Here's one for somebody out there. I had a young lady turn left in front of me on Christmas Eve and I had no choice but to T-bone her. Everyone in both cars was fine, but she pretty well tore up my front right corner (of course I tore her whole left side up). Anyhow, the trucks been fixed and her insurance is paying without issue, as she was cited for fault. However, I heard about claiming for diminished value in addition to the cost of repair. Dimished value, for those who don't know, is the loss of value in your vehicle once it's been in an accident. There's no doubt that I could not get the same money for my truck now that it's been in an accident. And of course, they have a formula for determining the value lost. My question is, how do you pursue the claim? If anyone out there has had any experience with this, please make the rest of us 'innocent bystanders' smart.

 

When I had State Farm, they would not pay for dimished value.

Check the fine print in your policy.

 

Not his policy, hers - she was at fault.

 

out of anywhere from $750 to $1500 on trade in value if the CarFax pops on your truck when you trade it. You're asking the right question, but I don't know how to avoid it other than to ask your insurance guys (and be ready to go the mat with your claims adjuster for it). If you've signed any estimates or other docs though, I'll bet you're SOL.

I just know it happened to me on an older mini-van we traded that had a "moderate collision" on the CARFAX. The used car guys almost beamed with glee when they gave me their low-ball trade-in estimates. Should have asked for that in the insurance settlement from "their" insurance company.