critic81

Hi Guys, so some of you might of seen my thread on my accident. The car is all fixed and look sexy again but now I wanted to collect on diminished value. Has anyone heard of it or have had success with collecting it in MA. Diminished value is since the car has not been in an accident, it is worth less then it was before the accident, and collecting diminished value would be collecting the difference from the at-fault insurance company. Just looking for some pointers on if I can pull this off.

bz268

Is that called the GAP insurrance thingy? I've seen something like that in the sale invoice. Get your invoice and check out the instruction in the back.

joerockt

No, GAP insurance only covers you on a total loss. So, for instance you still owe 20K on a car, but the ins co says its only worth 18K. Gap would cover that $2K difference.

I've never heard of what the orginal poster is talking about...

Reach

I have. I don't fully know how it works but my coworker told me a similar story about his accord. His 6 month old accord was hit horribly but not totaled. 6 months in the shop later (!) he got his car back with a diminished value claim. Basically his car is worth $20k instead of $24k it would have been without the damage/repair. I believe he only gets this $4k diminished value claim if he waits a certain period of time. I asked him why he didn't sell it right away after he got it back, and he said he had to wait until the value of the diminished claim was recovered for it to make any financial sense for him to do so. Makes sense, but I don't fully understand it myself.

Warren803

I have. Last time I was in an accident in my 3 or 4 year old Jetta, a month or two after the car was fixed I received a check in the mail specifically stating the money was for the diminished value of the car. I forgot which insurance company they had, but my guess is that all insurance companies should pay you for diminshed value. I would guess that depending on how cheap the insurance company is, you might have to ask for it. I would bet progressive, being one of the stingiest companies out there" would not automatically pay you unless you ask for it. Or maybe all companies do pay you without asking. I was rear ended 3 times in 2004, once in my new car and twice in my beater. I was given diminshed value money for the accident in my new car but being as my beater was so old and run down...there really is no diminshed value.

jpt

Not all states have diminished value liability laws and not all insurance companies pay for it. Virtually nobody pays for it if the accident was your fault. You have to talk to the other guy's insurance company (assuming there was another guy, sorry I didn't see your first thread) and if they say no, talk to a lawyer to see if you have any diminished value rights in MA.

NJTSXMan

You have to go after the at-fault insurance company to collect on the diminished value of the car. In some instances, you can collect the diminished value from your own insurance policy but you need to find out the terms of your insurance to see if they honor diminished value. I was in a hit and run accident with my car after owning it for maybe 2 months or so. The damage wasn't anything serious, but I read about the diminished value too. I was SOL though because the other party did not even have insurance, so I was unable to collect the diminished value from him. In addition, my own insurance couldn't pay me the diminished value of the car because they don't honor it. Stupid Geico. My insurance has been going after the guy for months to no avail. There's no point in me trying to sue the guy because he probably has nothing.

critic81

Thanks guys for all the responses. I talked to my insurance company and they said it goes through the at fault insurence company and try to collect with them but he said that there have been 2 rulings but the courts in favor of the insurance companies so he said i'm probably not gonna get it but its worth a try. So I will be calling them up sometimes today. Wish me luck!!