Expert: Ron Cercone - 3/31/2009

Question
my vehicle was stolen on a sunday and i got a call 4 days later that they recovered it but it was in a high speed police chase and involved in a shooting and also an accident but probobly not enough to be a total loss ... the problem i have is they have just released the vehicle and i know the Diminshed value is going to be huge they have not found the driver of the vehicle but they have found the other suspects i have told my adjuster about the dv and he said he does not pay that but the vehickle was stolen and the driver is more that likely uninsured so what do i do i do not want this car back the history is bad and the value sucks now

Answer
Hello Mike,

I've been adjusting claims for 28 years both as an independent adjuster working for many insurance companies and as a "public adjuster" working against insurance companies. I have never seen an insurer pay for DV, (and I have claimed it). There are websites that claim that they can get you the DV, or help you get it. If they have a money back guarantee, then go for it. And if they give you a nice looking DV report, take your insurer to small claims court and see if the judge likes your DV report.

Since to my knowledge there is no law in most states requiring you to disclose prior accidents or repairs, the only way a potential buyer could find out if there was a prior accident would be through a service like Carfax.com. And most people are not going to spend money on that.

I may be wrong, but it seems to me that the typical DV is 10%. If the vehicle is a total loss and the insurer underpaid your claim, your time will be much better spent renegotiating the value of the car using one of the eBook products at UClaim.com than arguing over a 10% DV.