An owner of a 2017 Jeep Wrangler Sahara had his vehicle damaged by an at fault; insured driver. The insurance company paid $9752.33 for the collision restoration, but when the Jeep’s owner inquired about diminished value the adjuster stated “your vehicle hasn’t lost any value, but as a courtesy we will give you $500.” At that point the body shop referred him to DVAC. We were hired to handle the appraisal for the Diminishment of Value (DOV) claim. We immediately enacted The Appraisal Clause. The at fault insurance company was compelled to hire their own appraiser. We had a brief discussion about the DOV and quickly agreed the vehicle owner was entitled to $5355.
Insurance companies will often Block and Stonewall. (BS). 1) we don’t owe for that. 2) we need supporting documents. 3) we don’t agree with the documents. A client with a 2018 Lexus with 30k miles on the clock was hit by an at fault insured driver. They paid out $15,688 for the repairs. When our client requested compensation for his Diminishment of Value (DOV) the usual scenario played out.
Insurance companies often try to deny diminished value claims, insisting that if your vehicle is repaired, they owe you nothing. They may then require you to hire an expert to prove the loss, only to later argue that your expert hasn’t provided sufficient evidence. Our client followed DVAC’s guidance and stood firm—what started as a complete denial turned into a $3,000 “courtesy” offer, followed by further negotiations. After DVAC’s involvement, the final payout reached $8,500. It pays to have a licensed Diminished Value and Total Loss Professional on your side.
A DVAC Client was hit by an at fault/insured driver. The at fault driver caused almost $18,000 of collision damage to our client’s 2019 GMC truck. The at fault insurance company paid for all the repairs. When our client inquired about a Diminishment of Value (DOV) settlement, the at fault Insurance company outright denied the claim. “Prove it, we paid for your repairs and we don’t BELIEVE your truck has lost any value.” DVAC was hired and we proved that our client incurred a $7500 DOV. The responsible insurance company had no choice; they settled and sent our client a settlement for the full amount. Always get a second opinion from a licensed appraiser.
A lawyer had a client that was hit by an at fault insured driver. The responsible insurance company agreed to pay for $14,088.17 to repair the 2020 Chevrolet Silverado, however, only offered $1200 for the Diminishment Of Value (DOV). The lawyer representing the accident victim asked DVAC what we thought the insurance company should pay for the diminished value, after analyzing the Estimate Sheets of Record, DVAC determined the DOV to be $4250. That’s exactly what the truck owner received from the responsible insurance company.
Diminished Value and Total Loss Settlements
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