mrfisher3043
mrfisher3043 New Reader
10/12/24 2:08 a.m.

I live in Georgia. A couple weeks ago while I was towing my boat with my 2022 Toyota Tundra Platinum(33k miles), I was in an accident that involved two other vehicles. The driver in car 1 was looking down at his phone and slammed into car 2 which slammed into my boat/trailer. The driver in car 1 was found 100% at fault. Both those cars were totaled and there was considerable damage to my boat/trailer, but no damage to my Tundra according to the collision shop.

Even though my truck had no damage, I understand that I will still have an accident flag showing on my Tundra's vehicle history/Carfax report, which I'm sure lowers the resale value and will make it harder to sell.

Should/can I get compensated from the at fault party's insurance (Nationwide) for the reduced value of my truck? The only thing they've paid for is the $230 the collision shop charged for the damage assessment. The Nationwide rep I spoke with try to insinuate to me there's no diminished value compensation since there was no damage to the truck and also bc we're talking about a "hypothetical" future resale value.

Is it worth fighting them back on this?  Any tips on how to argue my case? and get an estimated value of my truck with an accident vs without an accident on the report?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

ddavidv
ddavidv UltimaDork
10/12/24 7:10 a.m.

That's a GA specific question. When I did some virtual GA claims a loooong time ago the were one of the few states that had a calculation that determined DV from the car's value vs the repair cost. But since you didn't have any damage it wouldn't apply. I doubt you have a case.

SKJSS (formerly Klayfish)
SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) UltimaDork
10/12/24 12:44 p.m.

No you do not have a case.  There's also a decent chance it will not show up on Carfax.

ddavidv, GA doesn't use a calculation.  There was the old "17c" rule from decades back, but the DOI specifically posted a bulletin saying they don't endorse or recognize it.

Steve_Jones
Steve_Jones UltraDork
10/12/24 4:58 p.m.

Now that the 2 insurance guys chimed in, I'll answer as someone who has successfully gotten paid for diminished value. Unfortunately I agree with them. The 3 times I've done it, I hired someone to write the report, and they're all the same. It's "with $x in repairs, showing as an accident on Carfax, and being Y brand" the diminished value we claim is $. With no repair cost from a body shop, no way to calculate it. IF it shows on Carfax you can dispute it and send them the body shop report that says no damage, they'll remove it. 

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