Hi all, I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but here goes. A little old lady neighbor backed into my 550 while it was parked on the street. Banged up the door pretty good - didn't need replacement thankfully, but about $7k in damage after all the paint and metalwork to make it right again. It looks good, but now I've got the dreaded "Carfax Accident History." I'm sure insurance companies have a plethora of attorneys to throw at people who come at them with diminished-value claims. That being said, does anyone have experience going after insurance for a diminished value claim? I know there are appraisers that can do an appraisal to assist, but I'm reading in some places that attorneys needed to get involved. Hate to do it, but it's 100% fault claim to the other party and now I have a car with accident history, so I'll do what I need to to be made whole. Any thoughts greatly appreciated. Thanks, Kai
Kai, You live in Florida which has a defined process for Diminished Value Claims. Amounts are limited but at least there is a reasonable process to follow. In many States......the insurance companies go into protect mode and turn any claims over to their legal departments to handle. https://www.dvcheck.com/diminished-value-claim/florida#:~:text=Florida Diminished Value Law,at-fault driver's insurance company.
I'm in tx, it was pretty easy to just ask the opposing insurance company what they were gonna do about dv and let them make the first offer I've had various degrees of success... luckily 7k$ claim doesn't seem to have exhausted the limits of the other party so there should be room for your dv claim
You need should contact Erica Eversman out of Ohio. She's a diminished value expert and an attorney. Worked with her when a valet drove my 355 into a wall and the garage's insurance company tried to play games.
Contact Chip Davis with Expert Auto Appraisals. And you're in Florida, so it's an easy trip for him. https://expertautoappraisals.com/
Thank you for all the feedback folks. I contacted Chip at Expert Auto Appraisals, just because he's local to me. We'll see what happens.
