Expert: Charlie Barone - 3/14/2010

Question
I was involved in a 3 car accident and I was not at fault because the at fault party ran a red light and hit the 1st car and that car immediately hit me as I was in the next lane. Would this be considered a 2 claim accident for the at fault party?

The party at fault was cited with 2 tickets and the worse part of this matter was that party had very low liability coverage. As expected, the repair estimate for both vehicles has exceeded the low liability amount. How do I go about claiming for DV if I have collision and comprehensive coverage but do not have uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage? Do I claim it from the party at fault's insurance or my own insurance? Thank you in advance!

Answer
I would file the diminished value (DV) claim against the at-fault party's liability coverage. It is a matter of getting there before your insurance company or another takes the limited funds.

If there is no funds available, you should see about your UIM coverage as most policies have it, even with minimum coverage. However, in some states the UIM coverage does not include property damage. If you confirm coverage for UIM you need to check your policy for an exclusion from first party benefits for DV. Many states, but not all, have allowed insurers to exclude DV losses from their first party coverage.

If all those avenues don't work, you can file the claim against the party at fault, as they are the one that actually owes you for the DV loss. Send them a certified letter with an appraisal for the DV loss and let them know that you will seek legal redress for the loss if it is not paid by them.