cars take such histories seriously, etc.

Just keep this type of claim in mind. Most policies cover them, and most states recognize this as a viable claim against someone who negligently damages your property. My report cost $1450. It got me $15k most people won't see. Grant it, I was probably treated better because my final letter told them I would sue.

 

Good for you!

 

State Farm Auto sucks. I've been there. Took me almost a year of arm twisting to get a fair settlement on damage. I will never use State Farm again for anything. FWIW.

 

Wouldn't the $15K be nullified if ever you sell due to the slight blemish on the title?
I would definitely keep those pics and docs safe.

 

Well done, but I too suspect that you received better treatment than most due to the fact that you're a lawyer. I've had more than one instance over the years where reminding someone of how many suits I've filed in what is now 42 years of practicing law persuaded them to rethink their position.

 

The whole premise is that when you sell, the value you will be getting is $15k less than what you should have gotten without a blemish on title. This is why you need good documentation to fight diminished value. I just went through small claims court for the same thing and prevailed. When I received my check from Allstate, I had to sign a document that stated all claims have been fulfilled. Nothing to nullify.

 

So you didn't actually sue? Also, did you call the police at the time of the accident? Is there a Carfax report? That's the real value destroyer.

From what I've heard from a friend in the auto business, the business model of most insurance companies is to deny at first but ultimately pay if the aggrieved party does not give up.

 

That’s what happened to me. Accident in February this year and had to go to small claims court last month. I wrote 3 demand letters and got no where. Prevailed in court and Allstate called yesterday to pay the judgement.

 

Well done!!


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My office manager had his Hyundai Sonata catch fire and burn to the ground . State Farm towed the wreckage to his house and dropped it in the street . They would only cover the cost of a Ford Festiva rental car . Took them almost a month to pick up the car and tried to only give him 4k . He battled back and finally got 12k for it . I would rather take a chance of not being insured than ever deal with them .

 

Yes, that is the purpose of pursuing the claim. I stick the $15k away, and when, or if, I ever go to sell my car, and there is a diminished value due to the accident history, this fund should hopefully cover it. This payment is not a windfall by any means, it is fair comp for the loss.

 

Good for you. Plus, in small claims court, don't need a lawyer to navigate, and costs are relatively low. MO small claims is limited to 6k I think, so I would have filed in circuit court. But everyone should keep these type of claims in mind.

 

No police report. KCMO doesn't do them on such things unless I walk them in. Will wait a bit to check CarFax. My guess is State Farm is a reporter. Will keep all pics and repair bills for next sale. Settled with adjuster. Correct, most insurers model is deny, deny. I spoke to 5 different adjusters on my claim for each time I called on Status of claim. Got 5 different reasons why they would not pay the higher repair rate, each adjuster saying the other was wrong. It was intentionally nuts - hoping I would give up. Then I started putting every request in warm iting demanding written responses. When they called agreeing to pay, the first thing that adjuster said was "I have no idea that labor rate was not paid....it should have been from the start."

 

Yeah, I hate being the person who drops the lawyer card, but once they learn you have your own free lawyer who will be highly motivated, and they have to pay some fender bender defense lawyer, they get more reasonable.

 

Fascinating - It seems the "$1450 expert report" was a significant factor along with your persistence. Can you say a little more about how you located someone with sufficient credibility to prepare such a report?

Also a quick cautionary tale on Carfax reports from very recent experience. I just traded my daily driver that had suffered a low speed impact with a parking lot bollard many years ago. Minor damage that was repaired, but of course it showed 1 accident on the Carfax history. The shop that took the trade has a link for the Carfax for the vehicle that I traded in, so I looked and Carfax shows the accident as a "collision with another vehicle," which clearly was not the case. I notified the shop that has the car - not sure they can get the Carfax report amended, but having also closely scrutinized Carfax reports for every replacement car that I was shopping for, there were some that I simply dismissed due to accident history suggesting a serious impact. A cosmetic incident such as yours would not concern me too much.... just be careful to see that Carfax get's it correct in their reporting.

 

My body shop put me in contact with this person.

CarFax reports really don't mean a lot when you get down to it. Not all accidents (no matter how severe) get reported to them. Also, they make mistakes re: type of accident as described above.

 

Great news! I am also on this boat while my car is being repaired. They already stated no they will not pay because I did not sell my car yet to know actual loss. Keep in mind statue of limitation is 2-3 years to file claim. Lots of back and worth before civil suit.

 

Diminished value claims are not allowed in some states is my understanding. Anyone know more?

 

That may be true. I live in MO, and there is a case on point permitting this claim. But, each state will have its own law on this issue.

 

CarFax reports absolutely mean a lot when there is one for your exotic car. Speaking from experience, I lost a lot due to a minor incident (much more minor than the OP's) simply because there was a CarFax report. When I went to sell my Aston V12V, every dealer I spoke to beat me up on the sale price by pointing to the CarFax report and some weren't even interested in the car because of it. You really don't want a CarFax report on an exotic car you want to sell.

 

This may help:

http://www.independentagent.com/education/vu/siteassets/documents/pdf/miscellaneous/diminutionofvaluestatebystatelistingchart.pdf