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| Do No Harm, Do Know Harm |
I was rear-ended in October, in my 2018 Jeep JKU that was less than 7 months old at the time. I spoke with the other person's insurance today. They have already accepted fault. They were reluctant to discuss diminished value, and said they would have to inspect my vehicle, which has been repaired, to make sure I actually got it repaired. This made my BS meter flash. The total repair bill was a hair over $2,100. Tailgate and bumper had to be replaced. So we're not talking big bucks here, but I expect something. The medical portion is even less, probably $600 when it's done. My back is still not right, though. And the...lady...I spoke with today made a point to tell me that it should be fine by now. I met with an attorney soon after the accident, but due to the low value involved we agreed that it would not be worth it to me in the end to have to give the attorney his fees vs doing it on my own. I don't have a lot of patience for insurance people. I may wish I'd paid the attorney $300 to get $600 when this is over with  Honestly, if they offered me $1,500 I'd accept it and move on. I'd probably accept $1,000. Just to not have to deal with their bullshit. Anyone dealt with this before? Advice for steps to take? I'm thinking of going to Carmax and getting a written offer with the crash on record, just to have a number to start with. Knowing what one is talking about is widely admired but not strictly required here. Although sometimes distracting, there is often a certain entertainment value to this easy standard. -JALLEN "All I need is a WAR ON DRUGS reference and I got myself a police thread BINGO." -jljones | ||
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blame canada |
Yes, and I believe my diminished value to be significant, since my truck was only 12 months old and an $80K truck. Basically....I gave up. Much like the VA system, insurance companies will just wear you down and ignore you. I couldn't get an attorney to touch it because I was not injured. I couldn't get a proper diminished value appraisal, because...well, I'm the only one in a several hundred mile radius that is a properly licensed appraiser to do it. Conflict of interest...and honestly, I didn't have good data to do it anyway. It isn't my normal type of valuation. I got busy, and the other party's insurance company stopped responding to letters and phone calls. I needed my truck, so I called USAA. They got me fixed up right away (no diminished value on your own claim though), and went after the other party since he was cited and I was not. I found out later he contested in court, got his ticket thrown out, and his insurance (liberty mutual) decided I was at fault. USAA disagreed, but never pursued it. My rates jacked, and my commercial coverage tripled. If I ever see that idiot again I'll punch him in the face, and I don't care who see this. He blew through a yield sign, side swiped me, got cited...and I got screwed. I guess in the end...I don't think I have any good advice. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "The trouble with our Liberal friends...is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." Ronald Reagan, 1964 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Arguing with some people is like playing chess with a pigeon. It doesn't matter how good I am at chess, the pigeon will just take a shit on the board, strut around knocking over all the pieces and act like it won.. and in some cases it will insult you at the same time." DevlDogs55, 2014  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ www.rikrlandvs.com | |||
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Member |
Use one of the online diminished value appraisers. I just emailed a friend. As soon as he gets back to me, I’ll let you know who he used. ——————————————— The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Psalm 14:1 | |||
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| Member |
Honestly for a Jeep with $2100 in damage, $1000 is optimistic. Resale values on Jeeps are SKY HIGH and therefore an accident history isn't going to have a massive effect on the value. The way to look at it is if your Jeep was on a dealer's lot next to an identical Jeep that had not been hit, how much would the dealer have to discount your vehicle over the other one to get it sold. In reality, a dealer is still going to ask full retail value for your vehicle. How much they beat you up on trade is a whole different story and not a factor in diminished value, it's all about the retail value. The Carmax number is worthless. If you are going to get an appraiser, get one who is local and who specializes in it. Make sure they use the USPAP process and are prepared to go to court. This will cost you $300+ and way more if you need to go to court. If you go with an online fly by night place, they aren't usually worth the paper they are printed on. If you do get one, make sure they follow the USPAP process. I would ask for $1500 and be happy to settle for anything over $500 personally. They have to make you an offer or provide you a written denial as to why they feel there is no DV. Just be persistent and calm about it. You can always file a complaint with the state insurance commission if you feel they are being unfair (not responding to you etc. you won't get anywhere if you file a complaint because they offered you $200 and you want $1000). I work for an insurance company and this is part of my every day job function. I find a lot of people these days have an overinflated idea of how much their vehicle diminished in value because the reality is, dealers don't really offer significant discounts for vehicles with an accident history unless they had some kind of severe structural damage, and even then. They would rather wait for an uneducated buyer to come in and pay full price than haggle with an informed person. Especially knowing they beat up the person who traded it in as much as they could. We had a guy with a 2yr old Tahoe that got hit pretty badly. The guy traded it in after and the dealer knocked $10,000 off the trade because of the accident. So obviously the owner wants us to pay him the $10,000. While we were investigating we actually found the vehicle had been sold. Someone called the dealer up and asked the sale price. Dealer got FULL RETAIL for the truck. Technically, there was zero diminished value on the vehicle and we had proof. We still made a fair offer to the guy who got screwed by the dealer but it certainly wasn't $10k. | |||
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| 186,000 miles per second. It's the law. |
"My back is still not right, though" Don't sign anything until this is resolved. See your doctor and get it documented in your medical record that you have ongoing back issues due to the accident. Go back every few weeks and continue to document the chronic back issues that were the result of the accident. Tell this to an attorney. If you truly have long term back pain resulting from this accident, you should have a substantial settlement. The insurance company will change their tune pretty fast. | |||
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| Member |
I wouldn't be in any hurry to settle. Especially on the back pain. I think it's likely that the claims representative just said it should be better in an attempt quickly close the claims. You need to understand that their primary goal is to close it as soon as they can. Open claims are frowned upon as they have a tendency to only develop negatively for an insurance company. As long as the medical is open you have a bit of leverage. Back injury can linger and even get worse. | |||
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| Do No Harm, Do Know Harm |
The $1,500 I mentioned was what I’d settle the medical and diminished value for total. The real number would be higher by a bit, but that number would make it worth not having the headache. I’m still being treated by a Dr for the back. I got 8 lidocaine shots three weeks ago that finally loosened up a knot I’d had since the wreck. It was agonizing. Much improved, but still constant discomfort. Knowing what one is talking about is widely admired but not strictly required here. Although sometimes distracting, there is often a certain entertainment value to this easy standard. -JALLEN "All I need is a WAR ON DRUGS reference and I got myself a police thread BINGO." -jljones | |||
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| Little ray of sunshine  |
Have evidence and support for your claims. Get a real appraisal. Get real medical facts. The fish is mute, expressionless. The fish doesn't think because the fish knows everything. | |||
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| Member |
My friend used www.diminishedvaluecheck.com. And don’t ever settle on your medical until you are 100%. ——————————————— The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Psalm 14:1 | |||
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| Do No Harm, Do Know Harm |
Frankly, I don't know how long it will be until I'm 100%. I'm much better than I was on day 1, or day 10, or day 30. I was damn miserable up until 3 weeks ago when the Dr did the shots. I had tried massage early on, and had been referred to this Dr. (a D.O.) by my primary. That was my 4th Dr. visit, which may not sound like a lot for someone who was hurting, but it was a lot for me. The knot was massive, medial to the lower corner of my scapula. It loosened but I still have pain/tingling/burning there 24/7, just no knot now. All the Dr.s I have seen (two with my primary care practice and the D.O.) all agree that it is a soft tissue injury, and not a slipped disk or anything (it's not in the spinal area). I've been doing my stretches, and medicate as needed with advil and flexeril. Plus heat, an electric massager, and bothering my wife to rub my back a couple of times a day. My primary care Dr. is free. That part's good. The D.O. (who my primary Dr. not only recommended, she uses him herself) does not accept insurance. So I'm paying out of pocket at $200+ a pop. My next appointment is next week. I have medical coverage through my insurance (USAA) but they have been "reviewing" the bills I've sent them for weeks now. Voya still hasn't processed any of my claims I've sent in under my accident policy, either. This whole experience has been just as aggravating as I expected from the beginning. Enough to be a pain in the ass, but not enough to be worthy of a lawyer's time. Knowing what one is talking about is widely admired but not strictly required here. Although sometimes distracting, there is often a certain entertainment value to this easy standard. -JALLEN "All I need is a WAR ON DRUGS reference and I got myself a police thread BINGO." -jljones | |||
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| blame canada |
That's what got to me. I feel for you though man. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "The trouble with our Liberal friends...is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." Ronald Reagan, 1964 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Arguing with some people is like playing chess with a pigeon. It doesn't matter how good I am at chess, the pigeon will just take a shit on the board, strut around knocking over all the pieces and act like it won.. and in some cases it will insult you at the same time." DevlDogs55, 2014 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ www.rikrlandvs.com | |||
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Truth Wins |
Yep, I've dealt with it and do it. Yes, you have to get your car repaired first. It's a no brainer. If the car is repaired properly using OEM parts, there is little to no DIV at all. That simple. Don't believe me? Sue. You'll walk away disappointed. I have never seen an insurer lose one yet. And many times, I've seen verdicts less than the amount the insurer offered to begin with. DIV is one of those things that is totally speculative until you sell the car anyway (so you have to use a bonafide expert, not some yokel at Carmax, to prove DIV). And judges know most owners aren't are going to tell the future prospective buyer about any prior accident, and if they do, they'll try and tell the buyer how little damage there was. Your vehicle MUST be repaired properly to make a DIV claim. If you refused to use a real body shop and, instead, used Bubba at Bubba's Garage to repair your car and he screwed it up, that's your fault, not the person's who hit you. Bad repairs DO NOT factor into DIV claims. If your vehicle has ever been in an accident before, that makes the value of your DIV claim even less, or possibly none. You wouldn't believe the people I've seen claim DIV for a repaired dent on the rear bumper after they got rear-ended when the vehicle was in a prior collision and nearly totaled because the owner rear-ended someone else. If your vehicle is repaired properly using like-kind-and-quality after market parts, you may have a DIV claim MAX of a couple hundred bucks. And that is solely for the fact that the vehicle had been in a prior accident, not because there is anything wrong with it. Another thing - if you want to screw up your DIV claim, then get a quote from Carmax. A judge worth his own weight in dog crap will toss it out of hand. Carmax offers a pittance of what a car is worth anyway. Less than trade-in. Because they have to sell if as much of a profit as they can. To win a DIV claim you need an a real vehicle appraisal from a real vehicle appraiser. You need 3 values - 1) the value of the vehicle before the accident, 2) the value of the vehicle after the accident but before the vehicle is repaired, and 3) the value of the vehicle after it is properly repaired. And they have to be 3rd-party-sale values, not not trade-in values. (When you compare your pre-accident value to the post-accident, post=-repair trade in value and claim the difference is the DIV, then you would be the cheater.) And if you don't have these three values from a bonafide car appraiser, in many states your DIV case will get dismissed. DIV is very hard to prove. If you vehicle has never been in a prior loss, and was repaired properly, give it a whirl. If you get offered a few hundred buck, take it. If you want more, be prepared to sue, And be prepared to pay an expert for real appraisals that will hold up in court. Most insurers will take an owner to task over what is usually a bullshit claim anyway and their stupid Carmax proofs and nail them in court. _____________ "I enter a swamp as a sacred place—a sanctum sanctorum. There is the strength—the marrow of Nature." - Henry David Thoreau | |||
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Member |
If your back is not right yet you need to wait. Did you talk to your attorney about your back. Believe me when I say your back could be an issue for some time. In my case the rest of my life. ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ | |||
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Member |
My son could not get a lawyer to take the diminished value. The lawyers said it will cost more than the insurance company would/if they paid God,Guns,Cars,& 1Wife, I would say I have it all. | |||
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| Member |
Don’t agree to sign any release or other documents until all of your claim, including the dismissed value claim, is resolved. That keeps the claim open on their end which will motivate them some. Florida allows customers to report slow paying insurers to the insurance commissioner - see if you have a similar option. It works pretty well here. When I last made a diminution claim I used the difference in KBB values because the repair took my vehicle down a couple of notches. Your car max idea is good, too. Some objective proof is necessary. | |||
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| Do No Harm, Do Know Harm |
The repair was done at a good body shop. OEM parts. Paint job was 99%, but not quite perfect. My understanding from the lawyer was that the injury claim was based on actual bills paid plus a tiny percentage for suffering. Since I’m not having surgery or expensive diagnostics, the cost isn’t crazy. Knowing what one is talking about is widely admired but not strictly required here. Although sometimes distracting, there is often a certain entertainment value to this easy standard. -JALLEN "All I need is a WAR ON DRUGS reference and I got myself a police thread BINGO." -jljones | |||
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| 4-H Shooting Sports Instructor  |
Just Go to CarFax and compare one with an accident report and one without. Car Guru is also a good comparison site. And I am sure the Dealership you bought it from would also give you a statement. But as someone that is Still dealing with back problems from an accident 10 years ago that was also a Minor rear end collision. I would get it checked out .. Go to a Chiropractor and they will check it out, And if nothing else They are masters at working insurance companies. They may have you come in daily for physical therapy. _______________________________ 'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but > because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton NRA Endowment Life member NRA Pistol instructor...and Range Safety instructor Women On Target Instructor. | |||
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| Member |
I was involved in an accident in late 2011 I believe. I know I wasn't home from AIT too long when it happened. I was rear ended by a nurse who was on the way home for her daughters birthday. She told the Deputy it was her fault and was cited. The accident happened in front of the battalion who was lining up for formation. (We were at an off site for training) Well I thought I was fine, and went to a few visits for my back. I had State Farm at the time, and they were miserable trying to get the other person to pay for the therapy. I finally cleared everything up, and proceeded through life. Fast forwarded a few years and I was not fine and it still bothers me occasionally. It would act up sometimes during training, wearing body armor (LE and military) and sometimes in the prone shooting when shooting for qualification or re-familiarization fire of the bigger toys. It did act up on me once in a while in AFG when I was clearing rooms with the M4 snugged up tight on my shoulder. I know you enjoy what you do and the specialized unit that you are in, so make sure that you are 100%. It may seem you are getting better now, but make sure you are because You also have to look for next year and the years after. Especially since you will be wearing body armor, qualifying with pistol and long guns, and hopefully getting to attend some pretty good/cool schools. Just a word of advice from someone who turned 47 on Monday, and has abused his body serving in LE and the military and didn't listen to advice.This message has been edited. Last edited by: mrapteam666, | |||
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| Gone but Together Again. Dad & Uncle  |
Great advice and totally concur. The only time I've ever seen someone collect DIV, is if it was a "specialty car" and involved significant damage. Think high end sports/collector car wherein the resale market is very finite. Not to take away from your jeep, but, to the insurance carrier it is a regular vehicle. Now as to medical injury, as others have said wait until you are 100% sure you are back to normal. From personal experience, I've closed the property part of a claim but not the medical part of the claim and damn glad I did. | |||
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| Truth Wins |
Bad advice and a guaranteed loss if you sue for diminution in value. Carfax, Carguru, ect ARE NOT auto appraisers and they are not experts. If you don't use an auto appraiser, you will lose. Because whatever scrap of paper you get from Cargurus won't be worth used toilet paper when it is up against the insurer's car appraiser. _____________ "I enter a swamp as a sacred place—a sanctum sanctorum. There is the strength—the marrow of Nature." - Henry David Thoreau | |||
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