Every car owner is expected to insure his prized possession. Predicting the next outcome can be somewhat difficult. Accident happens when we least expected. Many people fail to research or ask questions before buying a policy. One of the most common policy among car owners is the actual value policy (ACV), but what most people fail to understand is that the policy does not insure the property itself but the value of the property. One of the reasons for insuring your car is to protect it from any damage. If the insurance company chooses to repair your car, such an act does not relieve them of their contractual duty to compensate you for the car diminished value Seattle.
If a repair service fails to restore the vehicle to its pre-loss value, the holder is expected to get financial compensation to the loss. Any insurance company that fails to meet these conditions is tantamount to fraud unless otherwise stated in the clause or terms. Most repair works are not properly done. Some of these typical repair relation problems are listed below
- Improper welding
- Poor quality repairs
- Flawed refinish operations
So when do you qualify for a claim for car diminished value Seattle? It’s simple. If your car has not been brought back to its original state before the accident, then your insurance company needs to compensate for the diminished value.
Types of Diminished Value
There are three basic types of diminished value highlighted below. These include
Inherent Diminished Value
This term describes the unavoidable loss of market value in the aftermath of a car accident. If you are looking forward to selling your car, it’s important that you let your prospective buyer in on the previous damage to the vehicle. In this case, you should know that the car will worth less than you’ve bargained unless of course, you’ve made provisions for this already. Whether or not you notify a prospective buyer of damages to your vehicle, odds are he will find out. If this happens, then he may slash the asking price.
Insurance Related Diminished Value
This happens as a result of oversights and/or omissions by the insurance company in the course of their appraisal. It might also be as a result of the use of imitation replacement parts.
Repair Related Diminished Value
This is the total value lost as a result of poor quality repair work and neglected repairs that were compensated for within the insurance appraisal.
An accident-ridden car will worth less than its new counterpart or a car that has not been involved in an accident. Obviously, a buyer will want to pay less than the asking price if he finds out the car had once been involved in an accident. As a result, a damaged car has an inherent diminished value already. In this case, the car owner bears the loss. Fortunately, you can get compensated by your insurance company by filing for car diminished value Seattle.
