What is Diminished Value?
If your vehicle was damaged in an accident, its value may have diminished. This loss in market value is known as diminished value and, in most states, you can file a claim through the at-fault party’s insurance company to recoup this lost value.
Why Claim Diminished Value?
Equity & Resell Value
Following an accident, even after it is repaired, your vehicle has lost value. If you were to sell your vehicle now, you would likely receive significantly less than you would have if the accident had never happened.
Compensation
The at-fault party has a responsibility to compensate you following damage to your property that they caused. While your vehicle may have been repaired to “pre-loss conditions”, your loss extends past the cost of repairs.
Accident Report
Your accident will now appear on your vehicle’s history. Not only does this reduce your vehicle’s value, but it may also deter some buyers and make it harder to sell in the future.
When to contact prime
You Should KNow FAQ
Prime timeline
CarFax
It can take up to 3 months for an accident to show up on a CarFax report. To provide a comprehensive package, we highly recommend waiting for this report before submitting to the at-fault insurance company.
If you submit your claim to us before the report is available, we will open your file and contact you once we receive it.
Supplements
Sometimes additional damage is found during repairs, requiring a supplemental invoice. The final repair invoice is needed to calculate the amount owed for diminished value properly. This is why we will wait until repairs are complete before completing our report.
If you submit your claim to us before your vehicle’s repairs are completed, we will open your file and begin processing it as soon as you provide the final repair invoice.
Right to Appraisal
If there is a disagreement between your repair facility and the at-fault insurance company on the cost of repairs, it may be necessary to invoke the Right to Appraisal clause. Timelines for these vary and are often dependent on state legislature.
If you submit your claim to us while there is an ongoing right to appraisal case, we will open your file and begin processing it as soon as you provide the final repair invoice.
Prime also provides Right to Appraisal services in the form of auto damage estimating and umpiring.
Complete Vehicle Repairs
Following your motor vehicle accident, you will submit an insurance claim and have the necessary repairs completed.
Obtain Final Repair Invoice
Once repairs are completed, you will obtain the final repair invoice from your repair shop.
Reach out to Prime
With that final invoice in hand, you will reach out to Prime via our Diminished Value intake form. Which is located below.
Initial Research
Prime will do initial research to determine an approximate amount you are owed.
Phone Call with Prime
Prime will contact you to discuss our initial research and help you decide whether to move forward with your claim. If you decide to move forward, we will send you an initial invoice for a deposit toward our fee.
Obtain Documentation
Once we receive your deposit, we will complete our research and work to compile a comprehensive report, including all necessary documentation, for you to submit your claim to the at-fault insurance company.
Submit Claim to At-Fault Insurance Company
At this time, you will receive our final invoice and, upon payment, we will forward you the full, final Diminished Value package. You will send this package to the at-fault insurance company.
Collect What You Are Owed*
The at-fault insurance company will review the relevant documents and make you an offer. This part of the process is in your hands; however, we greatly appreciate knowing the outcomes of all our claims! So please let us know of your success!
Why do I need Prime Consulting?
You don’t.
You could submit a diminished value claim with or without documentation you obtain on your own. The more supporting documentation you have for your diminished value claim, the more likely you are to be successful. So let us save you time and do the research for you.
What are the next steps?
After you reach out to us, we will simply require a copy of your shop’s final repair bill; however, be prepared to provide your vehicle’s information (make, model, year) during initial contact.
Once we complete our research, we will forward all the documentation to you. You will then supply this documentation to the at-fault party’s insurance company to make a claim for diminished value.
Note: The full timeline will depend on factors such as vehicle repair completion and the availability of the CarFax report.
How do I know it’s worth the effort?
While we can’t predict what the outcome of your diminished value claim could be, we do know you are more likely to be successful with supporting documentation.
However, should our initial research show the value of your claim to be low, we will contact you so you can decide if you want to move forward or not.
What if I’m at fault for the accident?
Unfortunately, you can only submit a claim for diminished value if you are not at fault for the accident.
Prime does also offer Right to Appraisal services.
What else does Prime Do?
Prime also does Right to Appraisal (RTA) work – both repair estimating and umpiring. As well as general consulting and education for auto repair facilities and consumers.
Learn more about RTAs here:
CarFax
It can take up to 3 months for an accident to show up on a CarFax report. To provide a comprehensive package, we highly recommend waiting for this report before submitting to the at-fault insurance company.
If you submit your claim to us before the report is available, we will open your file and contact you once we receive it.
Supplements
Sometimes additional damage is found during repairs, requiring a supplemental invoice. The final repair invoice is needed to calculate the amount owed for diminished value properly. This is why we will wait until repairs are complete before completing our report.
If you submit your claim to us before your vehicle’s repairs are completed, we will open your file and begin processing it as soon as you provide the final repair invoice.
Right to Appraisal
If there is a disagreement between your repair facility and the at-fault insurance company on the cost of repairs, it may be necessary to invoke the Right to Appraisal clause. Timelines for these vary and are often dependent on state legislature.
If you submit your claim to us while there is an ongoing right to appraisal case, we will open your file and begin processing it as soon as you provide the final repair invoice.
Prime also provides Right to Appraisal services in the form of auto damage estimating and umpiring.
