No, it’s not irrelevant. Far from it. You’re making it harder than it has to be. She has a contract with her insurance already to make this easy. Most insurance will fight for their insured to make them whole. You appear by the anger in your posts to be getting all riled up about it and perhaps not thinking clearly or you haven’t told us everything that has transpired.
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Just by the posts made by ColtHero makes me think that he will make things more difficult than they should be . If the person who owns this vehicle has an actual insurance agent they should be talking to them.
An insurance company trying to weasel out of paying…imagine that!
I remember years ago when I was the passenger in a single vehicle rollover (it was my friend driving, no ride sharing or anything like that), and I had to be cleared in the ER afterwards and get some stitches and whatnot. They made me go through my auto insurance to go back after my friend’s insurance for the payments. It seems like a waste to drag my insurance company into it too, but what can you do?
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You don’t. Who says there’ll be depreciated value after it’s repaired? If there is any depreciated value it’ll be minuscule if the vehicle is repaired correctly.
I KNOW people immediately go to THEIR Insurance Company for “help” with accident damage, but I’ve already illustrated why that CAN BE a bad idea.
I look at it this way: An accident has occurred. One party is CLEARLY at fault. THEIR Insurance will be liable. Why immediately go running to MY insurance company, getting them involved when it’s not necessary.
This business about “Insurance Companies being paid to represent you” is a bunch of B.S. They’re in business to take your money, and the LESS involved you are with them, the better.
I already told this story, but I’m gonna say it again here: my mother has been paying HER Insurance company (local agents) for FIFTY YEARS! Did they help her out with her accident (caused by the neighbor)? NO. They just made things more difficult. And did they go after “Depreciated Value” for her? NO. They said … “You won’t get that from us”. Yeah, I know that … but how about YOU getting it FOR ME from the other Insurance Company … you know … “REPRESENTING ME”. No. Of course not.
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MikeInNH:
The idea of “Depreciated Value” is a relatively new one. Why? Because we live in an age (now) of unprecedented communication with the Internet and all it’s wonderful businesses that have been borne from it.
So we have CARFAX now, right? People know to look that up. It’s even advertised as a “given” with the sale of many used cars now … to “prove” the vehicle is clean and free of accident damage.
So, if you read a post above, there is an example of how “Depreciated Value” would come into play the minute this previously damaged vehicle tries to convey to a new owner.
I’m sure there are unscrupulous people out there who, in the situation my sister is currently is, would quickly fix the vehicle and sell it (BEFORE CARFAX data was available on it) … and they’re doing this to avoid “Depreciated Value”.
You going the sell immediately after getting fixed? A brand new vehicle that is in an accident and then fixed…there may be some depreciated value. A used vehicle with nearly 100k miles…that number is almost 0. Sell the vehicle 5 years from now…it will be 0. Good luck dealing with the insurance companies with that. I don’t know a single lawyer who’d even consider taking a case like that. Not worth their time.
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I like your wife’s style.
That’s just not correct. Especially on a 2 year old car - I wouldn’t buy a 2 year old car with a significant collision on its history unless it was at a very deep discount. Not many people would. And even then, I’d think hard about it. Sure, if it’s repaired correctly it might not exhibit any problems due to the wreck, but it can be difficult to determine if the thing was repaired correctly without taking a bunch of stuff off to make the underlying repairs visible.
Buying a wrecked car means you’re taking a risk that it might have been repaired poorly and that might result in problems that you have to deal with down the road. It would be insane to pay anywhere near full book value for that.
OP, many insurance companies use a set formula to determine diminished value. Google “diminished 17c” if you want the full, long, explanation.
But you need to check your state’s laws on diminished value, and keep in mind that just because the insurance company says it only lost $X in value doesn’t make that true. It will probably not surprise you that the 17c method favors insurance companies over the claimants.
If your $30,000 car is claimed by insurance to have only lost $500 in value, that does not mean you could now sell the car for $29,500. In general, you’re supposed to be made whole, not made partially whole. In other words, especially with the right counsel, it is not required that you accept the insurance company’s numbers.
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What? I go to my insurance because they are paid by me to compensate me in exactly these situations. I’m not looking for “help”. I’m not interested in dealing with the other guy’s insurance, that’s why I pay for collision. Sorry, I was self insured for about 20 years and had to work with insurance companies to settle claims. They can easily drag you through the mud, makes no sense if you have collision.
If you think you’re going to avoid some type of ding on your record by avoiding using your own insurance, you may also be in for another rude awakening.
Well, since you’re big on examples, here’s one- my policy has replacement cost and a whole bunch of other add ons I can pretty much bet the other guy doesn’t have. I don’t have to wait one minute for a tow truck or a loaner to drive all on their dime. You’ll be fronting those costs and hoping to get reimbursed IF and WHEN they decide to acquiesce or you win a court case.
It’s simple; you have collision, you make a claim, they respond per your policy. They don’t “help her out”. It’s looking more and more like someone injected themselves into the process being belligerent and making unreasonable requests…
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It’s my sister’s vehicle, not mine. I don’t know what she’ll end up doing. Her and her husband are very particular about things, so I’m guessing one or the other will talk the other into getting rid of it because “It’ll never be the same again” (that’s the typical argument). She even sent me a video recently showing them trying to start the vehicle in the garage. Now, mind you, this vehicle was driven home from the accident. The video showed the cluster totally haywire, with just about every idiot light on, blinking and “dinging”, together with a warning message saying LOW (or NO) brake pressure - to which I heard the words, “Wonderful, the car has no brakes!”. So they’re already on their way to convincing themselves that they’re going to need a new vehicle. - even though it’s probably all caused by a discharged battery.
And this is not a “lawyer-eligible” case. It’s Small Claims Court and you’d have to argue it yourself. It’s very possible just the threat of going to Small Claims Court will prod the Insurer into offering you something to “make you go away”. But make no mistake - “Depreciated Value” is a totally legitimate claim that is only an issue nowadays because of the information available to people buying used vehicles.
Very well stated, Shadowfax!
TwinTurbo:
In the case of my mother’s accident, she immediately went to HER Insurance Company and that ended up causing problems. How? The neighbor wanted to fix it out-of-pocket without reporting it to (her) Insurance. Fine. I’m OK with that. I know how Insurance Companies rake people over the financial coals for several years EVERY CHANCE THEY GET. So we can fix it out-of-pocket as long as the car gets fixed properly. But my mother instinctively (and immediately) went to her Insurance agent, and once those bozos got involved, they screwed everything up! Of course, not to say that’ll happen every time, but it did THIS time.
I don’t need my Insurance Company getting involved if it’s not my fault. And I KNOW Insurance Companies have their little “Secret Society” of shared information, and they’ll find out about the accident one way or the other, but I really don’t want to give them ANY excuse to raise rates, because they’ll do it EVERY CHANCE THEY GET.
They raised my rates for HAIL DAMAGE … and ACT OF GOD! Absolutely ridiculous!
So I cut them out every chance I can. Just another layer of bozos to deal with.
But who knows what my sister will do? They’re swimming in money over there, so who cares about $5,000-$7,000, right?
Here’s another one for ya … (Never heard of this): Sister says the accident happened within spitting distance of the local police station. Cop arrives, tells both parties to “Stay in your vehicle”. He collects both sets of Insurance Information, but does not share it with either party.
As I said, I’ve never heard of such a thing, but this is Massachusetts - so any cockamamie thing is possible.
Turns out, the town turned their police data over to some data warehousing company. So both accident parties have to PAY to get a copy of the police report!
Anybody here (living in Massachusetts) ever experience this? I was thinking the cop knew the other party, but now I’m thinking they’re told to hide the information to make people buy the report (as ridiculous as that seems).
In Georgia we have to pay to get a copy of the accident report.
It’s insurance. Not the Illuminati.
We just got T-boned by a kid last Memorial day. We went through our insurance because that’s what you’re supposed to do. Our rates didn’t go up because the wreck was 100% not our fault. I imagine the dumb teenager’s rates went up but… Good. They ought to.
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Why did she contact the insurance company? She can’t both file an insurance claim and collect from the neighbor.
You might be a greater risk than the customer that keeps their car in the garage. My neighbor’s car sees daylight for about one hour a month, little chance for damage from the weather.
Your sibling may also want to investigate the cost/benefit ratio of consulting with an attorney.
Yes. When I lived in MA and was involved in an accident, the police do not share anything on the spot. You have to go to the station and get a copy of the report. They charge a fee for that regardless of fault. You’ll need a copy of that report if you plan to pursue anything on your own.
This is confusing. The at fault driver wanted to pay out of pocket and you preferred that option. Personally, I could care less how the other person is impacted, especially if they caused the accident. I have gone both ways, let them pay out of pocket and forced them to use their insurance. It depends on the situation and MY risk. I have also been on the paying side and had it go both ways…
But how did her insurance “screw it up”? Are you saying they wouldn’t accept her footing the bill and instead insisted they go through the other driver’s insurance? I bet so. They don’t want to screw around with somebody when it comes time to pay. Insurers have understanding among themselves about governing laws in the state, who pays what percentage, what will be covered etc. Why should they waste time negotiating with some novice just so that person might avoid involving their insurance company? Not in their interest.
Yes, but I suspect you have not gone through this much yourself because it can go very wrong for you as well. If they decide to play hardball, you may find yourself showing up to the court date and finding some low level jockey from the insured’s company waiting to see if you show up. Then they file for a continuance. If you don’t show they request a summary judgement in your absence. Or they don’t show up and you win! Yay. But no, they then request another trial since there was some extenuating circumstance why they couldn’t attend and courts don’t like summary judgement and so back to square one. Lather, rinse, repeat and maybe you decide it’s not worth the trouble after a few of these…there are many ways they can drag it out and make you rue the day you ever decided to do this by yourself. Just want you to be aware, it’s no piece of cake if they decide to make it rough on you. Or your sister or mother or whoever decides to take this route…
You keep calling it depreciated value. Using the correct terms will help in your discussions as they are more likely to believe you know what you’re talking about. In this case you’re seeking compensation for diminished value…
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Exactly. In that wreck I talked about, the teenaged driver had had her license for all of one day before she took her dad’s car without permission and drove herself and two friends (one more than legal for a probationary license) 100 miles away from her house to meet up with a boy. Her father wanted to pay for the repairs to our vehicle out of pocket. Uh, no, because you’re eager to do that now so that your daughter’s insurance doesn’t go through the roof, but once you see the repair bill you’re gonna want to dicker, and you’ll think it’s too much and you shouldn’t have to pay that much, etc etc. Just, no.
If they don’t want their insurance company involved in paying for wrecks they cause, they should try harder not to run into things.
Personally, I’d only let them pay out of pocket if I had an old car, the damage was minimal, and I had no intention of having it repaired anyway. Otherwise, I have insurance so that they can fight those battles for me. Not worth my time.
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I had this problem with my 2015 Subaru. I hired an adjuster that specialized in diminished value work. I received almost $3,000 for a $300 investment.