Diminished Value claims

September 18, 2008 by Zale.

This is a bit of a touchy subject with me, because I believe that the insurance companies have it all wrong.

A Diminished Value claim is simply a claim regarding property, usually a vehicle, that was damaged and has been repaired.  But it still may never have the same value as it would if it has not been damaged at all.  At one time, if the vehicle was properly repaired, then there was truly no Diminished Value.  Now we have CarFax and similar information providers.  These are great tools for buyers, but if a vehicle has been damaged in an accident, I don’t care how  well you repair it, its always going to have a CarFax notice for that accident. Therefore the value is permanently diminished.

Georgia is one of the few states that has legislated Diminished Value. (Georgia legislates a LOT anyway, so this is not too surprising.)  What’s surprising is that the insurance industry had a formula it used based on the Georgia statute.  I used this formula as an adjuster myself.  Well, it appears that the insurance industry has now run afoul of the statute.  (I know, you’re surprised.)   It seems that the insurance companies have been saying that their “formula” was approved by the Georgia Insurance Commissioner.  According to the Insurance Commissioner, that statement was not true.

You know, if insurance companies would simply be nice and give the consumer the benefit of the doubt, there wouldn’t be any need attorneys who handle insurance matters for the consumer.  But it appears that we have plenty of work to do because of them.

If you want to read more on this topic, check out this blog post.

If you have a question about a Tennessee Diminished Value claim, please feel free to contact the Dowlen Law Firm, PLLC at 615.497.0763 to discuss it.

Posted in Diminished Value, Insurance Practices, Insurance Law | 1 Comment »