Car insurance companies are in the business of making money. Shocker. They may say they have your best interest at heart, but if you have ever been in a car accident and tried to contest their settlement offer or make a diminished value claim, you’ve seen firsthand what a struggle it is to get the maximum market value for your vehicle. Whether you are trying to settle a total loss claim or recover money for repairs from your own insurance company or are seeking diminished value from the other driver’s insurer, it’s a good idea to be proactive and get a professional auto appraisal. Why Do I Nee ..read more

The aftermath of a wreck is a trying time, and dealing with your insurance company can make it even harder.  If you have been in an accident in which the insurance company declared your car a total loss, even though it could be repaired, it can hurt; cars can have sentimental value as well as monetary. Maybe it was a precious anniversary gift, a classic that belonged to your dad, or the first car you ever bought brand new. If it can be repaired, you might be thinking, that’s what I want to do! You may want your vehicle repaired, but the hard truth is the only thing insurers look at is the ..read more

If you have been in a wreck in California and the other driver was at fault, you have a chance of recovering more than just the cost of your medical bills and repairs to your vehicle. It may be worth your while to file a diminished value (DV) claim with the other driver’s insurance company. A wrecked vehicle almost always incurs a reduction in value. The stigma attached to a car that’s been in a wreck makes potential buyers unwilling to pay as much for it as they would pay for a nearly identical vehicle with a clean history.  It doesn’t matter if repairs were done so beautifully it looks ..read more

Diminished value refers to the difference in the market value of a vehicle before a wreck versus what it’s worth after a wreck – because being in an accident almost always devalues a car significantly. A diminished value appraiser provides a report evaluating the market value of a car that has been wrecked compared to what it was worth before the accident.  Diminished value is only applicable in cases where the accident was the fault of the other driver, and DV must be filed with his or her insurance company, not yours. How Does Auto Appraisal Work? In addition to a vehicle’s current stat ..read more

What Is Diminished Value When a vehicle is in an accident, its trade-in or resale value almost always drops. Even if the vehicle is repaired and returned to its original condition, it simply won’t bring as much as it would have had it not been wrecked. If the other driver was at fault in the accident, however, you may be able to recover the difference between what your vehicle would have brought on the market or as a trade-in before it was wrecked and what you could expect to get with an accident in its history. This difference is known as “diminished value.” How Do I Calculate a Diminished Va ..read more

What Is a Lemon Law? Lemon Laws are laws in place to help protect consumers who have unknowingly purchased a defective vehicle. The defect can be something affecting the vehicle’s safety, performance, or resale value. As with many other things, Lemon Laws vary from state to state. There is a federal law, but under it the buyer is only eligible to recover the difference between what was paid for the vehicle and what it was actually worth at the time of sale–or what the buyer would have been willing to pay had the defect been acknowledged.  According to the Better Business Bureau, state law ..read more

Wanna talk secrets? Diminished value is a secret insurance companies would love to keep. While they more or less dutifully pay out to fix your car after an accident, they don’t want to tell you that you may also be able to claim diminished value and collect a whole lot more. Why? Because it’s very rare that a wrecked car doesn’t lose a significant amount of its former value, even if the repair work was done perfectly.  Most buyers take a hard pass when they find out a car has been in an accident–or they will offer much less than they would for an identical car with no accident in its vehi ..read more

If you have filed an insurance claim after a wreck, a claims adjuster will assess the damage and decide whether it’s fixable and how much it would cost. Insurance companies usually deem a car a total loss if repairs will cost more than the vehicle is worth.  In total loss cases, insurance companies come up with a vehicle valuation and offer a settlement. You are within your rights to dispute the settlement amount, however, if you think it’s too low or you’re just not sure and want a professional opinion.  You should listen to your instincts because you could stand to lose a lot of mo ..read more

Want to know how to get the most out of your diminished value (DV) claim? Here’s the answer in three words: expert auto appraisal. If you’ve been the victim of an accident in which your high end vehicle sustained damage, the only way to recover the maximum value of the vehicle is to file a diminished value claim. You may think that once the claim has been turned in and the insurance companies are hashing it out that your part is done; you just have to wait for the check. In most cases that’s largely the case, but if, for example, your car is an expensive luxury vehicle or a rare classic model ..read more

Buying a late model used car can be a savvy way to save money on an excellent vehicle, but what if the vehicle that was represented to you as clean or even certified turns out to be a lemon? What if it was previously damaged and the dealer didn’t disclose that? Or what if the dealer added fees to the agreed upon price, falsely advertised a sale, or played fast and loose with the financing?  If any of those things happened to you, you may have a legitimate case for dealer fraud. Before “lawyering up,” you should give the dealer a chance to make it right, but be prepared for disappointment ..read more