Do You Have A Diminished Value Claim in Ohio?

Find Out What the Diminished Value of Your Car is

If your car has been involved in an accident it will be worth less money than it was before. Even if your car is fully repaired, it will have decreased in value. This is called diminished value.

If you think of things from the perspective of a potential buyer, this diminished value makes sense. If two vehicles were exactly the same in every way except one of them had been in an accident, which one would you buy?

All things being equal you would want the one that was not in an accident. This is why after an accident, even after an expert repair, your vehicle is worth less than before.

Consumers are also considerably more sophisticated than ever before. More and more car buyers want to know about the accident history of a vehicle before making a purchase. A variety of different services make finding this information cheap and easy.

How Accidents Affect the Trade-In Value of Your Vehicle

Because consumers are more concerned about buying a car that has been in an accident, car dealerships are also more cautious when handling cars with accident histories. It is now standard practice for dealerships investigate the accident history of a potential trade-in.

Because car buyers prefer cars that have not been in accidents, even a minor car accident can significantly reduce the value of your car at trade-in. Some cars see up to a 25% loss of value after a car accident, even after the car has been fully repaired.

Dealing With Car Insurance After an Accident

Car insurance is supposed to cover your losses in the case of an accident. But, insurance adjusters are trained to close claims as quickly and cheaply as possible. Insurance adjusters don’t get bonuses for paying out more on claims. If you want the insurance company to pay you the actual amount of money you deserve to cover your losses you are going to need some evidence.

Repair bills are a good start, but if you only present these, you will walk away from your claim without any compensation for the diminished value of your car.

Our certified, USPAP compliant appraisals can give you the proof that you need to show that your car is now worth less than it was before the accident, even after being repaired. Our professional, independent appraisals are thorough and good enough to stand up in court.

Insurance companies may try and deny a diminished value claim, or to “compromise” and try and give you a fraction of the lost value. When you are armed with a solid understanding of what a diminished value claim is and our certified appraisal report, you will be in a much stronger position to get what you deserve from your insurance company.

Having an Expert in Your Corner

When you come to Appraisal Wise to get your diminished value appraisal, you are getting much more than just a report. You are also getting Jerry Jenkins as your personal expert. Jerry will give you technical support during the process and can even testify in court as an expert witness, if needed.

We help you get the full amount of diminished value you are owed by sending out the completed diminished value appraisal report to the insurance company representing the at-fault drive with our demand letter explaining what you are owed.

The report that you and the insurance company will receive includes:

A professional and comprehensive report that is written to comply with current USPAP (Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice) standards & appraisal methodology. All research and data collected will be used to produce a custom format for your specific appraisal assignment.

A personal inspection of your vehicle to document value relevant characteristics such as; year, make model, options, features, condition, mileage and quality of repairs.

An audit and analysis of the final repair bill from your body shop

A detailed description of the type and extent of damage suffered as result of the accident, including the identification of the specific components that were damaged and repaired.

Stated pre-loss fair market value of your vehicle as of the date of loss, which is the effective date of your appraisal.

Stated post-repair fair market value of your vehicle

Conclusion of diminished value suffered as a result of the accident

An explanation for the basis of diminished value methodology and how a vehicle’s damage history impacts its value in the current marketplace.

A detailed N.A.D.A. report with VIN decoding and adjustments for mileage & options. *Using the retrospective date of loss which is important because often times your appraisal will be completed months after the accident happened.